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2017 Chevrolet Volt engine complaints

Page 6 of 7: complaints 131 to 160 of 189, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2017 Chevrolet Volt engine problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Sep 9, 2022 · Engine · 40,000 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle overheated and lost motive power. The vehicle was towed to the residence, where he recharged the battery. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a faulty EGR valve that needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

Filed Aug 28, 2022 · Engine · MI

BECM issue diagnosed by dealer, told it would be fine to drive car while awaiting parts. Error message simply stated unable to charge. BECM failed while driving down road. Car stopped running, no power to anything, and had only enough inertia to make it into a parking lot sideways. Car was unable to restart for some time. Luckily the road was 2 lane and no traffic. Had this been the expressway the no power would have been dangerous. GM does not have replacement parts and it appears the part is known as defective. Sudden catastrophic loss of all power while driving is dangerous. Car has been parked out of caution to not repeat the loss of power during driving. Major safety concern. 3 issues: 1.sudden catastrophic power loss and 2. Dealer repair department stating it is ok to drive based on GM technical bulletins and repair details. 3. Lack of replacement parts with documented failure of these specifically for 2017 model year.

Filed Aug 27, 2022 · Engine · WA

gas engine emission recirculation valve failed. thermostat failed. fuse blown. Displayed message "propulsion power reduced" and "gas engine unavailable" while driving. It put the driver at risk due to being stranded in the middle of nowhere. Towed to Dealer. They replaced EGR valve, egr cooler, fuse and thermostat. Plug-in hybrid with 90 percent ev only miles. So at 52,000 there is only 5200 miles on the gas engine. Root cause of failure unknown.

Filed Aug 21, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · MA

This is related to a long-standing issue with the failure of the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) (part #242969-00) for the 2017 Chevrolet Volt, as well as a lack of availability of the replacement part. This is a documented problem in the NTSA database since 2016. The vehicle error messages on the dashboard include “unable to charge”, “shift to park to start”, “reduced propulsion acceleration may be limited”. The internal combustion engine engages even with a full battery charge on an intermittent basis. Only after turning the car off and on several times or later the next day, would the problems resolve. In several instances, there was a lack of power transfer to the wheels when in drive mode and traveling on roadways, and the car had to be turned off and on to resolve this problem. The car has been inspected by a Chevrolet dealer to confirm the BECM is failing and needs to be replaced. The replacement BECM was ordered by the dealer 7 June, 2022, and neither GM or the dealer will provide a delivery date for the part. A number of postings on www.gm-volt.com reported 2017 Volts would no longer turn on or would lose power when being driven, could not be driven, and had to be towed. The NTSA database indicates approximately 250 complaints have been filed for 2017 Volts that include vehicle error messages on the dashboard for “unable to charge”, “shift to park to start”, “reduced propulsion acceleration may be limited” and loss of power while driving. Although no accidents or deaths were reported, this is clearly a serious safety issue that NTSA should address immediately with a mandatory safety recall.

Filed Aug 3, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · IL

When attempting to engage the vehicles drive system, it would occasionally fail to recognize the propulsion system battery. This could potentially leave someone stranded in dangerously high or low temperature environments without food or water. Powering off the vehicle and then powering the vehicle back on would sometimes fix the issue. The issue occurred very randomly and was unable to be reproduced once working again. It would continue to happen more frequently and require more tinkering to get it working until almost complete failure. This appears to be a common issue and found to be the result of a failed BECM (battery energy control module). It triggers the check engine light and a series of trouble codes. It is estimated that the replacement of this module takes roughly five hours. Unfortunately, supply chain issues have recently resulted in owners being without their vehicle for multiple months with no loaner vehicles available and no additional compensation. See discussion https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/becm.343297/

Filed Jul 25, 2022 · Engine · NY

Bulletin 18-NA-261 BECM failure. This is a known problem on Chevy Volts dating to 2018. This should have been a recall. Instead Chevy waited for individual customers cars to fail. Currently people have been waiting for 3 months for the part. The car is undrivable until part is replaced. GM should have ordered a recall in 2018/2019 or should have had a stockpile of these parts. My car is currently at the dealership, it has been there for 10 days and they have no idea when the part will be available.

Filed Jul 15, 2022 · Driver assistance, Electrical · TX

My car had the Shift to Park and Battery Control Module go out while on a family trip with the family in the car, on the highway. The car was in the left lane of 2 lanes on the highway with no propulsion or way to move it except to push push the car off the side of the highway. Thankfully some people stopped to help. My car had stopped with no way of moving on a 55 mph 2 lane highway. We were at risk of cars not seeing my hazards and hitting us from behind. We had to push the car across the right lane to get it off the road. We had two cars stop to help direct traffic away from us while we pushed it to safety. But when we were on the side of the road, we were stranded in 100 degree heat along side a busy highway and the car was not able to use the HVAC because of the issue. This is a known issue and has been for years. A google search of VOLT Shift to Park Battery Control Module will result in THOUSANDS of complaints. It has become general knowledge that if you own this model, you WILL have this issue. They ALL will, it's just a matter of WHEN. It can happen at 30,000 miles or in my case, 111,000 miles. Chevrolet knows this as well as the dealerships. I have read many other stories of people being left stranded because of this. Chevy covers it under warranty. But my car was 11,000 mile past warranty. So I had to pay full price. Every dealership I called to see if they had the part to fix my car said that they didn't have the part AND they had 1 or more of my type of car in their dealership currently with this issue at any given time FOR YEARS. Thankfully since my car wasn't in a wreck, there was no police or insurance paperwork filed. Once the shift to park issue happened while I was driving and we were stranded, the check engine light came on. It was not on when I started the trip up until the car died. Then the check engine light came on.

Filed Jul 15, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · CA

from all my reading and my own knowledge and what I have read on forums from others who have had the same issue, this problem is due to the cars BECM (battery energy control module) going bad unexpectedly. apparently this has happened to many other people driving the generation 2 Chevy volt at varying mileages. On the highway on her way home from work, my wife experienced a large loss of power and the car started shuddering and switching between the electric and gas powertrain as well as slowing down quite a bit. the dash showed a notification of "propulsion power reduced". the car also lost power to many of its accessories. she ended up having to pull over on the side of a busy highway and turn the car on and off again till it would finally work and managed to limp it home along back roads. if she had not had a shoulder to pull on to she would have been stuck in the middle of the highway. the car had absolutely zero issues before this, but since the incident has had a check engine light illuminated and is unable to charge unless the codes are reset. it is drivable again after getting some codes cleared but as it poses a serious hazard we are trying to find a temporary car till we can get this fixed. our car has about 100900 miles on it, but these failures happen as soon as 25k-50k on a lot of vehicles. it has not been inspected by anyone yet as it happened yesterday.

Filed Apr 24, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · CA

I was driving 65 miles per hour on the freeway and suddenly my car lost propulsion. A light came on that said the car had lost propulsion and I had no power to keep driving on the freeway. Luckily, I was able to get to the side of the road without getting hit by other cars, but it was a close call and very scary. I had it towed to the dealership and they could not find any problem with it after investigating for an entire week. They gave it back without any repairs because it was apparently working fine for the dealership. This same problem happened again about 6 months later as I was driving up a long hill. Again, it was a scary close call to get to the side of the road safely. This time I just turned the car off and let it sit for awhile. Then I turned it back on and everything seemed to be running just fine. This is a major safety problem. I’m now afraid to drive this car and no one seems to know how to fix the problem!

Filed Feb 24, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · IL

Check engine light came on during highway driving and dash showed "Propulsion Power Is Reduced". Dealer said bad EGR valve and/or EGR cooler caused fuse to blow. Replacing fuse did not resolve the issue as it occurred again. EGR failure is a common issue with this vehicle and there is a GM service bulletin 18-NA-089 issues in March 2018. Driving with this condition can cause the engine to overheat as well as cause increased emissions due to the EGR being non-functional. This condition can be dangerous if the engine overheats and shuts down during highway driving. Emissions control systems such as EGR should be covered by the manufacturer but I had to pay out of pocket for this repair.

Filed Feb 14, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · TX

EGR Valve in 2017 Volts is faulty/defective 1) Right from the time the car was brand new, smell of exhaust in Cabin when engine warms up 2) When EGR Completely failed a) Loss of Propulsion b) Strong burning smell in cabin - like plastic burning No such problems with new EGR installed Here are lots of other people's similar problems with the EGR Valve https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/2017-interesting-egr-valve-failure.328621/ https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/2017-egr-valve-walk-home-fuse-saga-update.339078/ https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/17-volt-w-68k-miles-p0401.338840/ https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/2017-premier-25k-reduced-propulsion-power-overheated.338864/ https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/2017-fuse-f3-blown-egr-valve-part-12691147-is-out-of-stock.339131/ https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/2017-egr-problem-at-25k-miles.334723/ https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/2017-engine-not-available-yikes.339067/ https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/egr-valve-being-replaced-2017-volt.340639/#post-5063406 https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/replacing-egr-value-yourself.341033/#post-5068080

Filed Feb 4, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · IL

The car suddenly started starting problem, then the electrical charging component to refuel the power from an electrical charging outlet was unable to charge. Now it does not start at all. I brought the 2017 Chevy Volt to a dealer, it has been more than a week and they said that the part to fix the problem is not available yet and I have to wait. They do not have any idea when they will get the part.

Filed Jan 21, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · WV

I received a 'Reduced Propulsion' message along with a check engine light and that progressed to a 'Engine not Detected" message and stranded along the interstate in a dangerous situation. Had it towed to a dealership which had a technician which could work on a volt - he replaced the Engine Control Module fuse which "fixed" the car for about 15 miles and then the 'Reduced Propulsion' error with the Check Engine light appeared. Technician said something must be shorting out the fuse. Dangerous situation.

Filed Dec 27, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · CA

Shift to park message and will not allow car to be turned off. This problem also occurred ~2 years ago and the part was replaced by Chevrolet under warranty. This seems to be a serial defect

Filed Dec 19, 2021 · Engine · CA

The check engine light came on followed by a loss in propulsion power of the engine. During freeway driving, a sudden loss of power posed a significant risk to both driver and other drivers on the road as the resulting sudden loss of acceleration forced other drivers to swerve around the vehicle to avoid hitting the car. The problem was reproduced when the engine came back on after 2 attempted repairs. I am very scared and concerned with my life/safety.

Filed Dec 16, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · CA

I bought the car in 2020. It had intermittent problems with the car registering “shift to park” when the car was in park. This would not allow the car to be started, leaving me stranded. The intermittent problem has become much more frequent now. Yesterday and today 16 Dec 2021, the car is not ever registering that the vehicle is in park. The transmission display shows I am in “P” (park), but the display keeps saying “shift to park” and the car won’t start.

Filed Dec 10, 2021 · Engine · CA

This car star having many issues with over heat .

Filed Dec 8, 2021 · Engine, Fuel system · 46,000 miles · CO

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact mentioned that the electrical hybrid battery failure warning error was illuminated, and the check engine warning light was also illuminated. The vehicle was able to start after multiple attempts to switch over to gasoline mode. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the battery energy control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000.

Filed Nov 11, 2021 · Engine · MA

The car will not shift

Filed Oct 1, 2021 · Engine · 114,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle loss motive power with an unknown warning light illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. However, the vehicle would lose motive power whenever the vehicle exceeded 60 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the dealer informed the contact that the warranty had expired and there were no appointments available. The vehicle was taken to another dealer, Keyes Chevrolet (5949 Van Nuys Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91401) and the dealer informed the contact that the warranty was expired and could not assist the contact without the contact paying the diagnostic fee. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that they would escalate it to the legal department. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.

Filed Aug 4, 2021 · Engine, Transmission · NV

I have owned the 2017 Volt since August of 2017. Late 2018 or early 2019 I started having an intermittent problem when I turned the car off. The screen showed an error message "Action required - Shift to park". The car was in park already. I would push the start button. Shift into gear and shift again into park. In the beginning that solved the problem. But the car did not fully shut down when the error message is displayed. If the door is opened, the signal that the engine is running beeps. I took it to the dealer service department . They kept the car for a day to diagnose the problem but did not get the error message. But as the problem was intermittent, it continued. I returned the car to the dealer and they said they made an adjustment that should resolve the problem. It didn't. The problem became constant and I could not shift into park. The car did not fully shut off and I couldn't lock it. I returned the car to the dealer and it was there for several days while they waited for a new shifter. It was on their EV charger full time so as to not drain the battery. The shifter was replaced in February 2019. I thought this was a random incident but found out it is not. In July 2021 the same problem returned. I called 2 dealers for an appointment and have to wait 3 weeks for an appointment. I looked online for solutions and to see if others had the same experience. I found many postings and comments with screenshots of the same error message and cars not turning off. It seems to be a defect affecting the Volt and other GM cars of the same age. I had an appointment at lunch 8/3/21 and after several tries to engage the parking gear, the car still would not turn off. I had to leave it running in the parking lot for 30 minutes and it would not lock. The car shut off normally when I returned to the office. This is not an issue of safety on the road, but the inability to turn off the car and lock it is a safety factor, especially for women.

Filed Jul 14, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · OH

The car suffers from periodic electrical issues where it does not recognize the current status of the transmission and says "Shift to Park" even though vehicle is already parked. This culminates in a complete failure of the control module/battery/wiring harness systems and eventually the entire electrical system stops connecting to the engine. Our vehicle is now in the shop and

Filed Jul 8, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · OH

Car would not turn off. Got the message "Shift to park" on driver display, but car was in park. Had to cycle the gear shifter several times in order to get it to shut off.

Filed Jul 8, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · VA

While driving on the interstate at 75 mph I had to accelerate briefly to allow another vehicle to merge safely onto the road. Immediately my dashboard gave me a warning message saying “reduced propulsion acceleration may be limited” and the engine warning light came on. The temperature of my coolant began to rise over 230 F & then 240. Miles from my destination, I reduced speed & took the next exit to stop for fuel and read my owners manual. I discovered that the same message could appear if the car was not put into “mountain mode” thereby failing to reserve a certain amount of energy in the battery. I had hoped we starting the engine & resetting the computer with the car in “Mountain mode” would resolve the matter, but that was not the case. I let the engine cool down for a bit & restarted my trip as I was just 20 miles away from my destination. Later on, I got another message as my engine began frequently skipping and sputtering that told me my “engine as not available” despite having a bear full tank of gas. I pulled over to read the manual & discovered that this message indicated once my car ran out of electric energy it would just stop working! As I had been on the road for 6.5 hours prior, I knew there was no electric reserve to pull from & said a prayer that my 4-yr-old daughter and I could get safely and get a tow to the dealership. The “reduced propulsion” message is part of a recall on the gen2 Volt, tho that recall relates to a software glitch & the remedy just provides “additional warning time” for this serious issue. My car just turned 5 years with 33,000 miles on it. I have followed all maintenance recommendations. Seems like an electrical emissions issue, & with a lithium battery on board, fire from overheating scares me as much as than engine failure on the interstate. But I had a full tank of gasoline! Dealer says it is a “short in my EGR Valve” & that part needs replacing.

Filed Jun 26, 2021 · Engine, Transmission · CA

We are having the "Shift to Park" problems described many times on various forums about this car. The car does not recognize that we have indeed shifted into Park (when we have) and remains on. Others have described power outage whiles driving and various serious issues once this problem starts. GM is aware of the problem.

Filed Jun 18, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · AL

Shift to park issue. Can not turn the car off as it does not recognize it is in Park.

Filed Jun 3, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · CA

When shift-to-park the vehicle says the cars is not in park and will not turn off.

Filed May 29, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · PA

Car would not shut off. Message appeared "Shift to park" on driver display, but car was in park. Had to cycle the gear shifter several times in order to get it to shut off.

Filed May 22, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · NY

When I park the car, it will not turn off. Gives the message "Action Required Shift to Park" But it gives that message while the car is in park. Originally, when it first started happening two years ago, it could not be reproduced. As such, while it was under warranty the problem could not be reproduced. Now it happens over 80% of the time I stop the vehicle. I mentioned the problem to the dealer but they could not replicate the issue. Eventually, if you move the transmission linkage around enough the error clears and you can turn the car off. But this puts excessive wear on the transmission linkage. And now, its out of its basic warranty. Its clear the problem has happened to many others out there, with far fewer miles than me (51,300 miles). Why isn't the manufacturer being held accountable for this issue?

Filed May 21, 2021 · Engine · KY

At approximately mile 370 of a 390 mile trip while operating the engine in hold mode, the engine overheated, requiring me to pull over to the side of the road, wait for the engine to cool, and then proceed to the nearest Chevrolet dealership using the battery in order to be repaired. The first warning I received was a "reduced engine power" message. I scrolled through the status pages and found the coolant temperature to be 230 deg F. I continued to monitor the temperature until a few minutes later received the overheat warning and pulled over to the side of the road. The vehicle is a 2017 Chevrolet Volt with approximately 15,000 miles. The dealership found the EGR valve (part # 12691147) to be internally shorted and replaced it. From various internet reports this appears to be a common occurrence for this model year. This is a safety risk in that it is most likely a known defective part that fails prematurely totally unexpectedly.

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