2017 Chevrolet Volt: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Jan 8, 2026 · Electrical · WA

Following a day trip involving sub-freezing temperatures and full depletion of the traction battery, the vehicle was plugged in at home and appeared to be charging. The following morning, I enable the preheat via the remote before leaving the house for work, and notice the CEL/MIL before starting the car. Car was cold, charging indicator was flashing green as if it was accepting charge. I went to investigate and was met with the following list of codes: P1E00, U2603, U2604-U2606, U2617-U2624, P1FD2, P1FD3, P3042, C326C, P0096. Car turns on but seems to only be accessories; no power steering. Seems like the state of charge indication kept transitioning from empty to full. I unplugged the car to see if it could still drive, but no luck. getting "Shift to Park" when I put it in drive. Switching to HOLD does not engage the engine. After plugging it in again, the car no longer receives charge and simply holds the orange charge indicator light. In an attempt to get the car into limp mode, I tried clearing the codes, but no luck. After reading the codes again in the afternoon, the following codes posted: P1E00, U2622, U2623, P1FD4, P0AFA. These codes and behavior are consistent with the following NTSB service documents, which call for the replacement of the BECM: Special Coverage N232432680 Technical Service Bulletin 18-NA-261 However, the vehicle in question does not appear to be one of the 19,000 vehicles covered under the special coverage, per GM’s warranty look-up. The vehicle has not yet been serviced for the above events, but it is assumed the BECM is failing, which is available for inspection. My safety was not put at risk this time, but it is possible for the BECM to fail in an unsafe manner. Additionally, the associated repairs are costly since the BECM is not easily accessible, requiring lifting the car and removing the entire traction battery.

Filed Jan 6, 2026 · Electrical, Fuel system · IL

The BECM (Battery Energy Control Module) failed. The vehicle illuminated the MIL and the driver display to show a "Reduced power". When restarted, the display showed "shift to park", which I did several times. After a couple of restarts it displayed the "Reduced power" message, but would not go into drive. THE MIL was illuminated the entire time. Through numerous key cycles I got the VIN operable and took it to the dealer for repair. The BECM part is at the dealer or on its way back to GM as a core return. While this occurred while I was leaving my garage, it could have occurred in traffic, which would put me or others at risk. The problem was investigated by my local dealer (Currie Chevrolet in Forest Park, IL) and it was determined to be both a bad Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) and a bad shifter assembly. The shifter had been replaced (or repaired?) for an earlier Shift to Park failure per TSB 23-NA-119. The dealer kept the BECM as a core. I have pictures of the core. The dealer or GM should have that core. The above described warning lamps and messages and systems first appeared at the time of the event that lead me to take it other dealer ASAP. Note the condition and model year is described in GM special coverage letter "N232432680 Battery Energy Control Module Malfunction". the federal safety agency investigation PE23022 lead to this coverage letter. Per GM, while my vehicle experienced the conditions and is in the model year coverage of the letter, its VIN is not covered. I think the federal safety agency should re-open the investigation and consider a recall. There could be other VINS susceptible this failure condition. There could be operators of those VINs who cannot afford the expense (~$3000 or more) or downtime of the repair, and will keep operating the vehicle, putting people at risk again. If a recall is not supportable, I'd request that the VIN list be expanded to cover all possible defective BECMs.

Filed Oct 10, 2024 · Electrical, Fuel system · WI

Automation-On 10.1.24 my car stopped working. It would turn on, but would not shift. It was also showing my EV was fully charged but the EV miles read 0. My husband came and plugged my car in and saw that when I turned the car on it read "shift to park" Also the codes from my OnStar app read "Lithium Ion Battery"- Issue found in High Voltage battery. "12 volt battery needs attention" 10.2.24 we called GM to report issues and referenced N232432680 (BCEM). We were informed that even though we can read diagnostic reports on OnStar it needed to be confirmed from a certified GM dealership that they could not confirm this is the warranty issue if they did not 1st had the certified dealership share their diagnostic report. Bergstrom shared it sounded like BECM that is under warranty. They continued to share it didnt look good and the VIN was not in the system to be covered. Shared the minimum amount we would pay was $440 for the 2 issues for labor/diagnostics.10.4.24 we called GM to file a report we were given a case manager to work our case. 10.8.24 received call from case manager shared no warranties seen on file. I asked for this to be documented and emailed to me, I was told she could not share this information other than this phone call. Bergstrom called saying the car was ready to pick up, cleared codes/no issues, drove 26 miles with no codes. Shared GM never seen/heard anything like this and had no advise/help to offer. Shared only charged for 1 hour of labor. Asked for trade in for car. Was given price $1,200 under trade in value. Cause due to car not safe, potential issues. No documentation shared, nothing to show issues, car is clean/cleared to drive they had no answer than my car was fine but was not able to give lowest amount for trade in due to issues

Filed Aug 7, 2024 · Electrical · CA

Car had not properly charged for the last 2 nights despite saying it was charging the entire time. When leaving my residence the car suddenly stopped working and I had to pull off to the side of the road with no power. The car was then stuck in park and would not turn off.

Filed Dec 5, 2023 · Electrical, Fuel system · OH

The car started stating "put in park" every time I would try to put the car in drive. I would shift back and forth from park to drive over and over and I could get it to clear. One time it lost all power and had zero control. Sat on the side of the road for an hour. Shifting back and forth until it stopped and let me engage the drive. The last time it happened in a parking lot and it would just say"shift to park" I couldn't get it out of park. Had to have the car towed. Tow driver had to drag the car on the flat bed with a wench because it was stuck in park. Had the vehicle repaired. Replaced an electronic control module that had previous service bulletins on but GM would not cover the repairs. I was lucky I was not injured our involved in a wreck when I experienced these issues. I was not aware I could file a report about this until I read there was an open investigation on the same issue I had.

Filed Dec 5, 2023 · Engine, Fuel system · CA

I was driving on the freeway and the engine turned off. I was able to continue driving as the hybrid system still had some charge to continue powering the car. I had to get the EGR valve replaced. No warning lights prior to this occuring but had check engine light after. Car would not shift into drive nor would it accept a charge for the main drive battery. Had to be towed to a shop and resulted in getting the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) replaced.

Filed Aug 31, 2023 · Electrical, Transmission · MA

The shifter of the car will NOT go into park! It takes forever. Have to shut it off, start it back up, and keep trying to get it to work. It's insane! This has to be recalled. Literally thousands of people are having this exact same problem. It's all over the internet. And I wouldn't mind if it were a simple $50 repair, but this is a $500 to $600 thing to fix and it's just not right. The gear shift cable is not long enough. Chevy knows this because they've manufactured a cable extension that needs to be installed. What does that tell you? Manufacturers defect! Please recall these vehicles for this problem and get them to repair their factory mistake. Thank you. Sincerely & Respectfully, [XXX] . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jun 14, 2023 · Electrical · OR

After putting the vehicle in park and turning off the engine, the car gives a warning that the car is not in park. The main problem with the inability to shift into the park gear is that I anm unable to shut off my vehicle, which could potentially drain the battery. Consumers have been unable to exit, lock, and turn off their vehicles due to the shifting malfunction. The true issue at hand here is not that the vehicle is unable to physically shift into the park gear, but the vehicle is incapable of detecting the shift. Typically, when this malfunction occurs, the driver will receive a “Shift to Park” message on the driver information center, even if the gear selector is moved to park and the ignition is switched to the off position. The driver then must either restart the vehicle and try to repeat the shutting down process or toggle the shifter enough that the vehicle’s electrical system finally detects the shift change. While this strategy sometimes does the trick—it doesn’t always work, and drivers are stuck with a vehicle that will not shift into park.

Filed Oct 11, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · CO

Driving and check engine appeared. Vehicle hybrid power train acted erratically, switching into and out of limp mode. Potential loss of control without any previous warning signs. Diagnosed with a failure of Battery Energy Control Module 24296900. Multiple complaints of the same issue from other owners. 5 other same model cars at dealership waiting for the same part. Estimated arrival is 8-12 weeks. This has been a well documented problem since 2018, and Chevrolet has released a TSB acknowledging the issue, and potentially loss of control and stranding.

Filed Mar 31, 2022 · Fuel system, Transmission · OR

My car, like many other 2nd Gen Volts, experienced a BECM failure that resulted in two events where the car unexpectedly lost all propulsion power and came to an uncontrolled stop. I believe the electric power steering was also disabled in both events. Luckily these events both occurred at low speeds, not on a crowded highway, as I do not believe this failure would allow the driver to get to the shoulder. The car was immobilized after both events and needed to be reset to drive home in a 'reduced propulsion' limp mode. There were not, to my knowledge, any warnings, CELs, etc. before the first event. The car has been with the local Chevy dealership for over two months waiting on part availability, as this is a common failure. It appears from online discussion that this is extremely common on this year and make.

Filed Feb 18, 2022 · Fuel system · 33,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that occasionally at start-up or while driving at various speeds, the "Propulsion Power Reduced," warning message would appear on the instrument panel. Once the warning message would appear, the vehicle would not shift out of first gear. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer on numerous occasion; however, the code reader could not diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was given a case number. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.

Filed Nov 11, 2021 · Engine · MA

The car will not shift