Chevrolet Volt transmission failure problems

Filed Aug 27, 2026 · Electrical, Transmission · TX

The vehicle frequently fails to register that the transmission has been shifted into Park. When this happens the instrument cluster displays "Action Required / Shift to Park" and the power (STOP/START) button will not shut the vehicle off. The condition is intermittent. I can usually clear it only by shifting through the gear positions and back into Park repeatedly, sometimes many times, before the vehicle will power down. SAFETY RISK: Because the transmission control module does not confirm Park, I have no assurance the parking pawl is engaged when I leave the vehicle, creating a rollaway hazard. The vehicle also cannot be shut down, which leaves its systems energized and drains the 12-volt battery, risking being stranded. I now apply the parking brake at every stop as a precaution. WARNING MESSAGE: The "Action Required / Shift to Park" message first appeared within days of purchase. I bought the vehicle used on 07/29/2026 at 69,471 miles and reported the fault to the selling dealer on 08/10/2026, twelve days later. CONFIRMED BY DEALER: Yes. On 08/19/2026 the selling dealer's service center diagnosed the cause as "internal shifter microswitch failure" and recorded the correction as "Replaced Transmission shifter controller assembly and cleared codes" (repair order 1133072). The fault returned within approximately half a day. On 08/26/2026 the dealer opened a second order for the same concern, recording the same cause and the same correction and listing the same part, shifter assembly part number 13540961 (invoice 1133224). The vehicle is currently at that service center and the defect is not corrected. The condition is worsening — it occurs more often and takes more attempts to clear than when first reported. The vehicle is available for inspection. It has not been inspected by the manufacturer, by police, or by an insurance representative.

Filed Aug 7, 2026 · Transmission · CA

What component or system failed? When the BCEM failed on my car, it led directly to the transmission failing as well as the PIM. I was driving normally then had a completely inoperable car with no warning. I was told to pay over $17k for repairs by the dealership because there is no recall on the transmission, but I see proof that this is a common issue among Volt users. There needs to be a recall and repair to keep the road safe. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? I was driving on a busy road to school when my car fully locked up, jerked like crazy, and became inoperable. If I had been somewhere like a freeway instead of in front of a school, I likely would have become badly injured when the wheels stopped even turning. The tow truck even had to use wood under my wheels to get it onto the tow truck. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? I took it to the dealership and worked only with them. They replaced the BCEM without charge but have left me with an inoperable vehicle because I am unwilling to pay twice the cost of the car to repair it. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer? Dealership. But also, as mentioned, this is clearly common and needs to be recalled. A 2018 car with 117k miles of gentle driving on a well maintained vehicle shouldn't be failing, and there shouldn't be so many Volts being sold for parts because their transmission failed. This is clearly a dangerous issue related to production and should have a recall. Were there any symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? I bought the car with just under 16k miles in 2021 and within 3 months I had symptoms, but the dealership couldn't figure them out, as they happened intermittently and only in heat, and the dealership always sent me away without repairs. The failure itself happened at 62°, but was foreshadowed by lesser versions of its demise.

Filed Dec 3, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · NH

I had just left my house about to enter the on-ramp to Interstate 95 south when my 2016 Volt abruptly and without warning stopped. I was unable to coast or pull the car to the side of the road. I was in the middle of the lane in a dangerous place to stop a car and a dangerous place to get out of the car due to the steady traffic entering the interstate. My car would not restart and I had it towed to the Portsmouth NH Chevy dealer. As it was the beginning of the GM strike I had to wait several days for the replacement battery control sensor then I had to wait for another 4 weeks or so for a replacement transmission to be installed. The day after I got my car back, about 2 weeks ago, the transmission fluid was leaking onto the garage floor. The Chevy dealer has ordered new transmission hoses but only one has come in and I was told not to drive my car until these were replaced. The sensor pad and transmission were covered under warranty, I was told the hoses to the transmission and labor to install them are not part of the transmission and not covered. The incident has been extremely inconvenient but the way my car just abruptly stopped and wouldn’t restart was very unnerving and could have been very dangerous. I do not have paperwork at the moment but can provide a dealer invoice of the covered work so far. Please contact me with any questions.

Filed Dec 3, 2023 · Electrical · WA

The car will occasionally lose power when driving on battery. In my experience this most often occurs after turning, but can occur seemingly randomly at other times. It's a frightening experience because you just don't know when it will occur, what you'll be doing, and how it will impact other drivers. I spent $8k trying to fix the issue and took it to two dealership issues who said the transmission needs to be replaced. We got the transmission replaced, but the issue persists. The issue happens daily. I don't know what component failed, but yes, it is available for inspection. Safety is put at risk because the car randomly loses power while driving and switches to gas mode. Yes, the problem has been seen by a local dealer. No, the vehicle or component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance rep. No, there are no indicators of the failure before or after the loss of power.

Filed Jan 25, 2022 · Transmission · CA

After a little over 3 years and 16017 miles, my Volt would not recognize it had been shifted into park and would not shut off. This started occasionally doing this, and reshifting out of and back into park solved it. Finally, I could no longer get the car to recognize it was in park and could not shut off the car (still running on electricity). I drove it to the dealer, and they kept it a week. They replaced the transmission shift controller and cable. The repair total was $452.85, and my Ally extended warranty covered all but the $100 deductable. GM has a technical bulletin out on this issue: #19-NA-206.

Filed Sep 29, 2020 · Transmission · 81,827 miles · NY

Shift to park message is displayed even though the car is in park, making it impossible to turn off the vehicle. The dealer replaced the transmission control and installed an updated harness to resolve the issue. Based on google searches, this appears to be a very common issue with the chevy volt.

Filed Sep 9, 2019 · Transmission · CA

2018 chevrolet volt. Consumer writes in regards to transmission failure. *ld the consumer stated while driving the freeway, the vehicle experienced sudden loss of acceleration. The dealer was made aware of the failure.

Filed Mar 6, 2017 · Transmission · 1,080 miles · OH

My vehicle was stationary in a left turn lane at an intersection. I took my foot off the gas and pressed the gas pedal to accelerate the car through the intersection. When I pressed the gas, the car did not accelerate. I repeatedly tried to accelerate and the car seemed to not even idle because it would roll backwards when the brake was released. After a while there was some weird noises and the car did some unusual shaking. I also observed on my dashboard that the car was switching between the electric battery power and the gas fuel power. I was not clicking anything to do this it was doing it while I had my foot on the brake and was touching nothing else. After about an hour and many tries the gas finally engaged and I was able to pull the vehicle into a nearby parking lot but there were still various noise problems and shaking. Had the vehicle towed to the dealership to have it serviced. The dealership said the transmission failed and a new one was sent and put into the vehicle. The vehicle only had 1080 miles on it.

Filed May 15, 2015 · Engine · 23,000 miles · CA

My car stalled on the freeway ramp with engine warning reported on the dashboard. The issue was identified to be due to engine propulsion and transmission failure and they would have factory technician replace/rebuild all related components as a preventative maintenance/repair. Later they said that they found that the replaced part had again failed during overnight test and they were repairing the car again. I am concerned that this is a safety issue with the car stalling in the freeway and the component seems to fail easily as demonstrated by the repair that failed again in the dealers shop floor. This issue with volt needs to be investigated before lives are lost due to improper design/component.

Filed Oct 14, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 6,600 miles · CA

I received the following message on the car dash display: propulsion reduced-engine not available. This message came on while I was driving in the carpool lane. I called gm thru on star and was told that I had a catastrophic error and needed to get my car into repair with 24 hours. With only 6 miles left on the battery, I told the gm rep that I better get the car to a chevy dealer. I immediately drove to the dealership in culver city. The minute I pulled into the driveway of the dealership, my car stopped and would not restart. This could have been a disaster if the car had stopped in the carpool lane. I have read of other complaints on google and yahoo. I was told by the dealership that they were going to replace the engine module, which they said would take 8 hours to repair, but when I picked up the car, they only replaced the transmission module. Since the incident, I only get a full charge of 32 to 34 miles, where before the incident I was getting a full charge of 42 to 44 miles per charge. This is definite safety issue as gm blames the driver for the problem. Gm needs to replace the engine module on my car.