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Start but no go

7K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  NYRob 
#1 ·
Second time in two years car failed to start. First time one year two months ago, The initializing screen would continue indefinitely. Left the car sit about a hour tried again and it started. Drove to the dealer, where it stayed for a week, and came back with a diagnose of nothing wrong.
Today went to go to town, car took longer then normal to initialize, about 30 seconds, started but engine light was on and car would not move. Called onstar they gave me a code of P0606 and said call a wrecker.
Decided I had nothing to loose, I hooked up a charger to the 12V battery for about 5 minutes. The car started and operated normally even getting above average range from the main battery 39.8 miles. Made several stops in town , after the forth stop the engine light went out. When we got home I checked the voltage on the battery and it showed 13.45, I wish I had checked before hooking the charger on but didn't think of it.
Does anyone have a idea of what is going on here? Car started fine last winter at -33 F below.
2012 Volt
 
#2 · (Edited)
P0606 indicates that "the ECM has detected an internal processor integrity fault" and can result from many issues: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?14138-Help!-CEL-Codes...&highlight=P0606

It seems the usual "fix" is for the dealer to reprogram the HPCM-2, but that might not be necessary:

Good Afternoon Cheezmo,

I'm sorry your Volt was not performing as expected. You have experienced a software hiccup in the HPCM2 module. If your vehicle is running normally at this time, there is no need to visit a dealer. In the rare event it should happen again, simply turn off the vehicle and open/close the driver's door to let the car sleep for about 30 seconds. That will perform a soft reset and your engine will no longer run. I do not anticipate that you will see this issue again. Your engine light will extinguish after 3 drives on its own.

-Ian Chevrolet EV Customer Service
 
#3 ·
Chevrolet Customer Service channels Microsoft said:
In the rare event it should happen again, simply turn off the vehicle and open/close the driver's door to let the car sleep for about 30 seconds.
Bare with me, I just had a blue-screen-of-death flashback.
 
#4 ·
I feel like a majority of these "my Volt wouldn't start" stories are due to something unexpectedly running down the 12V battery, usually some accessory or internal Volt module that gets hung up and doesn't shut down. This seems to agree with your experience in having the 12V charger resolve it.
 
#7 ·
some of the other action people did may be no part of what got the car started.

ie my internet was not working so I got a cup of tea then cycled power to the router.


Part of a full car shutdown is reported to be :

1. place in park - push shutdown
2. open door get out close door
3. walk away out of key fob range ( there may be even a small wait time )
4. Go back and start car ( I guess most people call this a warm boot)


Cold boot is as the other posted said he disconnected the 12 Volt battery for a short time.
(which also resets some flags that will need some time to get back to normal)

Connect a charger to the battery may have only moved the loose battery connection to fit better ( for a time)
WE have read reports on loose connections before.
 
#8 ·
i dont understand this, my current non VOLT car i have a mini-refrigerator for storage of my lunch and pop in that keeps it refrigerated via the cig lighter plug that stays on while the car is turned off.. i can go all day at work and the battery starts the car just fine.. how does these cars not keep a 12volt charge.. ??? sounds like someone needs to make a 3rd party power supply that can connect to the 380volt battery and convert it to 13volts to constantly keep the battery charged..
 
#9 ·
i dont understand this, my current non VOLT car i have a mini-refrigerator for storage of my lunch and pop in that keeps it refrigerated via the cig lighter plug that stays on while the car is turned off.. i can go all day at work and the battery starts the car just fine..
A plug-in cooler usually employs some form of Peltier thermoelectric cooling, which draws around 50 watts. Essentially you can run a cooler for twice as long as the headlights before the battery will die.

how does these cars not keep a 12volt charge.. ??? sounds like someone needs to make a 3rd party power supply that can connect to the 380volt battery and convert it to 13volts to constantly keep the battery charged..
Most of these cars keep a 12 volt charge just fine. Granted that the Volt does have an AGM battery instead of the standard FLA, but aside from the glass mat they're essentially the same technology. The APM in the Volt does the exact job you describe, it takes power from the 360V system and tops up the 12V battery as well as supplying all the 12V accessories. It doesn't make sense to keep this unit running at all times, just as it doesn't make sense to leave your other vehicle running constantly to keep the battery topped up via the alternator.
 
#10 ·
In your other car- a conventional vehicle to be sure- you only have one battery. That battery must be able to supply the cranking power for starting the ICE, and reserve for cold weather starting, lights, heater motor etc... The Volt doesn't depend on the 12 volt battery to crank the engine, it only runs the ancillary 12v accessories. Compared to conventional vehicles, the Volt's 12 volt battery is much much smaller and can't handle offline loads like the larger capacity batteries found in conventional vehicles.
 
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