Error: Propulsion power is reduced - Volt would not start

[zizany]

Hi all,
Our 2012 Volt started having some computer errors while driving 5 hours south of our home. The display seemed to be intermittently showing errors and then the car would not start. A number of tries later and after a Sunday call to OnStar it did finally start (not sure why). However, it showed a continuous "Propulsion power is reduced" error, as well as a check engine light. The OnStar technician advised that we drive the car back to the dealer, but not turn it off again as it might not start up. On the drive, the car seemed a bit sluggish, but it did make it 300 miles back to the dealer. The service department has had the car all day, but with no report on prognosis. Wondering if anyone else has had this issue?

Thanks.

[Brittt1]

Sorry about your issue. There are a few threads with similar issues, here is one that dumluk had a few weeks ago, They all seem related to the battery control module. The good news is it didn't leave you high and dry and you were able to get home.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....375#post119375

They'll have it figured out pretty quick.

[DonC]

Some people have had error codes but not 300 miles from the dealer! That must have been an anxious drive home. Glad you made it.

[saghost]

There are a number of things this could be. The sluggish feeling is propulsion power reduced - when that warning sets, it remaps the throttle to something much slower. It'll set PPR whenever either the engine or the battery is unavailable for some reason (run out of gas or a fault in either.)

Onstar can read you the codes when you get a check engine light, and we have some GM contacts on the board who have been very helpful about interpreting them. Without them, we don't really know what happened. It isn't a common thing, so far. Let us know what the dealer says...

[zizany]

Yes, it was a VERY anxious drive home. Great way to ruin a Sunday! One week later and the Volt is still at the dealer. They found some sort of loose connection (I don't know the details) to the battery. They fixed it, but when they did a test drive the issue came back and the car wouldn't start again. Now they are running through another set of diagnostics to try to resolve it. Apparently, there is another Volt in NY that has the same problem, but they don't know of any others. The Volt advisor and service folks have been terrific. They've kept us in the loop as much as possible and are pretty apologetic about the whole thing. Meanwhile, we're driving around in a Malibu rental and making our loan payments. It's pretty disappointing to have a brand new $40k car at the dealer for a week. Hopefully, they'll get it sorted out and we'll be back in business soon!

[zizany]

Day 12! Still not fixed. Again, though, everyone we've dealt with has been very nice and apologetic.

[marksvolt]

What ever happened?

[zizany]

In the end, they did fix it. Turned out to be some sort of bad wiring connection. It took 7 weeks in the shop -- during which time they gave us a loaner. In the meantime, they agreed to replace (i.e., buy back) the old Volt, as we didn't know if it would ever actually be repaired. So, we more or less exchanged it for a brand new one. We did end up driving the old one for a few weeks after they repaired it and while we waited for the new one to arrive. Never had another problem with it, so I am confident that they did finally sort it out. Just took a long time!