Car would not charge

[davemac616]

This happened to me once, about a month ago, but since my Volt advisor hadn't heard of this before I'm posting it here.
1. Came home after a three day trip in Mountain Mode. I switched out of MM a few miles from home, so there were a few miles left on the battery.
2. Opened the charger door but didn't plug in right away. (PS we have 3 Volts at work sharing 1 charger and we do that all the time.)
3. About an hour later, I connected my 120V charger. Nothing happened. The car didn't beep, didn't light up yellow, literally nothing. The charger was normal with all its green lights on.

Here's what I tried: unplug and replug. Unplug the charger from the wall outlet and replug. These had no effect.

Here's what worked: close the charger door, then open it again with the remote fob. Now when I plugged in, the light immediately went yellow and then green.

Is it possible that the charge port is ignored if the car thinks the charge door is closed, and that it thought the door was closed in this case?

[Steverino]

That would be news to me, but I can try to replicate the "leave the charge door open but don't plugin for several hours".

[DonC]

Your theory sounds reasonable but I've never heard of it.

[saghost]

We've never seen it before. Given your experience, I'm thinking the battery saver mode that kicks in after ~10 minutes of inactivity may shut down the charger's controlling computer if there isn't a connection by that time - though the charger will sit happily for hours or days with a validated cord waiting and charging according to your schedule, so it seems a little odd.

[dax777]

Maybe its simular to when you unlock the fuel port which automatically relocks if not opened after a period of time. Perhaps the charge port disconnects after being idle for a period of time as well.

[ClarksonCote]

Are you sure that the cord was fully plugged into the car each time? I've had numerous instances with my 240V Voltec of plugging it in, but the button on the cord doesn't fully release when I plug it in. Shifting it around slightly usually fixes it.

Also, why not plug in right away, but set your car to delayed charging? That way, you can just force it to start charging at some point during the day via your phone/RemoteLink, rather than having to go out there to physically plug it in.

[davemac616]

Well, like I said, we leave the ports open for several hours each day at work and that's always been fine, so I don't think the ports time out in the hour mine was open.
I am sure the plug was making good contact. It had several chances. And it's been a month since then, so if it was a wonky connection it would have happened again by now.
And usually at home I do plug in right away, but I was unpacking the car and didn't get to it. I do have off-peak hours programmed for home charging and override to immediate at work.

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

@ davemac616,

Once the control modules on the vehicle have gone to sleep (about a minute after the last passenger has exited), the vehicle will need to be awakened in order for it to see the coupler being plugged in. When you press any button on the key fob or open a door, the car will wake up.

If you decide to plug in later, it might be best to leave the charge door closed, especially if parking outdoors. Thanks for your question!

[davemac616]

Hi Trevor.
That makes sense and it explains my experience at home that one time, but then how do our three cars at work get charged every day? If my Volt has been parked for 4 hours with the charge port open, another person can unplug his Volt and plug mine in, and it starts charging immediately. Does the presence of his fob wake up my car enough to activate the system? I guess as a test today I should try switching the charge cord without the fob in my pocket. But I have definitely switched the cord both to and from my car. We all had to turn off the "sound alarm if cord disconnected" option, of course.

We're in a parking garage so weather isn't a big problem.

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Hi davemac616,

You are correct about the fob. If your coworker had his fob, your vehicle may stay awake long enough to accept the charge immediately. The control module for charging will wake up for a variety of reasons. Your vehicle might be awake for other reasons as well, such as OnStar (VoltStats.net) or self diagnostics.