Things you didn't know about your Volt!

[goyogi]

Hmmmm...my Volt never made the start up sound. Dealer must have turned it down. =)

[bmw323i]

My dealer cranked up the startup sound. I was determined to get it turned down and figured out how at a rest stop on the drive home from the dealer.

Another thing that threw me was how to set the radio presets. It's obvoius now just press and hold the preset button on the bottom of the screen after tuning into the desired station but I couldn't figure it out on the drive home.

[scottf200]

#1 You can turn your start up sound up or down while its playing via the volume knob. - Previous thread.

This user friendly technique of just turning the volume knob as a sound is being emitted is available on other sounds as well: Phone and NAV (oh and the radio/hdd/usb <grin>)

[SolarExec]

Others may also have noticed this but when you leave the turn signal on for more than about 30 seconds while driving you get a notice on the dash and an audible ding (basically a "hey dumba** you are driving down the road with your turn signal on for no reason" warning light). Don't ask me why I know this, but I was not the initial discoverer ;-)

[burgandy25]

Thanks everyone for all the contributions so far this thread is getting pretty good!

[honoreitiscom]

photo (12).jpg
Here's one that you can't really demo or bring up on-demand, it just happens when it happens, but nonetheless it is something I didn't know about my Volt. If there is a sever weather advisory in your area, you get the attached screen. If you touch "List", you get a list of locations near by to choose from. Touch a location to read the weather advisory.

[Rusty]

If there is a sever weather advisory in your area, you get the attached screen.

At least, for the first three months. It requires XM.

[WopOnTour]

LRwhlwell.secretfuse.access by bbookser, on Flickr[/IMG]

I posted this photo on the mysteries of the rear hatch so excuse me if you've seen it already. This is a compartment over the left wheel well. The bus I am pointing to can be used to get electrical performance info from the car if you remove the white cap and insert a gadget into it.

Close! But not quite. That is NOT a diagnostic connector for obtaining "electrical performance info". It's called a splice pack. GM uses these in modern electrical harnesses as opposed to a hard-soldered splice. That particular splice pack (located just below the rear fuse-block) is known as JX300 as is used as a junction point for the Low Speed GMLAN (SWCAN) in the rear zone.

I would also advise NOT to remove the tape securing it to the harness, inserting any "gadgets", OR even attempting to remove/install the splicing comb (the white cap) from the main body of the unit. The terminals used are NOT designed for excessive disconnect-reconnect cycles and are easily damaged without particular care taken, especially during installation. These connection points can be a source of future data communication issues that is often traced back to improper handling, incorrect testing, probing or R&R techniques at the splice packs performed by poorly trained or careless technicians .

Nice sleuthing though!

HTH
WopOnTour

PS> As a sub-note (and to contribute to this fun thread in which I was attempting to "stay-outta") The small yellow labels with the firehat symbols (one of which is visible in your photo) are the 12-volt "cut points" used by first responders to aid in disabling the Volt power systems after a serious accident and/or during an extrication procedure.

[Rusty]

Things I didn't know... I popped into my dealer's today to take a test drive in their demo (to see if it did some of the things mine does).

1) With the rear seats down it can almost sound like a rear window is open. They damp noise from behind.

2) When I fast pass something big (or something big passes me) there's a *push* of air from the vents (I almost always just use the cabin vents).

Those I knew about from my car. New thing:

3) The climate control has limits. Anything under 60 degrees shows as "LO". Anything above 88 (89?) shows as HI.

[Rusty]

This one's in the owner's manual, but you almost need to read between the lines to see it. I found it accidentally.

If while you're on the nav screen you hit the nav button, it split screens and brings up the radio screen on the left so you can change the channel. Press the nav button again to get back to full screen nav mode.