Check Engine comes on, DIC switches to Nav Address Book

[Steverino]

Driving last night on a depleted battery, ICE running. About 5 miles later while stopped, window open and stuffing a letter in a mailbox the Check Engine light comes on and the Center Stack Display switches by itself to the Nav Address Book screen, Weird.

This morning the light's still on, and I haven't done the software upgrade yet so I make an appointment to get both taken care of next Monday. The dealer calls back. Can't do it.

The out of state Volt they bought with 100 miles on it is in their shop waiting for a new battery! Apparently they have been fighting multiple error code battles for over a week and GM is bringing in some techs and a new battery.

On the one hand, that's a bummer. On the other hand they are getting a rare treat: removing and installing a new battery pack. If I was the technician I would be pumped. If I owned the car, not so much. A week without my Volt would trigger some sort of withdrawal symptoms, like always wanting to drive in L, haha.

volt-battery-pack-open.jpg

[eplantz]

who is your servicing dealer??????

[WopOnTour]

Well in the mean time get Onstar to give you the DTCs (besides the "generic" P1E00) and let us know what it is.
The dealer should be able to handle more than 1 Volt. Wondering now if they are even a Volt Authroized Service Dealer or not...
WOT

[scottf200]

the Check Engine light comes on and the Center Stack Display switches by itself to the Nav Address Book screen, Weird.

This morning the light's still on, and I haven't done the software upgrade yet so I make an appointment to get both taken care of next Monday. The dealer calls back. Can't do it.

Perhaps cycle the car 3 times ... but don't take it to your local auto store to get it reset or do it yourself if you have the tool (like I did).

From a thread I had:

We advise against clearing codes from the vehicle. When codes are cleared the dealer / engineering team loses valuable data that could be used to root cause an issue in the unlikely event one were to ever occur. Remember that after three (3) key cycles, the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL - aka check engine light) will automatically turn off if the fault is no longer present. Allowing the MIL to clear this way will move the original MIL request code to history - a state where valuable data can be retrieved by the dealer.

Volt Advisor Trevor
Chevrolet Volt Advisor Team

[WopOnTour]

Perhaps cycle the car 3 times ... but don't take it to your local auto store to get it reset or do it yourself if you have the tool (like I did).

From a thread I had:

We advise against clearing codes from the vehicle. When codes are cleared the dealer / engineering team loses valuable data that could be used to root cause an issue in the unlikely event one were to ever occur. Remember that after three (3) key cycles, the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL - aka check engine light) will automatically turn off if the fault is no longer present. Allowing the MIL to clear this way will move the original MIL request code to history - a state where valuable data can be retrieved by the dealer.

Volt Advisor Trevor
Chevrolet Volt Advisor Team

Well Trevor's not quite correct. (unusual I know but I'm pretty certain this really isnt his "territory")
It's a little more complicated than that...

More accurately It's "trip" cycles NOT IGN cycles
But it all depends on the DTC.
The car will need to be operated in such a fashion to MEET the enable criteria for the particular DTC to "run" its diagnostic routine and then it must PASS, as well on 2 additional (often consecutive) trip cycles.

So FOR INSTANCE if the enable criteria for a particular DTC requires the vehcile to be travelling faster than 24km AND SOC <30%, AND ICE RPM NOT 0, then the diagnostic won't run until this is all so, so it can't PASS (or FAIL again for that matter) The FAIL criteria will typically also include a time element so as long as the enable criteria is met and the fault is observed as being present for a suitable time period - it fails, but assuming everything looks good now it might PASS.

BUT THEN the trip cycle must reach completion (IGN OFF/Power Down) and another trip cycle begins on the next power up and providing the enable criateria are again met and assuming is PASSES, a 3rd trip cycle would also be neccessary (with a PASS and A FINISH) before the MIL will be extinguished on the 4th power up cycle.

Very few DTCs have an enable criteria of "IGN ON ONLY" so therefore there's very few DTCs that will self-clear by just cycling the IGN (or in the case of the Volt Powering up then down)

Now when you clear the DTC with a scan tool or gage you also delete any FREEZE FRAMES (FF) and/or FAIL RECORDS (FR) that are associated and stored whenever the DTC fails. These are a "snaphot" of the vehicle conditions (temps, speeds, APP, SOC etc) that were occuring when the DTC failed. Since this information can be crucial to the diagnosis of the DTC (especially if it is intermittent) it's not a good idea ANYONE to arbitrarily just CLEAR any DTCs with such a tool (let alone an end-user ) until ALL the DTC's have been logged, their sequence, the associated FF and FR files have also been retreived. (and technically NOT until the published diagnsotoc process requests it to be, usually AFTER the diagnosis and repair)

Wnen DTC "self clears" (i.e 3 passing trip cycles) then it (and it's FF & FR) will still remains in the module's memory (even though the CEL is OFF) for a set number of additional passing trips (usually ~250 or 255) when it is totally expunged automatically by the diagnostic executive (or cleared before that by a techncian AFTER the repairs are complete)

In the end it's not a big deal to drive it with the MIL "ON" -especially if the DTC is determined to be benign !

WOT

[Steverino]

The error codes are P1E00 (good call WOT) and P26A9. The dealer does have one authorized tech.

[WopOnTour]

The error codes are P1E00 (good call WOT) and P26A9. The dealer does have one authorized tech.

Well OK the  P26A9 is related to your Engine Coolant Bypass Valve Position Sensor which is part of your cabin heater system. It has nothing to do really with the Voltec propulsion system. So in that respect it isnt "critical" (beyond your own comfort that is)

Assuming you havnt had a dealer doing anything to your car as of late (this DTC can be set by certain conditions during coolant valve replacement) then it might be simply an intermittent connection on the valve, it's wiring circuit, or in the valve itself (more correctly it's internal position feedback sensor) MAY have a fault.

So if through normal operation over the next couple days the Check Engine indicator DOESNT extinguish, then you should take it to your dealer at your earlist convenience. (and when they are "AVAILABLE" ... Sheesh!)

At the very least even if it goes out and you take your car to the dealer for your "updates" (as you indicated) your should mention both the CEL and the DTCs that Onstar listed and get that on the repair order so it is a matter of record (and on your copy of the RO in the event they dont fnd anything)

HTH
WopOnTour

[Steverino]

Thanks WOT for the great info and suggestions (as always).

The engine light is still on after two charges, but the car has been driving fine. If the engine light was not on, I would not know there was a possible issue. To date the dealer has treated me very well. Given that IL was not in the initial roll out, and the car is drivable, I can cut them some slack on this.