"Li-Ion Battery Fault, service within one day" and "Voltec propulsion system error"

[Bert]

Yesterday I hit something odd. I parked my Volt at work around 3.30PM with about 50% SOC, and hooked it up to the 120V EVSE using the same outlet as all other days. All seemed normal. When I got out at 7.15PM, the dash light was orange - something I had never seen before. The battery had picked up about 5% of charge. The EVSE had all lights green. And the MIL was on - another first.

I hooked up with Onstar, and ran a diagnostic. She reported "Li-Ion Battery Fault, service within one day" and "Voltec propulsion system error". Her advice was to just charge it at home and take it in if it doesn't go away - she said she had seen it before come and go.

At home, the car charged fine at 240VAC, but this morning the MIL was still on. When I plugged it in at work this morning, the 120V EVSE went from all lights green after attaching it to the outlet, to the top red LED doing a fast red blink when I connected the car to the EVSE.

Did my 120V EVSE throw in the towel? If it did, why was all green yesterday evening?

I scanned through my 15lbs of service manuals for anything comparable, but it appears that Onstar has more generic descriptions than the GM service manuals. AFAIK, there wasn't such a thing in the service manuals as a generic "LiIon battery fault".

The car drives normally on first sight.

Anyone seen this error before?

[eplantz]

When my charge cord was acting up, it had 5 green lights. But, the car would not charge properly. I had no MIL codes, though.

The cord was replaced and all is normal now.

[N Riley]

I don't have a Volt, yet, but I would think it would be best to take it in and let them look it over. Follow recommendations.

[Bert]

Update for the geeks among us:

Called Onstar for a detailed DTC report, turned out to be:

P0D3F (Battery conditioning system fault)
F1E00 (Voltec propulsion control system fault)

I don't have the service manuals at hand here so I do not have more details, but will dive into them when I get home.

After Onstar gave me the details, I rang up the Volt Advisory team (these guys are good!) and decided that it needs to go to the dealer. Unfortunately 5 days of waiting wasn't what I wanted to hear, but that's the fun of being an early adopter.

Makes me think that I need to get hold of a scan tool.

[WopOnTour]

Yesterday I hit something odd. I parked my Volt at work around 3.30PM with about 50% SOC, and hooked it up to the 120V EVSE using the same outlet as all other days. All seemed normal. When I got out at 7.15PM, the dash light was orange - something I had never seen before. The battery had picked up about 5% of charge. The EVSE had all lights green. And the MIL was on - another first.

I hooked up with Onstar, and ran a diagnostic. She reported "Li-Ion Battery Fault, service within one day" and "Voltec propulsion system error". Her advice was to just charge it at home and take it in if it doesn't go away - she said she had seen it before come and go.

At home, the car charged fine at 240VAC, but this morning the MIL was still on. When I plugged it in at work this morning, the 120V EVSE went from all lights green after attaching it to the outlet, to the top red LED doing a fast red blink when I connected the car to the EVSE.

Did my 120V EVSE throw in the towel? If it did, why was all green yesterday evening?

I scanned through my 15lbs of service manuals for anything comparable, but it appears that Onstar has more generic descriptions than the GM service manuals. AFAIK, there wasn't such a thing in the service manuals as a generic "LiIon battery fault".

The car drives normally on first sight.

Anyone seen this error before?

If the Onstar advisor said it was likely OK to continue to drive the car, then give it a couple of days. Depending on the DTC the MIL requires a number of specific "trip" cycles where the diagnostic PASSES before it will extinguish on its own.
If after driving AND charging it for a few days the MIL persists, then you should probably visit your dealer.
Did the Onstar advisor tell you the specific DTC? IF so we could check to establish what type of fault was detected.
WopOnTour

EDIT: OOps I replied before reading your follow-up response.Don't worry amout the P1E00 as it is merely a "generic" DTC indicating a fault occured that desired the MIL to be illuminated. It's ALWAYS present with another code or codes that are much more important. in this case your P0D3F basically means the AC voltage observed during that charge cycle was NOT within mimimum parameters set by the onboard charging module. SOMETHING went wrong such as a as short power outage, breaker blowing in the building, or perhaps just a serious brown-out. If the MIL doesnt extinguish on it's own or you contuinue to have your 120V charge cycle interrupted, you should see your dealer, otherwise I certainly would't sweat it.
Has 120V charging been working OK since this episode? Was the outlet at home, work, or???
WOT

[Bert]

Don't worry amout the P1E00 as it is merely a "generic" DTC indicating a fault occured that desired the MIL to be illuminated. It's ALWAYS present with another code or codes that are much more important.

Aha, so that's one to remember then.

in this case your P0D3F basically means the AC voltage observed during that charge cycle was NOT within mimimum parameters set by the onboard charging module. SOMETHING went wrong such as a as short power outage, breaker blowing in the building, or perhaps just a serious brown-out.

Also good to know! I was in the building at all times, and didn't observe any voltage fluctuations, but I'm not sure how the power distribution is done.

If the MIL doesnt extinguish on it's own or you contuinue to have your 120V charge cycle interrupted, you should see your dealer, otherwise I certainly would't sweat it.
Has 120V charging been working OK since this episode? Was the outlet at home, work, or???

It was at work, three year old building, excellent infrastructure and the outlets are seriously heavy duty. I have gone through 50+ cycles at that specific outlet without issues.

Now the car is not charging. When I plug the EVSE in, all lights turn green as usual. Then, when I plug in the J1772 connector, the relay in the EVSE rapidly clicks (possibly twice), after it drops into failsafe mode with the top red LED going from green to rapid red blink.

I just received yesterday a spare 120V EVSE, but of course it is in the UPS box at home. Will try it out immediately tonight.

[Bert]

We're in 2011 after all, so I figured I could just as well walk outside for a minute and make a quick video clip of what happens.

http://share.ovi.com/media/bert.tech...uff/bert.15302

And before you ask about the funny accent: I grew up in Belgium.

[WopOnTour]

Nice video!
I agree with your own assessment that their IS something wrong with your EVSE.
The RH red LED/warning lamp ON or blinking (alone with LH LED still green) is an internal fault detected WITHIN the EVSE itself.
(in this case obviously only AFTER attempting "hand-shaking" with the car)
I suggest you call your Volt Advisor and clearly indicate that only Right-hand LED (EVSE fault) is flashing and the left0hand (AC Present) LED is remaining Green. (and that 240V charging operates normally)
They should be able to arrange for your dealer to be able to order you a new EVSE with minimal inconvenience to you.
Good Luck!
WOT

PS> check out the charge indicator feedback table on this GM Techlink article
http://www.sandyblogs.com/techlink/2...-the-volt.html

[Bert]

Quick update - it turns out that the original EVSE is toast. The spare 120V EVSE works fine, while the original one doesn't. Also the 240V is ok. Got to take it back to the dealer. I would not mind doing a post-mortem, but it's $500, and I'm not _that_ curious.

WOT was right about the DTC (well, duh), but if anyone is interested, you can find the details in the attached PDF.

volt TDC.pdf

Thanks about the techlink article WOT, it's something for which I need to set aside some time and read it all.

I have to figure out as well if one of those Bosch scan tools is within reach, or if it would mean draining my 401k.