2018 CHEVROLET VOLT Engine Problems

It was the XXX recall for the DTC P0442/check engine light code. The dealership said that the recall had been satisfied in 6/2020 by putting a buffer in to separate the 2 lines but not replacing the part. Now the exact same code DTC P0442/check engine light in the exact spot that occurred for the original recall. The dealership originally quoted $5,093, then after me complaining that it is the same recalled problem they dropped the cots to $2384. I believe that is an agreement that the manufacturer should cover this. Of course I will have to pay to get my car but I would like the manufacturer to reimburse me for it seeing it was a manufacturer default. I spoke to the manufacturer they flat out refused to cover it. I obviously disagree. Would like you to pressure them to change their decision. Thank you, [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED...

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that the battery module became inoperable. While attempting to start the vehicle, the message "Engine Unavailable - Service Soon” was displayed. The contact was unable to use the vehicle. The contact stated that the TPMS warning light was illuminated. The contact associated the failure with Technical Service Bulletin: 18-NA-261. The contact called the local dealer and was referred to the manufacturer for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.

My wife and I were on a 200 mile trip and the engine failed about 150 miles into the trip. Was driving and the instrument panel indicated that the engine was in reduced power mode. I switched over to battery power but had only approximately 10 miles of range left so after a couple of miles I switched back to engine power and was almost immediately informed by the instrument panel that the engine was in failure mode. Was fortunate that there was an exit nearby and was able to use the remaining battery power to exit the highway and pack the car before there was no power.the car was towed to a dealer and we were told that the egr valve and cooler had failed.they were replaced and I was told that they were not covered by the federal emissions warranty so the cost would be $4000.the car was...

The EGR valve clogged, causing a a servo to blow the F3 fuse, disabling the engine while driving. This occured suddenly while driving on a busy road with no shoulders. I managed to coast into a parking lot not too far away but I had no charge left in my battery. I could only get the engine to start back up for less than a minute at a time. I got my car inspected by Chevrolet and they confirmed they issue. Very shortly before the engine cut off, the car started jolting. There weren't any warning lights or error codes before this.

The dealer reported having repaired an emissions recall for a fuel vapor leak, however the repair was ineffective and the vehicle still reports the leak as a fault code "slow" and "fast" emissions leak. The dealer refused to recheck their work without payment. Recently I came into possesion of a borescope camera and was able to photograph the dealer's "repair". The photos clearly show the parts for the emissions repair are located in the wrong place as compared with GM's own service bulletin. Therefore the dealer did not do the repair, or failed to do the repair, and refused to check there own work without compensation when informed of the continuing problems and left me to do their recheck of their work at my own expense. I have provided photos of the GM prescribed parts placement and the incorrectly placed parts in my car as well as the resulting damage....

Electrically actuated EGR valve fails, it draws too much current and blows the F03 fuse (Labeled “No Walk Home”) which has 4 other components on it, this causes “Reduced propulsion” message, soon after the engine overheats due to one or more of the 3 other components that lost power, and the “Engine not available” message appears and the vehicle loses all motive power. This syndrome is well documented in the GM-Volt online forum. Additionally this vehicle has portions of the EV battery that failed, I am still waiting for battery parts to arrive and its been 4 months, many owners have waited between 1 and 2 years for the battery to be fixed, this contributed to this issue as the electric propulsion would have possibly been available if the warrantied battery was repaired within a reasonable timeframe. I was refused a service loaner. My recent contact with Chevrolet customer service...

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 60 MPH, the message “Power Reduced” was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who determined that the failure was due to the EGR valve. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000.

On May 26, the car was running in electric mode and switched to gas because the power batteries were depleted. Shortly after switching to gas mode, lights came on the dash board saying Engine Not Available Get Service Immediately. I was on a highway at the time and fortunately had just enough left to get off and the car would not move any further. Turning the car on and off did not resolve the problem. It had to be towed to a Chevy dealer. Even after an hour, the messages would come on when trying to start the car. The next day, the dealer called and said they could find no problems with the car and it works fine. This happened once before, but that time there was enough charge in the battery to get home and then later it would start without the message.

EGR valve failure at highway speed of 70mpg on busy road with passenger and service dog in vehicle on a road trip (on ICE not electric). This produces a reduced propulsion in the vehicle and it becomes unsafe to drive. The EGR failure blew the 15A #3 fuse known as the "no walk home" fuse, so I needed to be towed to a parts store then unplug the EGR valve to make it somewhere safe. It was a Sunday, so every dealership (in the VA area at least) was closed. It is a well known/documented issue and the warranties have been extended, but only in a few states with the CARB protections. There are no warnings, if I was not an adept driver, we could all be dead. I also became stranded ~six hours from my home and only ~eight thousand miles outside of warranty. The replacement part costs ~$1800...

EGR valve clogged and failed on a long trip, bricked the car and had to tow many miles back to home shop. now have been waiting 9 months and still no idea when the part will be available from Chevrolet. My shop and I have claims to Chevrolet for the part for service but still nothing and is getting so we are inconvenienced in travel.

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost automotive power. The check engine warning light illuminated. Shortly afterward, the message "Reduce Propulsion, Engine will not Start" was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with a defective EGR valve. The contact was informed that the EGR valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost and lack of parts availability. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact believed that the cause of the failure was related to high temperatures. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000.

Driving on gas on the highway, the adaptive cruise control suddenly disabled with a "Reduced Propulsion" message on the dash and a check engine light. The car started struggling in its propulsion. We found an AutoZone and scanned the codes, and multiple were returned. A Google search pointed us to the "walk home" fuse, which indeed had been blown. Replacing that fuse and disconnecting/reconnecting the battery eliminated the errors. Less than a week later during highway driving (the next time the battery charge was used up and it switched to the ICE) I got another check engine light, but this time without the "reduced propulsion" message. Scanning at AutoZone again revealed a P0404 message referencing the EGR valve. Due to the limited availability of the part I have called into Covert Bastrop (Bastrop, TX) and am waiting to hear back on their ability to fix the car.

I was driving and a message "engine popuslison reduce" appeared and i was not able to drive at the speed of traffics which was unsafe.

On [XXX], while driving on [XXX] in Virginia, the check engine light came on in my Chevy Volt. A message on dash said that there was reduced propulsion, and the gas engine quit running. The car switched to battery power, which would not have lasted long enough to get us home. At this point, we were stranded on a very busy highway which seemed quite dangerous. Using battery power, we were able to get off the highway. We then made arrangements to have the car towed, approximately 150 miles to a car dealer/repair business in Frederick MD. The vehicle was checked out by the car dealer who identified the EGR valve as the problem. However, they did not know when the part would be available , and still, 4 weeks later, do not have any date for availability of the broken part. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION...

On 8/30/2024 I had driven my 2018 Volt (purchased new on 3/27/2019), with about 45,000 miles on it, on a normally 5 hour trip. About 3 hours into my trip on I-94 my car suddenly slowed down with a "Reduced Propulsion" message and a check engine light that came on. (The engine probably has run less than 25,000 miles of the total miles I have driven it, with the rest being purely on battery.) I was extremely fortunate to have been in the slow lane when the car suddenly stopped accelerating. This could have easily turned out very, very bad. The next day I had a dealer diagnose the car for a little over $400 - they told me there was a problem with my engines EGR valve and that the parts were back ordered so they couldn't give me an indication of when it could be repaired. I got...

While driving our 2018 Chevy Volt, dashboard warning message “Propulsion Power Reduced” displayed. Vehicle performance was not otherwise affected. Subsequent diagnosis from our Chevy Dealer was, among other things, a faulty Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve. We were informed that our vehicle was “no longer safe to drive in this condition” and the vehicle has been sitting on the Dealer’s lot awaiting a replacement part for 2 months and counting, with no expectation of near-term resolution of our problem. We are aware that this is a widespread problem on 2017-18 Volt models, with many dissatisfied owners.

lost power when battery power used up and gas engine would not switch over on highway. car would not re-start and died in the middle of highway

The Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) value has failed after only 20,000 miles of engine usage in my hybrid car. This is a highly-common part that fails and when it fails it shuts the engine down while driving; which leaves the driver stranded. General Motors does not have the part available to purchase and has been on backorder for nearly 4 years. They do not have a resolution and they are not recognizing the GM Service Bulletin that was released 21-NA-116 in Feburary 2023. This is unacceptable. The dealership wants thousands of dollars for a $150 part (that you can't purchase).

Failed EGR Valve. While I was driving, I got a "Propulsion Power Reduced" message and "Engine Unavailable." My car slowly began losing power, leaving me with about 30 seconds to safely pull over. I had it towed to the dealer and they diagnosed a faulty EGR valve. This seems to be a widespread problem with the Chevrolet Volts. To make matters worse, the replacement part is extremely hard to find, with many people waiting on backorder for over a year.

While driving on the highway, the EGR valve in my car malfunctioned, initially causing my dashboard to read "Propulsion Power is Reduced". After continuing to drive the car, the dashboard read 'Engine not available, service soon', where it stalled and we had to restart the car. After restarting, the car went into EV mode with significantly reduced speed. Our safety was put at risk due to the initial stalling and subsequent reduced speed on the highway. The problem has been reproduced since the initial incident and our dealership confirmed the problem relating to the EGR valve which continues to blow fuses when the engine is over-exerted while using gas. The dealership said that this is covered under warranty however, there has been a 5-year back-order on the part and they are refusing to offer any loaner car or compensation for a rental car.

My 2018 Chevy Volt displayed a warning message of "Propulsion Power is Reduced" on the dash when I started the car in a parking garage on Saturday, March 9th around 10am. The car would not drive normally and made a strange noise. I had to stop and start the car six or so times before it drove normally for me to get home. Had this happened at high speed, it could have caused an accident or worse. I contacted the local Rockville, MD Chevrolet dealership and they ran the diagnostic test on the BECM and HPCM2 systems and performed battery capacity reset. I do not believe this software reset will correct the technical issue. According to the dealership records, such a software reset was performed in 2021 by the previous owner before we purchased the car second hand in July, 2022. The dealer would not replace the BECM unit but...

While driving, an engine warning "Reduced propulsion Message" came on. Then it said " Engine Unavailable". The car would not go to gas engine. We panicked as we were 20mi from home and only had a few miles of electric left. I was able to drive to the nearest Chevrolet Dealership. It has been sitting there parked for 2 months. Uncharged. We are told that the problem is the EGR valve but no part is available anywhere. It is a known problem but GM has no parts available to fix. I am not getting any answer as to how long it may take to get the part. Meanwhile, I am without a vehicle. I only have approx 25,000 on the car. We have not been given a replacement car or been given any clear response from GM or the Dealership as to how long this may take to locate a...

Early on the week of November 9th my car displayed a message that there was "Low propulsion power - engine not available." Upon returning home and parking the car it started without incident the following day. On November [XXX], my vehicle stated "Low propulsion power - engine not available" but this time the car shut down completely leaving me unable to return home. I had the car towed to Fairway Chevrolet for repairs. The service technician indicated that the catalytic converter needed to be replaced and the part was out of stock and would take 3 weeks to become available. No rental or loaner car was provided. On November [XXX] I was told that my car was fixed and it would be able to be picked up. I picked up the car and parked it at home and drove the car I was currently renting to California for the Thanksgiving...

My 2018 Chevy Volt was at a Chevrolet dealership in Burbank and they have been running tests on my car to re-create the problem which they have not been able to do. On [XXX] my car suddenly stopped and shakes violently after I turned it on after about driving 15 feet, and my screen was telling me “engine not available, service needed soon” so I got it towed to the dealership (no prior warning signs on dash or anything). On [XXX] they told me they were not able to find the fix or recreate it and also said “This is definitely very rare. Drive it around and bring it back in if it happens again” which felt like they really didn’t care for my safety at all. On [XXX], the same exact problem happened with my car, “engine not available, service needed soon” and shook violently (my girlfriend witnessed it)...

My BECM failed pulling in to my grandpas house. I was able to park the car, but unable to start it afterwords. Prior to failure, the engine would switch between electric, then back to gas, then back to electric This is a very common issue on these vehicles. I am fortunate this did not occur on the highway, as I had just exited I 94

Initially was receiving intermittent “Recieved Propulsion Power” warning and no check engine light. Did it about every 2 weeks but became worse. Received Reduced Propulsion power warning on a road trip from East TN to Charlotte then showed a check engine light. I continued to Charlotte I had 4 miles left on battery and was running on gas engine when “Engine Not Available” warning came on leaving me with a nearly dead battery for propulsion. Fortunately, there was a very nearby GM dealership in Charlotte which I was able to drop off and flew out of town for the week. I was told by the dealership that it was an O2 sensor and they had replaced it. Picked up the car the next week. I began the 3 hour trip back to East TN and about 30 miles into the trip I received the Reduced Propulsion Power AND Engine Not...

In June of 2023 the car experienced propulsion power reduction. The car was at the dealer awaiting repair for 3 weeks. On Dec. 14,2023 the same thing happened again. The car was also unable to accelerate once mobile. The car has about 90k miles on it.

Car died while driving down road. Has engine codes to service high voltage system although It showed a full battery it only had 1 mile range and the gas motor wouldn't run.

The Battery Energy Control Module needs to be replaced (BECM). The car is available to be inspected at Key Chevrolet in South Burlington, VT. The car was parked when it failed. The car wouldn't start (lights on the dashboard came on) and it wouldn't turn off. I got a "shift to park" error message, regardless of which gear I was in. The car wouldn't go into Drive to go forward with either the drive battery or the gas generator. I had the car was towed to the dealership. It was inspected and diagnosed by them. When they did the diagnosis, they said the BECM had failed and there were cells in the drive battery that needed to be replaced. The BECM failure is a common problem with Chevrolet Volts and is covered by the Voltec warranty. There were no warning lights or other warnings (e.g., reduced propulsion) whatsoever. The car...

the vehicle will lose power without warning on a regular basis. the vehicle will also accelerate unexpectedly when switching from battery to engine power at speeds under 50 mph. I have taken the vehicle to the dealer and have been informed there is nothing they can do for me, the vehicle does not have any faulty components.

The vehicle has a failure of the BECM and the EGR valve and cooler. Both parts are unavailable. I've been without my car for over a month. The service center cannot tell me when parts will be available.

While driving my 2018 chevy volt I received a reduced propulsion error. I pulled over to assess and turn off the car and turn it back on only to find when I turned it back on I received an enginer failure error and the car would not drive forward or reverse. I had to have it towed to a Chevy dealership for evaluation. I understand from research and talking to service experts this is a common failure among the 2017 and 2018 Chevy volt and it is abhorrent that Chevy has not issued a recall on a common failure that compromises the safety of the driver and other drivers around them.

To begin, I will set the scene of my experience. I was traveling east bound on 84 in northeast PA on my way to Long Island for work meetings that day. I was about one hour and a half away from my home at roughly 6am. I was traveling at apx. 70 mph when my car suddenly says "engine unavailable, reduced propulsion." and the fueld tank turned yellow in color on my dashboard. Then a sign said "service soon." My car then COMPLETELY STOPPED WORKING. My speed fell from 75 mph or so to 0 in a matter of a minute, I had no idea what was happening because there were no appropriate warnings such as, "Pull over immediately" or "SAFETY CONCERN PLEASE GET OFF THE HIGHWAY" -I would have taken anything to know that this was an actual emergency and I needed to at least get to a shoulder....

Reduc d propulsion power warning while driving in EV mode. ICE started and was able to make it 1/2 mile home. Failure diagnosed to a faulty BECM. Has been at the dealer for 1 month today with no word on when the part or repair will be done.

......car totally stopped on road in traffic and would not restart. I felt the car losign propulsion so I got off the Intestate and on to a local street. Message in dash was that engine was unavailable. I got out of the car and several cars almost hit my car. Car was flat bedded to Chevy dealer and diagonosed. EGR valve needs to be replaced and is covered under warrenty. HOWEVER, have been waiting 4days and t old that valve not available. This is on a vacation trip and 300 miles away from home.. I can ask for the EGR valve from the car. I am on the GM-Volt listserve and other Generation 2 Volt owners have identified this problem previously. You should initiate a recall since the engine just cuts off and the battery propulsion is unavailable.

BECM failed upon startup. Pressed start and vehicle appeared to turn on. Shifted into reverse but there was no motor power and I began to roll backwards down the driveway. Started the vehicle again and then the engine came on and a reduced propulsion message appeared.

When the Gear shift is placed into park and the power button to turn the car off is pushed, I get an alert that says “Shift to Park” and cannot turn the car off. I have to attempt to turn the car off and on several times before I can actually turn the car off and leave it.

When attempting to turn the vehicle off after parking, the driver's console displayed the message "Action required: Shift to Parlk". The shifter was already firmly in the "Park" position. Moving the shifter back to "D" and then back to "P" did not resolve the issue. Pressing the power button twice more resolved the issue this time without further moving the shifter. This is a well-known and well-documented issue with "Gen 2" Chevy Volts.

When I stop and shift vehicle into park and try to turn off vehicle. The vehicle does not recognize the vehicle is in park and will stay running. This had happened numerous times and is ongoing. Have read there is even a class action suit because of this problem with numerous different gm vehicles. Why has a recall not been issued?

Shift to park defect. When I try to turn my car off it won’t completely shut off, a notification on my dash says “Shift to park” but my gear shift is in park already. It takes 5-10 times of me cutting car off and on for it to finally completely shut off.

Car will not shift to park. Will not allow the car to be turned off.

General: When I would shift to Park, the display would indicate I was in park, but the car would not turn off. I sometimes had to spend 10 minutes trying. The safety issue was if the car is left on it because the engine system would not recognize park, it could run from gas and create deadly fumes. 1. Shift stick and harness. I do not have the part. 2. Confirmed by dealer and part replaced. $491.33 3. Unsure if it was inspected. Google search has multiple listings for this issue 4. No warnings, no lamps prior to. Warning message when shifted to park and trying to turn off.

VEHICLE WILL NOT TURN OFF ON A REGULAR BASIS.. RECEIVE A MESSAGE THAT READS: 'ACTION REQUIRED. SHIFT TO PARK.' WHEN THIS OCCURS, THE VEHICLE CAN NOT BE TURNED OFF OR LOCKED. RESEARCHED THIS PROBLEM ON THE INTERNET AND DISCOVERED THAT IT IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM THAT AFFECTS NEARLY ALL 2016, 2017 AND 2018 CHEVROLET VOLTS. A RECALL SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED!

I LEASED A CHEVY VOLT 2018, ABOUT 3 MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST FEW CHARGE, USING THE CABLE THAT CAME WITH THE VEHICLE THE CAR DO NOT CHARGE ANYMORE, AIR CONDITIONING NOT WAS WORKING, I REPOSTED THE ISSUES TO THE SALES AGENT. HE RESPONDED THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE, THAT I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO USE IT. A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER WHEN I WAS DRIVING THE THE VEHICLE STARTED TO SAKE AND THE CONTROL PANNEL WENT CRAZY, I CALL AGAIN TO THE DEALER. THEY TELL ME THIS TIME TO BRING THE CAR INN. AFTER THE KEEP IT FOR A DAY, THEY CALL ME TO SAID THAT THEY HAVE TO KEEP THE CAR BECAUSE THE CAR HAVE A DIFECTEC BATTERY CELL, THEY TELL ME THAT THEY NEED TO ORDER THIS CELD AND INSTALL IT. THEY KEEP THE CAR FOR A WEEK. AFTER THE CAR WORK OK FOR...

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 CHEVROLET VOLT. WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, THE VEHICLE JERKED FORWARD VIOLENTLY, SLOWED DOWN TO 45 MPH, AND THEN STALLED. ALSO, THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT IMMEDIATELY POWERED OFF THE ENGINE IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC. THE VEHICLE WAS PUSHED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BY THE POLICE AND TOWED TO MAHER CHEVROLET (LOCATED AT 2901 34TH ST N, ST PETERSBURG, FL 33713). THE DEALER FOUND SEVERAL FAILURE CODES AND THE TRANSMISSION FLUID PUMP OUTLET SEAL, INTERNAL FILTER, AND SPACER PLATE WERE ALL REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE AND PROVIDED CASE NUMBER: 9-5251855943. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 12,125.

CAR IS CONSISTENTLY MAKING A BURNING SMELL AND THE DEALER IS REFUSING TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT. I WENT THERE 2000 MILES AGO, THEY CLAIMED IT WAS A BREAK IN SMELL. THE SMELL IS STILL THERE AND ONCE AGAIN THEY ARE CALLING IT A BREAK IN SMELL. I MEAN THE CAR HAS 8400 MILES. HOW LONG DOES IT HAVE TO BREAK IN FOR? NHTSA, PLEASE STEP IN AND HELP US. GM IS CREATING THIS POSSIBLE FIRE HAZARD AND THEIR FRANCHISES ARE NOT HELPING.

WHEN MY GAS ENGINE IS WARMED UP AND UP TO OPERATING TEMPERATURE, THERE WOULD BE THIS BURNT PLASTIC SMELL COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. IT'S BEEN HAPPENING LIKE THIS FOR THE PAST 3000 MILES OR SO. IT'S A CLEAR BURNT PLASTIC SMELL FROM UNDER THE HOOD, AND IT IS ALWAYS AFTER THE ENGINE IS COMPLETELY WARMED UP. I USE MY GAS ENGINE ALL THE TIME. THE DEALERSHIP CLAIMS IT IS NORMAL FOR HYBRID TO BURN STUFF OFF AS IT ISN'T RUN ALL THE TIME, BUT THE CAR HAS 6700 MILES. IT'S A STRETCH TO BLAME IT ON BREAK IN OIL. SOME OF THE SMELL GETS INTO THE CABIN WHEN I AM STOPPED, BUT IT IS VERY STRONG WHEN I GET OUT THE CAR AND WALK BY. IT'S BEEN HAPPENING FOR A FEW MONTHS NOW.

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT AROUND 60 MPH, THE 'CHECK ENGINE' LIGHT CAME ON AND A MESSAGE SAYING 'SHIFT TO PARK' APPEARS ON THE DASHBOARD. ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHT, THE DRIVER SHIFTED TO PARK AND WAS NOT ABLE TO PULL DOWN TO DRIVE AGAIN. VEHICLE WAS STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD WHILE CARS WERE APPROACHING FROM BEHIND WITH HIGH SPEED. AFTER REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO PRESS THE VEHICLE 'START' BUTTON, WE FINALLY WERE ABLE TO PULL DOWN TO NEUTRAL AND PUSHED THE VEHICLE TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. VEHICLE NEEDED TO BE TOWED TO DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSIS.