Being kept in the dark after engine light got my car to the dealer

[stephmajor]

About 10 days ago, our new Bolt (1346 miles on the counter) had an engine light come up, so we took it to the dealer right away as recommended. From just driving the car you would not know that anything is wrong... No weird sounds, no lack of power, all instruments up and running...

Since then, all I am getting from the dealer are things like: we contacted the GM engineers, (days later) a field technician came a collected some data, (more days later) the dealer's techs will "apply some fix to circuits". What does that even mean? Nobody seem able to give any kind of real diagnosis for my "problem" and some real reason why a fix is applied and to what.

Am I the only one going through something like this?

BTW, I fully understand I am a beta tester, and that the car is brand new to these guys, but this is a little too much, and now I am passed the 10 days mark with no clear resolution in sight.

 

[LeftieBiker]

They owe you a loaner, at the very least. Insist on at least a Volt.

 

[stephmajor]

They did give me a loaner at no cost as you would expect (it's a fairly new Sonic)...

 

[phil0909]

Am I the only one going through something like this?

Yours is now the fourth such case that I've heard of, including my own Bolt, which just went in today. One guy reported his car was in for 2 weeks, and he was finally told it needed a new A/C evaporator. My case may be different, as the car was unable to get to the dealer under its own power.

I hope they put some real good fixes on your circuits! I am looking forward to the next ten days...

 

[devbolt]

Lane Keep Assist/Lane Departure Warning is not working in my Bolt. Been to the dealership twice now to have it looked at, including leaving it overnight for them to diagnose things. Data has been collected and sent to Detroit for them to figure things out. They'll hopefully have an answer soon. Side Blind Zone works, as does Parking Assist and the Following Distance indicator.

 

[drdiesel1]

Lane Keep Assist/Lane Departure Warning is not working in my Bolt. Been to the dealership twice now to have it looked at, including leaving it overnight for them to diagnose things. Data has been collected and sent to Detroit for them to figure things out. They'll hopefully have an answer soon. Side Blind Zone works, as does Parking Assist and the Following Distance indicator.

You say your LKA isn't working. Can you describe what's not working ? Or is it not activating when you push the on button ?

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Beta testers all. A risk of being an early owner. But stinks that they're not giving you any information. There's a lot of systems that can fail and the car doesn't tell you much except "service vehicle soon."

Lemon Laws vary, but generally if a car is in for a certain number of days or a certain number of times for the same thing you've the right to a full refund or new car. Best to start documenting everything you can. Communicate by email to keep a record.

 

[devbolt]

Lane Keep Assist/Lane Departure Warning is not working in my Bolt. Been to the dealership twice now to have it looked at, including leaving it overnight for them to diagnose things. Data has been collected and sent to Detroit for them to figure things out. They'll hopefully have an answer soon. Side Blind Zone works, as does Parking Assist and the Following Distance indicator.

You say your LKA isn't working. Can you describe what's not working ? Or is it not activating when you push the on button ?

I press the button and get a message on the instrument cluster that says "Lane Keep Assist System Unavailable". Doesn't matter if I press the button while parked or going 45 MPH down the highway. If I drift over the line it doesn't warn me. LCA is enabled in settings from the Infotainment screen, and yes, I've tried turning LCA off and on with no effect. What I haven't tried yet is resetting the entire system and returning to factory defaults.

 

[drdiesel1]

Did they give you any DTC/Code information ? Maybe you could ask them for stored DTC's :idea:

 

[stephmajor]

Feel a bit better realizing I am not alone (which I expected)... I got my car back today, the engineers concluded it was some kind of a glitch that does not seem related to any real technical problem they could identify. Now I am back behind the wheel and the light did not come back...

Did I mention I love this car? At least when it is not sitting pointlessly in the dealer's yard

 

[phil0909]

the engineers concluded it was some kind of a glitch that does not seem related to any real technical problem they could identify.

What would we do without engineers? :mrgreen:

 

[LeftieBiker]

I got my car back today, the engineers concluded it was some kind of a glitch that does not seem related to any real technical problem they could identify

This usually means "They didn't find the problem."

 

[Zago]

or, they couldn't replicate the problem....

I suggest to buy a cheap OBD2 reader and if the light comes on again record the code but do not erase it, take the car to the dealer and have them check it and tell them you have proof of the code...

 

[cranial1963]

My "Service Engine Soon" light came on with 239 miles on my car, within 5 days of ownership.
Error condition confirmed by OnStar, something about the battery/charge monitoring.
The car ran fine without any issues. I connected the car to charger for a few minutes and
disconnected and the alert light went out, and has been out for two days and 75+ miles.
Will take it into the dealership for a diagnostic checkup soon.

 

[oilerlord]

My "Service Engine Soon" light came on with 239 miles on my car, within 5 days of ownership.
Error condition confirmed by OnStar, something about the battery/charge monitoring.
The car ran fine without any issues. I connected the car to charger for a few minutes and
disconnected and the alert light went out, and has been out for two days and 75+ miles.
Will take it into the dealership for a diagnostic checkup soon.

Could also be the 12V battery being run down. I'm not a technician and can't point to specifics but the 12V battery does seem to matter in terms of overall functions related to TMS/BMS. If it's weak or dead, it could throw a check engine light. That happened with my car early after I bought it and the warning light never came back.

 

[SeanNelson]

Could also be the 12V battery being run down. ... If it's weak or dead ...

...or if the battery terminals weren't properly fastened and tightened...

 

[DaveInAvl]

I'm not a technician and can't point to specifics but the 12V battery does seem to matter in terms of overall functions related to TMS/BMS.

That's sure what a number of LEAF owners have found. Their forum (very similar to this one) has a lot of discussion on the subject...

 

[JeffN]

or, they couldn't replicate the problem....

I suggest to buy a cheap OBD2 reader and if the light comes on again record the code but do not erase it, take the car to the dealer and have them check it and tell them you have proof of the code...

If you have an active non-basic OnStar subscription (including the initial 3-month trial) you can just press the blue button on the ceiling and ask the operator to run a remote diagnostic and specifically ask them to read you any diagnostic code numbers that they find. Those are the same numbers you would get by using an OBD-II reader. Those code numbers can then be looked up online or in service manuals to give you a better idea of what is really going on. You can also ask a dealer to give you those numbers if the car has been taken in for service.

Some of the code numbers will be generic and common across GM cars while others may be specific and unique to the Bolt EV. I don't know of a good source for Bolt EV-specific error code deciphering yet but within a year or so it should be possible to buy the full service manual for a reasonable price.

 

[oilerlord]

or, they couldn't replicate the problem....

I suggest to buy a cheap OBD2 reader and if the light comes on again record the code but do not erase it, take the car to the dealer and have them check it and tell them you have proof of the code...

By the way, a "cheap" OBD2 reader may not work - at least the cheap bluetooth OBD2 reader that works perfectly with my ICE vehicles doesn't work with my EV.

I can't guarantee this one will work for the Bolt either, however others have had success on other EV's with this reader:

https://www.amazon.com/ScanTool-427201-OBDLink-Bluetooth-Professional/dp/B00H9S71LW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1491755106&sr=8-8&keywords=obd2+bluetooth

 

[stevewa]

My "Service Engine Soon" light came on with 239 miles on my car, within 5 days of ownership.
Error condition confirmed by OnStar, something about the battery/charge monitoring.
The car ran fine without any issues. I connected the car to charger for a few minutes and
disconnected and the alert light went out, and has been out for two days and 75+ miles.
Will take it into the dealership for a diagnostic checkup soon.

This sounds similar to my experience. On a hunch, I exercised the microswitch on top of the charging port with my pinkie thinking it might have gotten stuck. Three or four on-off cycles later the service light went out and hasn't come back. I've also been DCFC once since then so I know that's not it either.

The LEAF doesn't have the switch on top of the charging port (it's actuated by the latch on the plug) perhaps because it has a separate CHAdeMO connector for fast charging.