Dealer Wants $10,000...for THIS?? (Chevy Volt Not CHARGING: P0AA6)

[@AutoAuctionRebuilds]

On another note - you can buy the batteries aftermarket now and they aren’t too bad. $6-$10k with warranty and shipping included. The $10k cost uses the newest cells.

[@fpadams]

After finding the battery pack dry and the resistance passing test, it is not clear that the problem is something that would be fixed by a new battery. Is the $10,000 estimate "and sorry we have none" just a way to get the customer out of the repair bay, and maybe onto the sales floor?

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

@@AutoAuctionRebuilds for that much cash you could buy 6 or 10 fun beater used cars and have $ left over for parts and gas 😆

[@Stoney3K]

For isolation testing, you need a special isolation tester (a Megger) because they use higher measurement voltages than a regular multimeter. Some materials measure fine when they're measured with a few volts, but they break down under higher voltages, that's why isolation testers use measurement voltages up to 1000V, which gives a lot more precision in measuring isolation resistance.

[@disgruntledcanuck]

I've used a megger to check wiring for shorts to ground or wire to wire

[@DonovanFoli]

This is not true at all. Certified EV tech here. Isolation meters output a lot higher voltage(low amperage) during resistance tests to exacerbate the loss of isolation. A non isolation meter may give a false reading because it can't produce high enough voltage for resistance testing to arc across the point of LOI. Sometimes an isolation meter will not show it either unless you spray water around the assumed circuit. A cheap meter can measure high voltage no problem.

[@paulmoir4452]

A regular megger won't work here since you have to deal with the battery voltage always being present in the measurement circuit. Hence the "AC" test with a DC blocking capacitor no doubt. Measuring DC voltage between the HV + and - and the case would more likely yield useful information, utilizing the meter's high input impedance. Of course, that assumes the HV + and - aren't both conducting to the case. :(

[@Stoney3K]

@@DonovanFoli Wasn't that exactly what I said? I would recommend against using super cheap hardware store meters though since not all of them are rated for >500VDC. Something like a Fluke 115 won't let you down here.

[@rylanbrowne5658]

​@@Stoney3Kthat's what I thought 🤔

[@user-ei5gy9ey5w]

I have a 2014 Volt with 209,000 miles. I have gotten that code daily for the past 2+ years. I have a cheap Amazon OBDII code reader. I clear the codes every day when I get home. After clearing the code, it charges just fine. Its a necessary evil. Battery coolant level is visually fine. My Volt is my favorite car that I've ever owned. I bought the car in 2016 with 45,000 miles.

[@honda636hp]

How many miles you get out of electric only?

[@raycosman824]

Have the same problem. I just reset it to charge, just put on a new coolant level sensor but don’t have faith that it will change anything.

[@davethevicar88]

Snap on 160k miles it's going in to see if it can be sorted soon

[@stergiosstergiou2817]

@raycosman824, did changing the coolant level sensor change anything for you ?

[@PO-nt4qr]

@@honda636hpmost 2013-2015 getting about 10.4 kwh per charge.. up to driver how many miles they can get..

[@brucecolonna184]

There were some issues with the coolant level sensor wiring on some models. The wire strands could break within the insulation, might be found during a tug test. When I was working at gm dealer and a volt came in with those codes. Followed that tsb , and I would also replace the sensor and connector. Never came across one with coolant or moisture from that drain plug. Also I do remember the becm would always have that unrecognized calibration even after programming. Which makes it confusing to tell whether or not it had been updated before.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Thanks for that info, I thought SPS2 was just glitching on the calID numbers haha

[@miguelplascencia1728]

Car honks when you have the key fob in the car it reminds you I hate it but glad it doesn't lock on you

[@michaelmcwilliams2486]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics It's normal. That way SPS doesn't lock you out from programming it

[@ronaldwilkinson6685]

Three fast horn honks on a GM vehicle with push button means that the key is still in the vehicle. I had one of these run me on a wild goose chase a few years ago with an isolation fault that would only set while you had it plugged in. It ended up being the battery pack coolant heater inside the pack was seeping coolant into the high voltage connector. Was during the winter so the car heats the battery while it charges.

[@natehill8069]

On my Volt it meant that I had gotten out of the car to pick up limbs in my driveway so I could drive on it (since the Volt has almost 1 entire inch of ground clearance) and my head was now bent over and in the perfect position for me to shit myself when the horn went off directly in my ear. But mine was a 2g so maybe they changed it to that.

[@markcollard9326]

You're a funny guy Nate.@@natehill8069

[@williamkashishian5082]

@@natehill8069 lol

[@MrEpanek]

@ElvenJusticeall modern EV's have a coolant loop in the battery to heat or cool it. Good modern cars warm the battery for faster DC fast charging and then pull the heat back out of the battery to heat the cabin. These modern batteries have such low resistance that charging them on a regular AC charger does not heat them at all, you need to fast charge them with DC for that to be a thing.

[@keltoi30]

@@natehill8069 Better to have to pick up limbs than torso's and heads I guess.

[@EHVZ-ow2ou]

Check under the right front seat you updated that module, it can get wet so check it for green crusties (the hardware has been updated afew times check which version you have if you have an old version of the module it might be worth while to get a newer one and program it). The HV coolant heater inside the HV battery pack can get corrosion on the welded joint which can cause a isolation fault. They made it out of 2 different materials and welded them together it's a known weakpoint which can alter the resistance value and set that faultcode.

[@dporrasxtremeLS3]

That Must be a 10k FIX! wITH sPECIAL sERVICE TOOLS! hELL nO!!!

[@MrEpanek]

@@dporrasxtremeLS3this happened to my Volt and it cost $1100 at the dealer to drop the battery and replace the heater. That's been the only thing to go bad in 11yrs and 100k miles on this car and is a fraction of the money saved from buying fuel and time wasted going to a gas station. It also kept the car on the road for many years to come. These are first generation EV's and are holding up really well.

[@williamwhite9767]

Gotta admire your willingness to tackle any problem!!! Kudos!!

[@stagggerlee]

The resistance tester is also called a "megger" uses high voltage to test insulation resistance. 500 to 1000 volts, not the very few volts your dmm uses to test resistance. It can find insulation breakdown that a dmm will never see. Some day you will probably need one, unless you never service an ev or hybrid again... ;)

[@athhud]

Came here to say this. The “special” meter isn’t necessary because of user safety. You are just measuring to a degree that your run of the mill meters can’t do. In fact, an insulation tester/megger is technically less safe, because it can zap the piss out of you. Lol

[@roberthemmerly500]

100% correct

[@MIdaffy502]

Question, is the megger similar to an DC Hypot Tester? Question 2: The word contactor is mentioned a few time in Ivan video. Is contactor similar in fashion to a HVAC compressor contactor, where theres a massive arc every time its pulled closed. If true could a worn contactor be the cause of these low isolation values?@@athhud

[@foxdmulder]

Even a megger for an EV may have some differences. they have test capability in some models of 1500DcV

[@gerardjohnson2106]

​@MIdaffy502 : I was a design/build electrical engineer/contractor for over 40 years. We did a lot of 15kv work for industry. #1 Yes, the DC hipot is a nondestructive test that measures insulation resistance in megaohms. If there is a fault or a leak, it will tell you. The cables and gear were always tested before being energized. Another important test in those big factories was for the counterpoise ground system. It requires a different tester but is important to affirm the building is anchored to earth ground plane for lightening protection. Counterpoise ground systems are also very important for electrical transmission systems, radio, microwave and cell towers. Not only for lightening protection but also for proper directional transmission of the signal. I found it better to rent the testers when needed than to own them. We rented from General Electric Rents, so we knew the meters were operational and certifiably calibrated when we used them. #2 A contactor draws the arc when opening under load and not so much when closing. Contactors at higher voltages and for large loads use a "blowout coil" around the contacts to extinguish the arc when opening before it consumes the contactor. Strange stuff, electricity. Colorless, odorless and invisible until you hit the switch. 💥😂

[@untitleduser666]

That special insulation meter charges and discharges an internal capacitor to 500-1000V to test resistance. Stellantis uses the Fluke 1587 (which costs about $1k and is thankfully supplied by the dealership). Isolation testing with that meter is also done before power-up when high-voltage components are replaced. The vehicles I've worked on have isolation resistances in the megaohm range (2.3M, 8.6M, etc.) and are tested at 500V.

[@nuworldman9280]

Great video, we need more mechanics like you that truly track down the issue. I was a mechanic for decades, but adjusting a carburetor on a 69 roadrunner doesn't touch today's technology

[@yofa42]

i work with heavy-duty EV's so this is all familiar to me. the dealer went the lazy route and assumed loss of isolation in battery pack, replace whole battery pack, but you've done well here, if you're at > 1000 kOhm isolation resistance test, you're golden, this is a good safe pack and car. sometimes, it really is just a software culprit that misreported the safety-critical numbers. by the way, the car's honking at you to tell you that you've closed the door with the keys inside.

[@mongo64071]

As more people get these things they are going to get screwed by lazy dealers who are likely to be the only ones who will service them. How does that “save “ money with EVs?

[@DieselRamcharger]

there is no such thing as a safe pack or safe EV. and you know it.

[@robertsmith2956]

ahhh. I thought it was a look at me I am green alert. The new cascadia trucks have the same annoying beep. LOL

[@billsmith5166]

@@DieselRamcharger Is there a car with a safe gas tank?

[@DieselRamcharger]

@@billsmith5166 yeah, all of them. Gasoline is hard to ignite, chemically stable and not at all explosive in our atmosphere. which is why engines require compression in order to "explode" even then, its still deflagration not detonation. Your ignorance of scientific fact is no excuse.

[@martyg3757]

Since the error messages occur mostly on damp wet days, I would have inspected the BECM’s connections for green crusties, and checked its powers and grounds too. Must be some simple reason for the unrecognized calibration message.

[@philh9238]

You have to drop the battery out to get to the becm. Average Joe won’t be able to do that at home then battery packs are heavy

[@201950201950]

It sounds like the proper tools are needed.

[@Phoen1x883]

30:00 "I don't know why I'd have one - it's a heavy thing that only seats four people - kind of a toy" What a failure of GM's marketing division, that someone who works on cars doesn't know what made the Volt great. Seats an entire family and cargo, does 90% of your driving on cheap electricity, and can still roadtrip across the country with zero advance notice or charging stops. GM built a crazy good EV and didn't bother to mention it to anyone.

[@constitutionalUSA]

Technology has out passed sanity.

[@davidkettell1073]

So why shit can them ,lack of profit ?

[@Phoen1x883]

@@davidkettell1073 Pretty much. Sedans are reasonably priced and subject to stricter regulations than SUVs (which are regulated like pickup trucks for goofy reasons). Why make a cheap, quality vehicle when you can push everyone into buying big, expensive SUVs?

[@NetworkPrototype]

@@davidkettell1073 My understanding is that they shut down the plant that manufactured them more than a profit incentive. We may end up seeing the volt return in 2025 or 2026. There are some who assert that GM was no longer getting tax breaks for this particular model, which could be equally true. Perhaps just a combination of everything.

[@geargeeks8955]

That was the worst part. Having no idea exhaust in the poisons are often used for suicide. Shows how devastating of a product that we give out to the public. So that part was actually ignorant

[@qemuandroid_8.144]

I sort of expected it to be fixed when I saw those much higher resistance values after you reprogrammed that battery module, and it would appear that those values are now sticking. Must've been some calibration that was off. Great job.

[@bills6093]

Wonder why it took 10 years for the calibration problem to show up?

[@jannepo]

@@bills6093 What is the date for TSB? Maybe something in the module doing the AC test degrades over time and the measurement becomes inaccurate? Perhaps an capacitor or some other component which does not age well. Instead of doing expensive battery replacement, they decided to change the calibration. Since we have this very odd fault showing the version of the calibration, maybe the previous tech did not update the module? We do not know. Ford / Volvo did this with Magneti Marelli ETM (Electronic Throttle Module) which wore out the potentiometers prematurely. They changed the program code to not to set code until most cars were out of warranty.

[@5ickBreeD]

You SIR are a scholar and a gentleman! The information you provided in this one video is 100 times more info than I have collected on my own scouring the internet and going through tons of blogs and volt sites. The bonus footage just saved me $1000 and the Bosch will save me thousands of dollars on upkeep. Something for all VOLT owners to remember is that some of the power charge cords have 30A and 20A glass fuses in them that can and do need to be replaced from time to time.$3560 quoted from my dealership on a couple codes and the car not charging for replacement of the inverter...$50 fixed it.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

That's fantastic! :)

[@thegrimmperspective]

Having owned (3) first generation Chevy Volts and a Cadillac ELR for a period over 10 years I can definitely say that these cars are very finicky to a healthy 12V battery. I've cleared many faults over the years simply by disconnecting the 12V battery for a period of 10-15 minutes. When doing so, was a perfect time to put the 12V battery on charger (AGM settings) and top it off. Make note of the SOH of the 12V battery as well. If this doesn't work, it could most definitely be time for a new 12V battery. Yes, the system is supposed to use the DC to DC converter to maintain the 12V battery but does a terrible job. These cars and their 12V batteries need to be placed on a portable 12V charger every 4-5 months in my opinion. That comes with approximately 250,000 miles in actual seat time in these cars.

[@michael.sierra]

My 2015 Volt is on the original 12V battery with no issues. I think people get too obsessed with replacing the 12V battery.

[@Guillotines_For_Globalists]

Check positive connections and grounds firstly for corrosion, paint, loose contact, etcetera. I think a lot of people fixate on the battery when other problems with the battery's system exist.

[@thegrimmperspective]

@@michael.sierra this is true but I had tested the battery in my 2014 ELR and it tested Okay. Took it to two other auto stores and tested okay as well. Used all my bag of tricks and still had multiple display issues showing on the DIC. Whether it was suspension issues or whatever. It didn't go away until I replaced the 12V battery.

[@tedmoss]

This sounds unusual, but I recommend all people put their 12 V. battery on a trickle charge when not using it. I do, they last for years.

[@thegrimmperspective]

@tedmoss I could have either of the 4 vehicles be used on my daily commute, 500 miles / week, plug in the vehicle all weekend long and still not have a 12V battery 100% charged. I don't know anyone that has the same level of experience with these vehicles as I do. 10 years worth of driving and a quarter of a million miles in the seat. I've even had a car charged all night long, drive 250 miles to see family and when I went to go out and show them our new ride, it wouldn't start. That was new vehicle with like less than 5K miles on it. The DC/DC converter does not to a good drive. I've done a lot of research when it comes to batteries and there are manufacturers that do suggest charging, on an independent charger, every 6 months to top them off.

[@garymoore3497]

Look , I am going to try to help you. 1. The low isolation resistance measurement, is caused by condensation. What i would have done , put that car on a lift, pull that drain plug, get a shop heater, and blow hot air into that battery pack for a few hours, and try to get it dried out ; completely. 2. Then, retest for isolation resistance. 3. Yes , you could measure the wiring "insolation" resistance, yes with a megger, but I wouldn't worry about it......... You just keep that battery pack dry on the inside, and you will be OK. ....

[@jbfalaska]

Spot on. Not driving enough to let the heat and cool clear moisture. Drive it more or it happens again

[@toddtonis]

Your point about being locked into the dealers is spot on. I had a 2013 Chevy Volt up until 2020 when I had the coolant pump for the main Hybrid battery fail. The dealer had to order the pump (under warranty) from GM and it took a month to get as GM had just announced 6 months prior to my service that they were no longer going to make the Chevy Volt. The dealer said that parts for the Volt were getting difficult to get and this was typical. After a month of waiting and the dealer unable to get any info from GM, the part came in, the dealer installed it, and I drove it for two days before trading it in on a ICE powered car NOT made by GM. The dealer was great, but GM was bad to deal with. It was obvious to me after this repair that the Volt service was just going to get more difficult and expensive if I had to rely on GM.

[@emerald640]

I would guess that you are a typical E V convert. Get an E V , over pay for it, use it until the battery is shot then find out there is no logical use for an E V with no battery as the battery is more expensive than the residual value of the car.

[@toddtonis]

Sorry, YOU are completely wrong on your assessment and opinions of me. Not surprised someone would post a comment like this on KZbin to get attention. I bought the car used at the bottom of the previous car market slump that happened several years ago for a very cheap price. The dealer had three of them and just wanted to get rid of them. When GM gave up on the hybrid EV market with the Volt I got rid of it as a fully functional with the battery capable of being fully charged. Traded in the car when the market was hungry for good clean vehicles and minimized my loss to less than $2k over the three+ years I had it. Hybrid EV's still make sense to me, but full EV's don't due to the lack of charging infrastructure in this country.@@emerald640

[@natehill8069]

Not sure who you are going to jump to. Ford craps all over consumers as well. I bought a Ford Transit and not only does the transmission NOT have a dipstick; to change the fluid and filter you have to - pull the transmission because the pan doesnt drop if the tranny is in the van (I suppose you could cut apart the chassis instead). Also to access the spark plugs (even just to check/gap them) you have to remove the intake manifold, which will entail a new gasket if you want to reinstall the intake. Dodge didnt see anything wrong with my Dakota brakes spontaneously locking up so theyre hardly the pinnacle of integrity either.

[@toddtonis]

Toyota would be who I would "jump" to. Although I'm already a Toyota owner who finds their quality outstanding producing mid-level vehicles. At the high end of hybrid vehicles, I've looked seriously at Porsche who have very sophisticated EV systems along with their gas engines being bullet-proof with long warranties. @@natehill8069

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

GM is Crooked. They discontinued the model so they could have an excuse to stop making parts making people think the only option is to buy a new car

[@12voltvids]

Had the isolation cone up on my 2012 about 10 years ago. GM took apart all the hv connectors and brought out an engineer from Detroit to check it. Couldn't find any reason it tripped. Rese it. 10 years later the car runs perfect. Over 200,000 miles of trouble free driving. Still get about 33 miles per charge. Have had all the hybrid control and becm updates. Will have to spend some money soon as a wheel bearing is getting loud but as far as the battery, electronics and engine goes it has been prefect except a burp when it was a year old. Happened incidentally while I was poking around using the app my green volt. The elm327 obd reader was plugged in and dealer thinks that is what initially set the isolation connectivity code.

[@davidkettell1073]

I GET ALMOST THE SAME MILAGE FROM A GALLON OF GAS IN MY 2004 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY WITH MORE CARGO SPACE THAN A MODERN PICKUP TRUCK AND ENOUGH SEATS FOR HALF THE KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

[@12voltvids]

1 gallon of gas in my volt will go 42 miles. Gas is what these days about 4.50 a gallon. The battery range is 52 miles before the engine cuts in. That uses 13 kwh of electricity. Electricity here at night when I charge js .06 per kwh. $0.78 of electricity to go 52 miles. No matter how you try to spin it you are not doing that in any other vehicle and I can run gas when the battery is empty. No waiting around to recharge.

[@tiredoldmechanic1791]

The meter you need is a megohmmeter called a megger for short. They are used to check for insulation breaking down under high voltages in electric motors. The meter can produce a high voltage at very low current. There are a variety of them available from around $50 to over $1,000. The Klein ET600 is a pretty good one for under $200. The problem showing up in damp weather might be caused by dampness in the charging port. I've wondered about the possibility of water getting into those connectors. It seems like they should be placed with a downward angle. The charging port could be damaged and need to be replaced.

[@mikebuffing727]

The ones we use in our factory to test IR of cables are almost $7k ea. and there’s even more expensive ones.

[@alsavage1]

He mentioned @28:35 that ". . . most meters only go to 20Mohm . . . " and he's probably thinking like I am: my Fluke 1507 is a dedicated insulation test instrument, but it tops out at 20Mohm too, which has been adequate for other EV insulation testing tasks, such as leaking stators on EV drive units; clearly, it's inadequate for GM's test spec for this procedure. I guess I now have an excuse to get a "better" insulation tester :) Thanks for the tip on the Klein ET600. [later] I was wrong: the 1507 will measure to 20kohm, but performs an insulation test up to 10Gohm.

[@jamesvandamme7786]

@@alsavage1 You need to put high voltage on it to see if it breaks down. Like an MOV breaks down at HV spikes but doesn't conduct at 120VAC.

[@alsavage1]

@@jamesvandamme7786 Yes, agreed. And, the Fluke 1507, 1577, 1587 all apply that higher voltage during the test (you manually choose from 250/500/1000 etc.). That's how megohmeters work ;) And he said most only go to 20Mohm, which isn't incorrect, from the datasheets I recently reviewed.

[@ronduthaler4383]

I took my charging port off and dyed it out with a heat gun and the megs came up, reinstalled it and no more problem.

[@ericcindycrowder7482]

Interesting video. So many things to unpack. Why would someone have a gen1 Volt? How about having to purchase gasoline once every 3-6 months? Having the ability to wake up every morning with a full “tank”. Having the ability to drive as far as you want with the built in range extender? I bought a 2011 when it was new and almost 13 years later it’s still my daily driver. I’m pretty sure you fixed it, reprogramming BECM calibration was the fix. GM reduced the sensitivity in the isolation test in the latest calibration because it was originally too sensitive to loss of isolation. This all happened because in November 2011, NHTSA did crash test, and about a week after the crash test, the Volt caught fire. Everyone in the media made a huge deal about this, there was even a meeting in congress. GM over reacted a little afterwards. The problem is in the crash, coolant lines broke in the battery, coolant leaked into the high voltage portion of the BECM PCB. After the coolant evaporated off of the PCB, it left an electrically conductive residue on the PCB which caused a high voltage short to ground and ignited a fire. For a fix, Chevy dealers removed batteries in early 2011 Volts and installed a strengthening bracket to minimize damage to high voltage battery in a crash. They also installed a silly anti-tamper device on top of the battery coolant reservoir to prevent the car owner from topping up the reservoir. This was to see if there was a coolant leak inside the battery they didn’t want the bottle to be topped up. They were really afraid of coolant leaking inside the battery. They were over reacting. They also added the level sensor to the reservoir in the early Volts. These days much all the Chevy dealers have abandoned the Volt. Most of the trained techs have left years ago. When they quoted the 10gs, they just didn’t want to deal with that weird car. It was a take it away price. Anyhow I love my volt, and has also been almost trouble free for 13 years.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

How many miles on it?

[@chappell721]

yeah, Volts are great vehicles. I have a 2018 with about 60k miles on it. I've had zero issues with it and the running costs are low. my normal driving is within the normal EV range so I don't burn much gas and the car was only $22.5k new after rebates and discounts. $22.5 for a liftback sedan that seats 5 and features a nice-ish leather interior and gets a realized 80 mpg was a no-brainer. it's also worth pointing out that the car is marginally heavier than other compacts. The Volt weighs about 3500 pounds vs 3000-3400 for most other cars in the class. GM did a really good job with the overall platform development. It's a shame that market adoption was what it was. The new Prius PHEV has gotten rave reviews but what they've built is basically a Volt. this diagnosis doesn't seem particularly difficult or very different from what you'd go through with a pure ICE vehicle. following the service bulletin likely resolved the issue but the voltec powertrain is an orphan (there are 200k examples in NA and that's it). Finding a technician/dealer that wants to work on this stuff is going to be a challenge moving forward. it also never ceases to amaze me at how bad many mechanics are at doing anything other than swapping out brake pads

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

@@chappell721 most anything 6 years old at 60k miles should still run like new. I'm curious how the Volt will hold up at 20 years 200k miles... 🤔

[@aaron7671]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnosticsmine has 185k miles still works fine. I know theres one documented with over 450k miles. They are over engineered when it comes to the computers and electronics, but the drivetrain is solid and very rarely has issues. The rocker panels on these cars tend to leave the chat after some MN winters as the sideskirts hold all the shit in

[@alasdair4161]

I'd be inclined to poke a few bags of dessicant into that drain port then seal it up. They will absorb any residual moisture trapped inside the battery case. One thing with these cars, when the battery is hot during normal running, driving through puddled water that can spray off the tyres will quickly chill the warm casing causing a slight pressure drop inside. It will then equalize the pressure by drawing outside air in, in most cases damp air, then the condensation cycle will begin.

[@shermanmaddoxrcpc774]

Where I use to work the system we used for isolation tests was called a Hipot Meg Ohmer operated at very high voltage. You had to be patient for the cycle to finish or it would bite you like crazy! 😳

[@rkan2]

Yeah, that is a meter not to put your hands across...

[@duffershank]

Not sure if you're reading comments, but I have this same issue on my 2012 volt. I too came to the conclusion that the easiest fix is having a code reader handy to reset when this happens, but I've been unlucky trying to locate one that will reset this code. Is there a code reader you would recommend?

[@KarlAdamsAudio]

Did the BECM calibration download change the behaviour of the isolation test? It was after your reprogramming of the BECM that the measured isolation resistance increased from around 250k to 1M. Was that TSB essentially adding a 'fudge factor' to make the isolation test less fussy?

[@major__kong]

As an engineer and tinkerer, I approve this message. Sounds like something I would do.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Sounds plausible!

[@bryanlatimer-davies1222]

Do not worry about failing the test. We just lower the standards !

[@shag139]

Ha…early versions is where you determine the test limits to ignore nuisance “fails”.

[@normt430]

Has the traction battery coolant had it's 5-year flush? This could help with isolation in a an EV battery.

[@AutoAuctionRebuilds]

I just bought a 2016 Cadillac ELR with the same codes for $12,500. Thank you for this video I’ll use it when the car arrives!

[@razoraz]

Man, that is a deal. Must have been at auction? Most of the 2016s are going for around $21k+ right now. They made some nice improvements that final year of production, yet still only managed to sell around 500 of them. Absolutely the sharpest-looking car Cadillac ever designed; based on my very satisfied 10-year 150k mi experience with my Volt so far, I might have to get one of those as my next car.

[@TheBROY123]

The isolation meter induces high voltage to test the resistance of the circuit. Its an expensive meter that puts out a lot of voltage for its test the wires

[@Shadow_Banned_Conservative]

I had this problem on my 2014 ELR almost 2 years back. I ended up finding the TSB on-line, then went and got the programming tool off of Amazon for $100, the subscription from GM for $40, and I never had the problem again. One thing I did notice though is that my range discharge capacity went down after the updated calibration, so something changed about how it works. I used to be able to pull 12.7KWh out of the battery, now I'm limited to 10.0KWh. I was initially worried as I was just 60 days out of my battery warranty but found I could just clear the code and charge the battery each time while I was troubleshooting. That reminds me, I believe my subscription runs out this summer. Probably need to plug it in again to see if there are any calibration updates for the car.

[@froggmann01]

Welcome to my struggle about 2 years ago. 2014 Volt, still in warranty but had this code. Made appointments with 2 dealers to have it looked at just to find they didn't have any "certified" mechanics anymore. Ended up doing my research, got a knock-off GM ODB-II adapter (VCX) and the GM tech connect software, a week after they re-vamped it. Took me a month and a half off and on to get the VCX to work properly. Finally re-flashed the BCM and got rid of the code. Being this was the third and final time the car "Bricked" on me, I sold it 6 months later and bought a 18 year old Tundra. I did enjoy the Volt but knowing there wasn't much support for them and knowing the clock was ticking on the battery prompted me to sell it and get the truck. Not to mention, I like holding onto vehicles for 10 years+ Really can't do that with an EV or PHEV, or at least it's not smart.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Hah I like to keep cars for 30+ years until they rust to pieces 😆

[@froggmann01]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics Californian here. What is this rust thing you guys keep talking about? If a vehicle is good I hold onto it. Rolling on 25 years with my 93 bronco. 12 years with our 01 highlander etc.

[@rossr6616]

has your tundra thrown that P1445 yet?

[@horacesawyer2487]

froggmann: on the Volt are you saying if you reflash the BCM or perhaps other modules too, the car will eventually lock you out and refuse to operate? To the point even the blessed Dealer can't unlock it? I need to call a Doc for a scrip after hearing your comment.

[@lancereagan3046]

Our 2016 Chevy Volt is in the shop for a battery control module failure. Parts currently on back order with no eta on shipment. Chevy told us it could even be months. In one of the Volt forums, other owners stated that Chevy has known about this ongoing problem and kept it from customers. Apparently the NHTSA is posturing for class action but that has not been formalized or announced yet.

[@lancenutter1067]

I bought a 2017 Chevy Bolt a while ago. Has 80,000 miles on it now. Love the car. But, when I first got it, wouldn’t level 1 charge. Turns out, best as I can tell, a dog (or something) chewed the low level charge cord and shorted it out, then shorted out about 4000$ worth of electronics in the car. I think the PO traded it in and hadn’t told anyone. Anyway, bought it from a Lithia dealership and they honored the 100% warranty, and had the whole thing repaired (by a separate Chevy dealership) at no cost to me. I get that it’s a second gen technology. The car now has a brand new battery, also part of the recall the cars had a few years ago, so I have 9 years warranty on that. Anyway, I am a long time mechanic and love cars. This is one of my favorite cars of all, but am also aware of the new tech and some of the pitfalls it may have. Drove it 160 miles round trip to the airport last night to pick up a relative for a visit and cost me about 3$. I estimate when I charge at home (which is all I do really), costs me 3 cents a mile to drive vs. my F350 at 45 cents a mile. All good! I’m happy with the car.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

They're OK when "new"...post an update after 10 years and 180k miles :)

[@lancenutter1067]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics oh I agree… it’s a basically brand new tech, so time will definitely tell. The good thing is, I have almost no money into this thing with some motorcycle wheeling and dealing, and a rebate, and a tax break, so if it goes bad, I’m not out much. Sure do like it tho and, it’s mostly made and designed in Korea so I think it’s really good quality. GM has done a good job with the Bolt.

[@ercost60]

Good sleuthing. GM rushed the Volt into production before thinking it through these PITA issues. It's ridiculous that customers are paying the price for that now. $10K for that tiny hybrid battery is more than the bigger battery in the battery-only Nissan Leaf.

[@jfv65]

Interesting car. Over in Europe we know it as the Opel Ampera. I actually did a testdrive in one a few years ago. Decided to buy a Toyota hybrid instead because of the high price for the Volt/Ampera. I did like it a lot tho.

[@Xsiondu]

Here's a thought. The cool mornings is the thing that stuck out to me. Perhaps the atmosphere in the battery pack is saturated moisture and when heated is off the surface but when of cold down and settles on the surface. Perhaps a nitrogen purge is recommended.

[@firstielasty1162]

The air reaches the dew point, in other words. Below which...condensation!

[@rhkips]

I've run into that SPS2 "Unknown Calibration" issue a few times, difference being I'm typically addressing replaced modules, and I have to let the bus go to sleep for ~30 minutes for the rest of the vehicle to recognize the programming. The only other time I've seen the "Unknown Calibration" issue is when a shop installed a used/junkyard module off a different year/make, but same platform, but in that case, it absolutely would not accept programming, and the module did not function. These vehicles are not common in my market, and I've only addressed two BECM replacements. The module lives at the front right of the vehicle and is very susceptible to deer hits. Kind of also a bad location for snow/road salt issues, if covers and panels are compromised.

[@tedmoss]

GM really knows how to make a car last only until the warranty expires.

[@xmerwyndtheroninrogue1097]

As a retire navy electronics technician, the instrument for testing insulation resistance is call a Megohm meter. It generates up to 500 / 1000 VDC, you crank its generator which charges voltage multiplier circuits measure between insulation and ground. I retired before you came into existence, so the modern "meggers" will probably use a different system to deliver the high voltage needed to test insulation. most wires in the US are rated foe 600 vdc. Have a great day enjoy your videos in the Philippines.

[@DadsGarageDiagnosticSpecialist]

This is typically what I see. The BECM programming fixes 9 out of 10 of them. If the code comes back after the programming you’ll definitely need the MegaOhm meter…. Almost never see them come back with problems. Edit: One more thing I’d add is the pressure and vacuum test the cooling system for added assurance there isn’t a leak.

[@civicowner07]

Ivan You need a special multimeter, which is a mega ohmeter because its a 400volt system. A normal ohmeter can't put out 400 volts so the insulation test wouldn't be accurate.

[@tedmoss]

There are ways to test without high Voltage. Try a Megger brand. Up to 500 Volt. but very high resistance.

[@civicowner07]

@tedmoss no matter the brand it is still called a mega ohmeter, and it works by injecting high voltage through the system and measuring resistance. I work on EVs daily and an insulation test is pretty common

[@jth1699]

As other guys say the meter you need is called a megometer - or megger for short - the main difference between your ohm meter and a megger is the voltage applied to the insulation - your normal dmm only uses the 9 volt battery where the megger can apply various different voltages - in your case it called for application at 500 volts - the output of a megger is usually DC - generally when you use a megger for a maintenance test you use two times the operating voltage - the thing to remember about voltage is voltage is pressure - that's why your 9 volt battery will not show any bad insulation where the 500 volt range will show the insulation is shot - you might as well get you a megger and get schooled up on it because these high voltage motors and power systems on cars will require it - and one thing you MUST remember about meggers they apply whatever voltage to the wires you hook it up to - so make real sure there is no way to let the applied high voltage test reach the low voltage control wire - lots of electricians have blown up lots of controls by not isolating whatever they are testing - I am a retired master electrician/ power generation tech and used to manufacture custom control packages - so I have been working with meggers - power and control systems for decades - your a smart guy so get you a megger and learn how to use it - these high voltage cars will require it - I have a feeling as these cars age along with the self test programing they put in place - there will be lots of work finding high voltage insulation leaks - good luck

[@danwat1234]

It's a workhorse, best vehicle i have ever used for daily driving and food deliveries. No reverse gear so quickly maneuverable. Cup holders have removable liners for cleaning soda spills. There are 3rd party options to get refurbished battery packs. Can actually reflash modules to give this car more performance, the performance of a 2014 Cadillac ELR. Neat!

[@teardowndan5364]

Clearing HVDC isolation faults to keep charging would be a road to an eventual battery fire if you don't find what causes the fault to pop up, assuming it wasn't just a calibration error. The fancy isolation meter is because resistance through insulation doesn't necessarily behave the same at 2-8V that a normal multi-meter puts out and 500-1000-2000V that an insulation tester uses to make sure the insulation is actually able to block high voltages. Anything under 300V can be blocked by a 0.05mm air gap, not much of an electrical insulation test.

[@davidabineri908]

Ivan, Yes, it's a heavy toy BUT really practical. I have an EV and also a few solar panels so that It costs me nothing, after this investment, to NOT buy gas and to Not have to pay for any fuel for the car. AND, all I need to worry about are tires and winshield wipers as replacement items (NO oil changes, NO exhaust replacement etc). Yes, eventually the battery may need to be replaced but I am using my gas and electric savings to be ready for that day. AND, as electric power generation becomes less polluting (wind/solar), my car, therefore, becomes less polluting!

[@bones007able]

Dealers mechanics are nothing but glorified parts changers ... thinking is not allowed by the owners of the dealerships....

[@billkraemer4710]

Partially because those mechanics never face the customers. The ones that do usually open their own shops and deserve the business. I am still driving an 05’ Dodge Ram and a an 06 Acura TL. I have no need for a new POS from any company.

[@jaywhy2016]

I use to work for a dealer and the problem is that they want a high turnover rate. I was usually only given 0.5hr to diagnose a problem. By the time you hook up the scanner, scan for codes and look up the info, your 1/2 hour is used up, but you are expected to give an answer to the customer. There was no way that I would be given time work on a car for 3 days, unless it was a warranty issue

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

@@jaywhy2016 Exactly. It's a broken system!

[@smh988]

Not my area of experience, but, seems to me this resistance check is a safety feature/requirement/mandate to mitigate the potential for arcing/fires/ battery explosions from shorts and/or faults. I do have experience with small and large battery plants and caution you to be very very (very!) careful around any dc voltage from about 90 vdc, up. Use *only insulated tools (they're stupid expensive) or wrap in layers with electrical tape. Personally, I also always wore a type of thin, flexible, non-conductive glove.

[@tedmoss]

Yeah, you really have to know what you are doing to work on electricity. I have done it all my life, and only made three mistakes. I used an uninsulated wrench on a 115 VDC battery, the magnetic field threw the wrench across the room when I dropped it, the short put a nice arc burn on the wrench. I got to close to a live HF transmitter coil 450 VDC (50,000 VAC) when I was 14 years old, burned a hole in my thumb and last, had my Spidel watch band on when I put my arm under the dash of a truck with a 24 V battery, causing it to short and heat up red hot, and burned my two fingers on the other hand ripping it off. I am 80 now and still working and trying to stay alive.

[@brandonsnider7907]

Very expensive indeed. The Fluke 1587 is over $1k

[@teekay_1]

"they're stupid expensive" You can get a nice set of Wiha electrical tools that are certified for under $60.

[@smh988]

Yes however we had to use code-appeoved tools. All Fluke, FlLIR, and etc. Was the price of doing business with the government.

[@garyalford9394]

Don't worry these cars are Biden & Grandholms folly !!!

[@robinsonsmotorcycleandauto3929]

That Topscan dongle will work on as many makes you want. Just need to Download all ones you want to be able to scan. I know some have had success on these Volts adding a Chassis Ground strap. If they do have problem again reach out to Isaac he is a EV trainer/Guru on these

[@frnkjones40]

Is turning on your location MANDATORY for everything light the ThinkDiag dongle?

[@ckm-mkc]

@@frnkjones40 Topdon is generally a scammy company - if you try to resell one of their scanners, they will file a takedown accusing you of copyright fraud. Ask me how I know....

[@johnhaller5851]

​@@frnkjones40On Android, location has to be enabled to use Bluetooth, as the program could theoretically look for Bluetooth beacons at known locations, and deduce the location from that. Android 12 added a new permission to find nearby devices that some applications can use. If you could pair the device outside of the app, it might not need location, but that's the typical way these dongles are connected on Android. Apple does Bluetooth a different way, so the app probably doesn't need location.

[@frnkjones40]

@@johnhaller5851 I also have the OBD LINK MX+ dongle. Once It is setup it just works. No permissions needed. Location has nothing to do with its operation.

[@golfish8589]

If you start the car and open the hood. The car goes into service mode. And the engine will run. Put the car in mountain mode and the battery will charge to 50%

[@Land2020-w6w]

Ivan, I truely believe that you are such a gifted person and also with this vid I am sure you will get more people coming to you with their EV. Beyond amazing talent. Dave in Guernsey, Channel Islands 7,500 miles from you.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Thank you for your support Dave! So far I have not really enjoyed working on Hybrids or EVs that much... maybe because they are so boring to drive haha

[@gmv0553]

​@@PineHollowAutoDiagnosticshow is an ev boring to drive? The performance is something an ice vehicle cannot duplicate!

[@tallbrian100]

Worked in a food plant where they were cleaning all the time. Spraying things down with sanitizer foam and water. No mater how well you sealed things up water and chemicals got into control cabinets, connectors, and the like. Most things did not have any monitoring for leakage currents so the only indication was things not working or they went boom. We had a lot of VFDs and they would get unhappy when things got wet, either disconnect switches or the motors themselves. The would through over current or ground faults.

[@tedmoss]

Its even more interesting trying to find open connections when dampness causes connections to fail, like open ground returns.

[@topher8634]

Smart idea charging it outside away from your house!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I don't trust them 🤣

[@topher8634]

Me neither. I don't trust them enough to drive/ride in them just yet. It's a 2000 pound lithium bomb.

[@anguslean4058]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnosticsFire Hot

[@rickchowsr2532]

Better idea. Don’t buy one

[@jptrainor]

Someone in my neighborhood has a Chevy Bolt. He charges it on the street using an extra long extension cable stretched across his lawn. We all have to drive around it and watch out for the open charge port door. It's the suburbs. We all have driveways and garages. Hmmm??!!??!

[@jimh6763]

It beeps because it thinks you exited the car when opened and closed the door and left the key inside

[@bullbutter9699]

If a car can’t last 20 years it ain’t a car it’s a massive liability

[@DaddyBeanDaddyBean]

In the salty frozen wastelands of northern PA and upstate NY, cars often rot away before they get anywhere near 20 years old.

[@t.s.racing]

I totally agree Sir, in fact that should be the minimum. I have a Engineering colleague with one of the Big 3. He said, don't quote me but we design with a life expectancy of 7 years. It's been that way for more than 2 decades.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

@@DaddyBeanDaddyBean hey my rusty 1989 Mazda MPV begs to differ... 35 years in the rust belt and still driving! 😜

[@DaddyBeanDaddyBean]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics It's a unicorn!

[@anguslean4058]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics My 2007 Volvo XC 90 Lives it’s life in the driveway of Northern PA It has no rust Volvo did it right

[@10100rsn]

If its not the high-voltage battery pack itself... My two guesses are one mild and one wild. 1) Check the low-voltage battery. If there is a bad connection to the 12v battery or cold weather with a bad 12v battery then it might fail the test, but there were no codes for it so that's probably not it. The more wild guess... kind of out there... 2) The resistance value should always be in the megaohms and should be stable between tests. If its lower or varying then it might have a short somewhere in the wiring or the electric motor/transmission needs a fluid change because it was overfilled or the fluid has just become so saturated with metal from wear on the gears and clutch packs it has become conductive... Conductive transmission fluid in an overfilled transmission that has high-voltage motor connections could cause a lower resistance during the tests when the fluid is cold. Colder transmission fluid will allow the metal particles to be closer together and give lower resistance, warmer transmission fluid would move the metal particles further apart which would account for the variations in readings. And if its overfilled it might be getting that slightly conductive fluid on the high voltage connections to the transmission/electric motor... I have seen something similar happen in electric power steering motors that used sealed brushed motors. The brushes wear out and the conductive dust from the brushes has nowhere to go and starts shorting inside the motor causing the controller to shutdown. Oh, it was a Chevy, too. ;)

[@adotintheshark4848]

You probably know this, but any EV/hybrid that requires a J72 connection, can take any interface that uses that standard. You may want to buy a J72-interface cord for future testing. They're not that expensive. Also, they often feature 220v charging as well if the car supports it.

[@RowanHawkins]

Fyi the volt supports 240v ac charging which gives it about 4KWH charge rate to its 6kw battery. It doesn't support DC charging. But 240 will charge it in a few hours. Also the proper way to disconnect the charger is from the car first. The trigger is a mechanical interlock which presses a button on the cars' connector telling it a charging device is attached. Within a few microseconds of the trigger releasing the voltage to the car is removed which safes the plug

[@crsp76691]

My 17 is going strong. Replaced becm warranty, touch screen control module warranty. Front struts, oil pan gasket leaked when new and dealer fixed that. Been great

[@RobertHope-d1m]

This was clearly a warning for any existing or prospective EV owner. I can't believe your patience in going thru this, particularly for a guy who just did his first ev plug in charge! Amazing knowhow and fluidity with the scanner. Wow!!

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

Exactly! Let alone all the other downsides, this is probably the biggest downside.

[@Cheepchipsable]

Yes, ICE cars NEVER have any kind of issues...

[@telx2010]

@@Cheepchipsable ICE cars have their issues but at least they don't cost you 80% of the vehicles value for a new battery every few years.

[@ckm-mkc]

@@telx2010 Tell that to all the Kia people who paid for engine replacements.... This is just new tech that everyone is getting used to. At some point there will be specialist repair places (like Electrified Garage) just like we have for ADAS now. Besides, batteries are typically covered 7-10 years depending one where you live.

[@jannepo]

@@ckm-mkc KIAs have took the place of Trabant -like engine reliability after 2015. Sorry to say this, but the cut too many corners and produced too many bad engines. That's why I so harsh. There are also decent KIA's but..

[@kens97sto171]

Great video... The fact that the Ohms number was different after you worked on it... 200Ohms vs the 1000 ohms or so,, later.. maybe the calibration was off and the update in software fixed it. Glad its working for the customer.

[@erickphd]

I ordered one of those Topdon units this morning, and Amazon had a $20 coupon making it $60. Turns out the thing runs for free for one year then $50/year to update it. I'd imagine if you don't activate it upon receipt it gets a year after that is done, but will update this comment if different. Update: got module yesterday, setup was quick, scanned my '21 Ford Escape Titanium (with more modules than "Carter has liver pills") and all was good (as I expected). Printed report over WiFi for reference. Really a nice tool to keep in the glove box!

[@skysurferuk]

Yeah, I've just spotted that. Sneaky!

[@gianfrancoa]

@@skysurferuk The update will be needed to scan newer 2024 cars, if you don;t update you will be able to scan all pre 2023 cars

[@fredshead3956]

Hi Ivan just thinking outside the box, as far as i understand it the HT Battery is around 400 to 600 volts DC, on the back of the engine is a 3 phase starter generator, and connected to the drive shafts is a motor/generator, 3 phase, and the heart of the system really is the inverter, it has 2 leads coming in from the HT battery and 3 outputs of 3 phase HT, the 12v battery is charged from the HT one via an inverter 14 volt output, assuming the engine starts you would have to assume the generator on the engine is prob working, i just wondered is you could check the voltages here and there, if you put a 600 volt meter across the battery the voltage ought to go up when the engine is running, and you should get AC voltage on the 3 phase inverter leads etc, as i understand it the battery is made up of a lot of 3 or 5 volt cells all connected in series to make the voltage up, somtimes those cells go faulty some of them,, and i believe there air cooled with and air filter and electric fan system...so hope that helps a bit..Fred in Uk.

[@calholli]

Since you were able to charge it after deleting the codes.. Worse case scenario, the guy could just get a cheap scantool and delete the code every time he needs to charge. it's one more step, but at least you can still use your car. (I'm only 8mins in.. Lets see what happens)

[@jamesbizelli8568]

I thought the same thing

[@calholli]

@@jamesbizelli8568 He ended up advising the same thing by the end of the video. :)

[@kevin9c1]

The honking is GM speak for "hey you left your keyfob in the car, dummy.". They have done this since 2005 or so since the introduction of keyless ignition in the 2005 Cadillac STS (I had one).

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I assume the owner had a spare inside the car because it honked at me even if I took the fob with me lol

[@brucherrin8947]

10,000 $ module calibration? What a bargain🤪

[@mytickets]

I really appreciate you and your tenacity and willingness to share You're the kind of person that I can take information from and understand and interpret many are not at that level or maybe I am not at their level thank you

[@mikeafa1]

I'm really curious about the ground connections.

[@gasauto1675]

HybridBatteries do not connect to the Ground

[@jptrainor]

The high voltage battery doesn't share ground with the low voltage (12 volt) battery. It's totally isolated. The car's built in isolation tests verify that isolation.

[@mikeafa1]

@gasauto1675 so they are isolated.? But Ivan's diagnosis did refer to check some ground and the desired resistance to ground. Module or system wiring then?

[@jptrainor]

​@@mikeafa1The isolation test measures impedance between the low voltage ground (the car's body) and the high voltage battery. It should be infinite in theory (extremely high in reality). The passenger has no electrocution risk as long as there is no closed circuit back to the high voltage battery.

[@JA-rc4uy]

1996 Nissan hardbody pickup, pretty much everything but the wheels has fallen off but it drives like a dream! Even 4x4 still works!

[@pt6423]

Ivan, just to note if you plug in an EV unravel the power cable completely or it will over heat due to Eddy currents. Good to see you work on Evs. Keep up the good work. Greetings from UK.

[@major__kong]

I was thinking the same thing. But I don't have experience with EVs. Is AC or DC going to the car after the power supply? For AC, yes, the cord being wrapped is effectively an inductor, and you'll waste some power and make heat because of that. If it's DC coming out, it's just creating a weak electromagnet.

[@jptrainor]

Interesting point.

[@tedmoss]

@@major__kong Pretty much has to be AC, most of the equipment is in the car. It is a low-level charger. I wouldn't worry about eddy currents though; do you worry about such things in your house wiring? Extension cords? (Welders don't use extension cords, that might be a problem there). I would think the resistance of the wire would heat it up more than eddy currents.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

Very interesting. Would have been funny if the spool melted and shorted out...just stuff it back in the trunk like nothing happened xD

[@major__kong]

@@tedmoss A friend was wondering why his table saw was running slow. I pointed out that the extension cord was still coiled. After he uncoiled it, back to full speed. And it isn't eddy currents. Those are tiny, swirly currents on the surface. It's current in a wire loop acting like an inductor that's causing the problem. And, no, I don't worry about this in my house wiring. I didn't install the romex in a multiturn loop. Straight runs only 🙂

[@truracer20]

The insulation multi meter is checking the resistance of the insulation. The high voltage battery isn't connected with the chassis ground. It's testing for electrical leaks and doing it with high voltage supplied by the meter.

[@mikehonda7934]

My opinion, I would mention start with getting a better wall charger that suits his charging needs, and unplug when finished charging and parked for periods at a time after a test. Test to see how much battery charge you loose after parking for a week if possible off the charger, and document it. If it's enough to where you can do a two days without charging, it would be better on the life of the battery over charging every day. Do a safe couple of discharge and recharges to recondition the batteries as well. Just and idea.

[@stephanecampeau9814]

Hi, I fix those cars daily. Those 2011 and 2012 are prone to have issue with the high voltage battery leaking cells. The front of the high voltage battery have some weak contactor terminals at the circuit board and cause a isolation fault to. So the problem can be the front of the battery or the complete battery because of the leaking cells. If the customer want to fix it for less of the dealer estimate, may be he can look for a good use one. I usualy, if it is available, put a 2014 or 2015 battery pack. Cause those are better quality. You can put a use one and program the becm to match the software of the 2012. Thanks. If you want more info on electric car, feel free to contact me.

[@bralik111]

How can I contact you? Having a terrible time, apparently GM can't erase the svce high voltage system error...

[@Law_Abiding_Citizen_ok]

Brave man there Ivan… charging an EV ( with known battery problem!) overnight ( unattended) in your internal ( to your home) garage😳 or did it get relegated to outdoors👍

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I moved it outdoors away from my garage and other cars so I could sleep at night LOL

[@yofa42]

as for the isolation resistance test, isolation resistance is the measure by which we know the high voltage system is isolated from the chassis/low voltage system. so, we want ~1000 kOhm resistance between anything low voltage and high voltage. high voltage systems should not be using common chassis ground, like a low voltage system does, for its negative side, so the entire high voltage system should be strongly separated from the low voltage circuitry. there are a few ways to measure or monitor this variable, but yes, any time it drops low, 275 kOhm would be pretty low, you would want to disable the HV system and save the occupants from injury. any HV-application multimeter would be able to measure this variable for you. you would essentially put one pin on HV-negative, and the other on chassis ground, and perform the test. with my Fluke meter, it will inject up to 1000 V (no amps, no watts) into the HV circuit, monitor for a leak over to the chassis ground, return a reading in terms of kOhm resistance between the 2. 550 MOhm is not out-of-range for a proper HV multimeter, and would be a good number when the whole system is disabled and even more strongly insulated from the vehicle chassis. it appears the Volt is doing an A/C voltage injection and monitoring for the measurement, which is another valid way of doing it, particularly while the vehicle is running, and your calibration update improved that measurement system for more robust outputs.

[@simonilett998]

Heavy EV's make great paper weights for the owners large stack of inevitable repair invoices and diagnostic reports...but that's about all they're good for😁👍

[@Guillotines_For_Globalists]

They're also incredibly "good" for propaganda.

[@tedmoss]

Except a Tesla.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

@@tedmoss I'm curious about the total cost of Tesla ownership over let's say 20 years vs a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry... And you have to add $100/hr you waste at charging stations too ;)

[@simonilett998]

@@tedmoss Tesla's are probably the biggest waste of space and resources on the planet🤣👎

[@jamesvandamme7786]

@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics Charge at home. It takes ten seconds to plug in, and you'll pay a quarter of what you used to pay for gas. Hybrids like this Volt were an OK compromise, but nowadays you don't need to drag around a whole redundant power train, or maintaining or fixing it. The Japanese are pushing them, because the have years of experience but they're years behind in EVs.

[@rtewnde]

The special multimeter is required because the measurement is carried out at a voltage of 500V. You can use an insulation tester for household installations that can also measure at 500V.

[@2nickles647]

A special multimeter. Now it needs a Special qualified technician to test the vehicle. And very special tools. If you are not specially trained. Don't buy the Special vehicles.

[@Guillotines_For_Globalists]

@@2nickles647 A "special" technician paid only $15 an hour to potentially electrocute themselves with every E.V. P.O.S. sounds like an extremely lucrative career prospect! Thank you, comrades!

[@tedmoss]

@@2nickles647 Or you could do what most people in the world do, make enough money to afford to hire someone that knows how. I do everything myself, but I am getting old (80). But I get your point, help is on the way with AI.

[@jamesvandamme7786]

@@2nickles647 I'm looking at a Chinese megohmmeter/insulation tester for $45. People are going to have to learn how to do basic electrical tests. And you won't need your timing lights or compression gauges.Time marches on.

[@psychodad1961]

Ivan and coffee. Life is good

[@TNT-projects]

I think that you have found two things to check and monitor , the insulation to ground and the drain moisture level. Should be useful to the owner. It might be that parking an a garage or under a shelter might help the owner. Or they could make the decision to clear codes and trade in. If the drain plug was plastic you could add ( melt in) copper pins that could be tested with a 2 meg ohm insulation meter ?

[@xanderlander8989]

I see these around for under 5k running fine at 200k miles. They seem like a good alternative to a Prius.

[@amundsen575]

The EV revolution is over!, the EV nightmare continues

[@BenjaminPacker-f1s]

Thanks for the advice with the Topdon scanner. It cleared my dtc so I can charge my volt again.

[@bigredjeep40]

I know it's been a while since you worked on this Volt and posted this video. I wanted to chime in and say what the problem likely is / was. The BECM has a bit error in its internal memory. This will allow the module to accept a reflash, and report back the correct strategy version number. But the bit error will cause an incorrect internal checksum to be generated, which won't agree with the checksum stored in the scanner, and cause that 'unrecognized software' message. The factory where I used to work makes the BECM unit. Our internal factory tests would identify that memory error, and route the unit for repair. This Volt's BECM was obviously made after I retired ;).

[@ATSNorthernMI]

I used to repair laptops and PC's for a living and you couldn't believe the amount of times people would drop off their laptop without the charging cord. Then I'd have people dropping their PC's off with the power cord. I would sometimes forget to give the cord back to them and they would be kinda mad when they'd have to drive back up to the shop to pick their power cord up. If you leave a keyfob in the car when you leave, it will chirp the horn to let you know your car or truck is in "Steal me mode".

[@scrappy7571]

We get vehicles here for a tire rotation, and the wheel lock key is nowhere to be found. After playing hide and seek, ask the customer and they have the key at home. Friggin idiots.

[@Teenagegoogoomuk]

A really good Fluke has some higher resistance ranges, Back in the early 90's I was an electrical tech. This test is probably checking dielectric and insulation properties in the cavity and material, wire insulation, bushings, contact points. etc. I dealt with big equipment welders, motors, induction stuff. Two ways to look for it ? Meters and equipment or what we call 'HIGH POT" careful with that one. High pot would clear out all carbon and contaminants to ground but risk blowing out insulation as well. Megging or a megger meter (Fluke) will also show these values. With out all this input data being monitored by the PCM we would be seeing more of these things blazing like the crap in china (BYD). Great vid and really enjoy watching you and Eric O. go in attack mode as I did back in the day.

[@tedmoss]

Be careful spreading rumors. BYD is not the worst offender. Things are made to different standards for sale in the U.S. There are unlimited ways to fail, and generally only one way to succeed. (Ask Elon).

[@olegiakovlev2757]

Battery construction seems to be very well isolated, the only part exposed to chassis and coolant is a coolant heater (installed in the battery pack). In a few cases replacement of this heater helped to bring resistance back to infinity (measured as 3000 kOhm)

[@paulstandaert5709]

The EV guys are like, "But my battery degradation is barely noticeable." Little do they know how much is actually going on in each of those battery modules. They'll pay the price eventually. I don't like buying gasoline, either, but what I really do not like is buying a used $20,000 electric car with a reasonable risk of needing an $18,000 battery replacement in the near future. I spent $4,750 on my 09 Suzuki SX4 in 2017. Powertrain-wise, all I "needed" to do was replace the catalyst (or the resistor/capacitor trick), deal with a stiff shifter bushing 2x, replace the serpentine belt 3x (long story there), change the oil every now and then, and I threw in some new spark plugs because I think the original iridium plugs were still in it, though they appeared good. I also had one exhaust donut gasket fall apart. A heat shield on the catalyst started rattling and I had to deal with that. If the engine dies, I can get another from a salvage yard for $1,500 or so and after 1 weekend of work, I am back on the road. I would REALLY prefer that I could do this with an electric car, too, but it surely doesn't look like it is going to happen any time.

[@alexchliwnyj5941]

WOW, thanks for another great video. I just went to Amazon and there was a $20 off coupon so I ordered it . I bought a 2017 Volt this summer and have been looking for a good scan tool, First year updates are free and next year I will pay the subscription fee. In Arizona cars do not rust out so my cars are older and the bidirectional control is very limited and I returned the expensive bidirectional unit I bought last year because I don't need to raise and lower the window in my Jeep with a scanner. I need to be able to work on the Volt when things go wrong because most of the dealers I have been to with my other vehicles over the last 40 years have proved to be greedy and totally incompetent. I found the factory shop manuals on eBay so now I am set.

[@ecaparts]

Dealer incompetence?? They replaced the coolant level sensor becuase of the P1FFF code "Charging System Disabled due to isolation/coolant level"!!?? When obviously that code is the resulting action, not the cause (which is clearly the other code for Battery Isolation). Not only did the dealer not fix it they wasted the customers money by looking in the wrong direction... Thanks for the video, Ivan! BTW, its not uncommon to measure isolation in the 100s of MegaOhms or even GigaOhms scales. With HV battery systems approaching 1000v, the potential for electrocution is always important however the DC arc flash is very possible with just a few MegaOhms of resistance. Direct current arc flash is more dangerous and tends to sustain the arc. AC arc flash may self extingush when the voltage crosses zero.

[@mikesvirtualgarage9917]

Buy EVs they said. It will be fun they said 😅. I'll reserve my EV comments for later. Glad you tossed in Topdon topscan! Used mine for the first time yesterday on a VW. Thanks again for suggesting!!

[@jimbar9913]

The BECM on my second-hand 2018 Volt Premiere failed at 40,000 miles during the height of the pandemic. It's covered under warranty because it's part of the Voltec electric drive system. The dealer had no ETA on replacement part due to supply chain disruptions. They gave me a loaner (Chevy Cruze) which sucked but at least I had a car to drive while I waited. In the meantime I started a lemon claim with GM. After 4 months the new BECM was installed. The lemon claim people gave me $3500 in GM reward credits for my trouble but was only valid for the purchase of another GM new vehicle and expired in a year. It expired because I didn't see any GM models that I would want at the time. GM recently sent me a letter stating that the replacement BECM warranty was extended up to 150,000 miles. It should have been a recall IMO but that would have cost GM a lot of money. I still have my Volt with around 57,000 miles on it. I have owned a lot of GM vehicles purchased new over the years and my Volt is the best of all, aside from having to wait for the part.

[@johnmitchell2741]

I bought the Xtool a30m for $170 its a bi-directional dongle its super nice also free lifetime updates on all makes and models

[@georgetillett6549]

The Topdon Topscan that Ivan referred to or the later model have a US$99 per year subscription after the first year according to the Topdon site.

[@jackunderwood1191]

I had an issue with my 2015. Plug it in sometimes and it would fault and the light wouldn't go green to make connection. And the car would just be on but wouldn't move. We just left the 12v batt cable lose enough to pop it off with a screw driver. It would reset the codes after a couple seconds and we would just press the 12v battery cable back on. We would drive it around a few days and it would charge again. Eventually we found the coolant level low and since we've filled it, the car hasn't given many problems.

[@charllectric4842]

Ivan, pretty sure the dealer partially ran the update just for the HPCM2 but not for the BECM. 90% of the issues Ive seen in Volts not charging other than one if the cells going bad is due to the technician not paying attention when reading the TSB like you did. Dealers simply hate the Volt because they bring almost nothing to their books due to their almost non existing maintenance. Average owners drive 1,500+ miles before needing to put any gas on them so oil changes are done mostly due to time than mileage, same with brakes and everything else. The one thing that every owner reckons is the car only having 4 seats although being a hatchback it has a large volume to carry stuff #fitsinavolt Great video, new subscriber rn!

[@transmech]

We call that a Megger we usually check ac motors with them at 10k volts out put from the meter checking the wire insulation for breakdowns

[@Syntappi]

My neighbour has 2014 Lexus RX450H that sometimes throws a code from the hybrid battery pack performance/voltage. After that happens the hybrid electric system and cruise control etc is disabled. I checked and my Thinktool Pros shows all individual battery cell voltages. All of them are equal so maybe one pack dips too low sometimes and throws the code or something like that. I gave him some cheap code scanner that he can erase the code and the car works perfectly again. He has driven the car for like a year after that and it still works the same.

[@tullgutten]

Always plug or unplug the car WHILE the wall box/cable is still connected. Never unplug the AC while charging, you will create arcs in the socket and might give fault codes or get some damage on charging cable box or the car OBC The charging stops when you unlock the car for a while and when you pull the car socket before it gets unplugged completely to prevent arcing

[@windward2818]

The Megger MIT420/2 CAT IV Insulation Tester will perform the high voltage insulation test up to 600VDC either AC RMS or DC. As far as I know most stand alone BECM tests use a 500V DC source. You have to make sure you have the proper test leads and test connection points and wear the proper PPE when doing the test. I own the MIT420 and I wear safety glasses and leather gloves when handling the test setup. It's not all that scary unless something blows up or shorts out. Normally, nothing really happens other than reading the value on the meter. When the insulation breaks down, that is not caused by a leak, it does so in a gradual manner until a hard fault occurs. Using the GM tool and having it register an unrecognized version for the BECM while it is clearly communication and not working is probably a tool glitch on the GM side. Using the Bosch MasterTech 2 and the GM Techline Connect is as up to date and should give similar results as the dealer pass through. But, if so, why didn't dealer technician report the unrecognized calibration result? This should be resolved at the dealer to ensure that it is not a BECM module failure. The question of needing a new battery should be determined by understanding what the battery capacity is and what is it doing as a trend. Having an isolation fault within the battery without a leak is systematic and should be repeatable and not intermittent, it should be a hard fault if inside of the battery. If outside of the battery then it only means there is a breakdown in the insulation during the test. However, this may be due to something outside of the BECM, battery pack or Hybrid control module. There could be a leakage path the is intermittent with the weather, after all it is just a high impedance short.

[@woozleboy]

I have this issue after GM sent out an OTA update that changed the accepted coolant level in the tank near the radiator. That sensor will now throw off the reading. It isn't low on coolant, but the new system setting sees it as low. New sensors for the new calibration are hard to get. There are options online for a simple resistor to go into that plug to give the system the resistance it now expects. There are two other sensors still in place to protect the coolant level, only the one near the radiator is affected. Once replaced, clear codes and you are golden. I have the part but cannot find a shop to do the reset. GM won't do it without a $800 repair which is literally clearing the code

[@Micko350]

Ivan this is actually why I ended up putting the Launch Software on my old phone in the first place(a: to see if it would work on a mobile & b: to see if the car was still able to be driven "as per normal" with a "dead" HV Battery) but this was for Hybrid Camrys with failing Batteries(replace Hybrid Battery Pack) fault. When you try to keep the cars in "EV MODE" with more drain(current draw with limited Battery capacity) they would throw a Pending code, then a current code soon thereafter which would start the Engine & keep it at around 2500rpm, so for the Customer being able to clear that themselves & keep driving the Car "appropriately" for the Condition of the Battery was worth it for me to not have them Return constantly to clear the codes.

[@lidabasson5699]

Just something I would like to mention is that a supply charging cable rolled up on a coil is not a good idea . You will find that it heat up and can result in a voltage drop .

[@jeffhudson1744]

You didn’t check connections and grounds. The one thing I have learned from you and Eric O is always check your connections and grounds. Good video.

[@randycarter2001]

All it takes to fail the traction battery isolation resistance is just a little dirt or moisture. It means there is an extra conduction path to chassis ground. It could be at any of the 97 connections to the individual cells. Or one of the 96 cell pouches has a leak. Anywhere there is a HV connection including the cables themselves. Since dealerships only deal with modules it's the entire traction battery. Getting one of those open and resealing it is not easy

[@aaronkarres3603]

An insulation multimeter tests the resistance of electrical insulators, i.e. the insulation of wires, so it is for very high resitance values. Mostly for industrial settings.

[@tullgutten]

They ask you to use an insulation resistance tester, not an DMM/multimeter a regular only uses about 1 to 8v to test the insulation. The battery is about 450V. And insulation resistance tester uses selectable 250v, 500v, 1000v, 1500v or even more but 1500v max is typical. And you are supposed to test with the next higher voltage than the car have or at lest the same. Many insulation faults is so small that a regular DMM has no chance of finding the fault, while the insulation tester easily finds the fault and it will arc over if there is an hole in the cable. I've had 2 Nissan Leaf 1 gen and one BMW i3 with faulty PTC water heater that had low resistance