[Sean Nelson]

Everyone 2019 should keep a 10mm or 3/8” combo wrench in their Bolt for this issue.

Everyone with a Bolt, period.

My 2017 Bolt got into a funky state once where I couldn't get it started - I managed to recover with a 10mm reset.

And if you ever need a tow you should disconnect the 12V battery so that the car doesn't apply the parking brakes when it senses the wheels turning.

 

[Wavelet81]

So I posted this information on a previous thread. I was unable to plug in my 2019 bolt again for the second time. However, the latch being in the down position prevented the plugging in of the l2 charger completely so that the thumb button wouldn’t pop up. However my car was able to charge reguardless even with the charger plug not inserted all the way.

 

[LightningEV]

I just had this problem on my 2019 post battery replacement Bolt. Battery was replaced about 3 months ago. I could not figure out why my charge cable would not latch. Am very grateful for this thread started by Boltemort and the great pictures. Really glad that MJWH posted the 10 mm solution. I disconnected the negative cable, waited a minute, and as soon as I touched the cable to the post to reconnect, I could hear the pin retract and the receptacle latch was as it should be ready to accept the charge cable. Also downloaded the Chevy document regarding this problem.
I of course plugged in my charge cable and it latched and started charging. But I was surprised to see that with 135 miles still left on the battery, the charging screen projected the full charge would take 14 hours!! I have taken the battery down very low and usually a full charge takes less than 8 hours. Don't know if it is going through extra "thinking" due to the 10 mm 12 volt battery disconnect or what. After the battery module replacement, I have been getting ranges north of 335 miles. So with 135 miles still left , I only needed 200 miles to get to a full charge. Crazy that it should take 14 hours.
Anyone have this experience? Or has this already been discussed? Is it because I disconnected the 12 volt battery and the next charge time will be normal? I apologize I did not read all 222 posts - maybe this issue has been addressed.
Thanks to all.

 

[LightningEV]

Well, maybe the 10 mm disconnect reset my clock ?? So the completion time for the charge on my screen may be hours off from reality. Will have to check that.

 

[ccovel]

I cannot plug the charging cable into the charge port of my (post-recall-fix, 2019, LT DCFC) Bolt.

The problem is the metal "latch" at the top of the charger (see photos) is stuck in position, and physically blocks the top plastic prong on the charge cable. The charge cord cannot get far enough in to click into place. The latch itself seems to be locked in place by a metal prong coming in from the top left.

I think this is meant to be the mechanism that locks the charger in place when the car is charging, but now it is locking the charger out of the port.

I don't know what happened. One day it worked, the next day it didn't.

(I tried lots of different charging cables, and it's definitely a problem with the car's port not the charging cable. I only tried L2 chargers, but I assume no kind of charging cable would work. I turned it on and off a few times and nothing changed. I tried prodding it with a plastic stick and that didn't do anything.)

Ideas/suggestions?

View attachment 39784 View attachment 39785 View attachment 39786

Just happened to me with my 2019 Bolt. 10mm reboot trick worked. Love you guys! Thanks

 

[PrimerGrey]

Happened to me a 2nd time, several weeks after the first occurrence… glad I had the 10mm in the car, thanks to this thread!

 

[cwerdna]

FWIW, PIC6452B is at https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10210350-9999.pdf.

Can be found under 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV 5 HB FWD | NHTSA

PIC6452A at https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10210327-9999.pdf goes with the above.

March 11, 2022 MANUFACTURER COMMUNICATION NUMBER: PIC6452A
Components: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

NHTSA ID Number: 10210327

Manufacturer Communication Number: PIC6452A

Summary

This Preliminary information communicates to the dealer if a vehicle comes in for an unable to plug the charge cord in or unable to unplug the charge cord due to DC fast charger (level 3) lock actuator has been applied unintentional. we inform that at this time engineering is in need of more information and outline questions for what when and how the vehicle was charge prior to the noticed condition. we then advise of the current path to take and not to order any parts at this time.

 

[Volt]

My 2019 Bolt Premier has had this issue three times. I'm 98% certain the first time was prior to the battery being replaced. that time it freed up on its own. AFAIK I did nothing to affect it. The second time it happened, the displayed range was below 100 miles, and I took it to the dealer. They were able to fix it using the reset process detailed a number of times previously. They wouldn't have suggested the 12V battery disconnect to a customer whose experience level is unknown, and it appears I'll need to take it in again for this third time. I'll ask about the battery disconnect being a good solution in an emergency and how best to do it.

 

[cwerdna]

I would just carry a socket wrench (10 mm?) and disconnect the only the negative for maybe 30 seconds. Be SUPER careful not to short circuit anything w/the wrench while in the process.

Hope someone can confirm I got the right size. My '19 Bolt went back due to buyback in exchange for a very nice check months ago.

 

[PrimerGrey]

Yup, 10mm… I just have a small combination wrench, that’s fine, don’t even need a socket. As long as you do the negative terminal the risk of shorting things is small.

 

[cwerdna]

I would avoid crescent wrenches as you could eventually wear out the nut's or bolt's edges and make it difficult to loosen or tighten, eventually.

When I had a Bolt, I carried a really cheap socket set in the trunk in the event I needed to reset the car for some reason. I never did get the pack replaced before I surrendered the car, so I never ran into this problem.

 

[MichBolt]

If you store a socket wrench, might as well also get a 19 mm socket for the wheel lug nuts. The wrench will need to be long / strong enough to loosen and tighten the lug nuts, though.

 

[PrimerGrey]

I would avoid crescent wrenches as you could eventually wear out the nut's or bolt's edges and make it difficult to loosen or tighten, eventually.

Agreed - I typically resist using even an open-end wrench for the same reason, when the box end or a socket will fit. A couple of years ago I found a rusty 10mm combination wrench on the roadside while jogging and it now lives in my center armrest... the box end worked a treat on the battery when I needed it last time, and I don't have to split up my tool set to carry my regular 10mm with me.

 

[GJETSON]

A couple of years ago I found a rusty 10mm combination wrench on the roadside while jogging

Jogging, and bicycling, for the last 45 years, has lead to quite a collection of extra tools. The biggest find was an axe, I carried home on my bike.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Jogging, and bicycling, for the last 45 years, has lead to quite a collection of extra tools. The biggest find was an axe, I carried home on my bike.

That would have come in handy for this guy....

 

[shockBob]

Performed the battery disconnect for the second time - again it worked. We know how to reset the latch but we do not know what causes it to lock in the first place. Maybe software, but I wonder if normal vehicle vibration or insertion and removal of the charge cable connector makes it happen.
Thanks for the copy of the bulletin. Gives me something to refer to when I decide to discuss it with my dealer. Somewhat frustrating that GM has not worked out what is happening.

 

[Sean Nelson]

PIC6452A at https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10210327-9999.pdf goes with the above.

Given the questions that they want the dealers to ask customers who report this problem, it's clear that the GM engineers are really scratching their heads over this one.

Earlier in this thread I advised against bothering to go into the dealership for owners who had this problem, suggesting instead that they just do the 10mm reset. But given that GM is searching for information about what might cause this, I'm going to change my opinion and advise 2019 owners to:

1. Read the document that @cwerdna linked to which gives the list of questions that GM wants to ask owners,
2. Try to keep track of this information as you go about your usage of the car, and
3. If the problem occurs and you have the time, take the car into the dealer and provide them with the information.

The more information GM has, the more likely they are to be able to solve the problem.

If you do go into the dealer, print out the document and bring it along with you to eliminate the inevitable back-and-forth when the dealer claims not to know what you're talking about.

 

[shockBob]

Given the questions that they want the dealers to ask customers who report this problem, it's clear that the GM engineers are really scratching their heads over this one.

Earlier in this thread I advised against bothering to go into the dealership for owners who had this problem, suggesting instead that they just do the 10mm reset. But given that GM is searching for information about what might cause this, I'm going to change my opinion and advise 2019 owners to:

1. Read the document that @cwerdna linked to which gives the list of questions that GM wants to ask owners,
2. Try to keep track of this information as you go about your usage of the car, and
3. If the problem occurs and you have the time, take the car into the dealer and provide them with the information.

The more information GM has, the more likely they are to be able to solve the problem.

If you do go into the dealer, print out the document and bring it along with you to eliminate the inevitable back-and-forth when the dealer claims not to know what you're talking about.

I note that there is a PIC6452A and a PIC6452B. There are links to both in this forum. The second one lists an update that removes the questions. Maybe they now know the cause. If I were debugging this I would add diagnostics to the software to log when the software actuates the lock and offer it to a number of 2019 Bolt owners.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I note that there is a PIC6452A and a PIC6452B. There are links to both in this forum. The second one lists an update that removes the questions. Maybe they now know the cause.

Ah, interesting - thanks!

 

[Pod]

You'd think the engineers would know exactly how the 2019 is different from other model years.