[Joseph Woss]

Glad I saw this thread. Problem started after the battery replacement on my 2019 as well. I did contact my dealership, and they had no answers....Now with a TSB # issued hopefully they can fix the problem....until then I will use the battery disconnect fix

 

[Robert from Canada]

This is to update folks following this thread on my experience with this issue.

I have just returned from having the propulsion battery replaced on my 2019 Bolt. When I dropped off the car I told the advisor of my experience that on several occasions the car would not accept the charging cable and an indication from this list that there was a service bulletin on this topic. I also told them the problem has not recurred since I stopped "pre-conditioning" the vehicle. The service consultant and an associate of hers seemed interested in the problem but said they had not had other Bolt owners report this. I found this interesting as this dealership was proactive in contacting me to have my propulsion battery replaced and I believe has sold many Bolts as their sales department has at least one salesman who specializes on the Bolt.

When I picked up the vehicle, without prompting the service technician reported that she had spoken with support at GM Canada. They indicated there was no service bulletin on this issue. A theory was advanced that the problem could occur if an attempt was made to connect or disconnect the charging cable while the vehicle was running. They remained sympathetic and asked that I check with them again if the problem recurred. Not sure this helps a lot, but perhaps all experiences add to our collective knowledge on this frustrating mystery. In the meantime, as another who posted mentioned, the 10 mm socket wrench remains in the car.

 

[Eriamjh1138]

I think some 2019 owners need to do some preconditioning tests without the EVSE plugged in and see if and when it locks the port latch.

 

[MichBolt]

This is to update folks following this thread on my experience with this issue.

I have just returned from having the propulsion battery replaced on my 2019 Bolt. When I dropped off the car I told the advisor of my experience that on several occasions the car would not accept the charging cable and an indication from this list that there was a service bulletin on this topic. I also told them the problem has not recurred since I stopped "pre-conditioning" the vehicle. The service consultant and an associate of hers seemed interested in the problem but said they had not had other Bolt owners report this. I found this interesting as this dealership was proactive in contacting me to have my propulsion battery replaced and I believe has sold many Bolts as their sales department has at least one salesman who specializes on the Bolt.

When I picked up the vehicle, without prompting the service technician reported that she had spoken with support at GM Canada. They indicated there was no service bulletin on this issue. A theory was advanced that the problem could occur if an attempt was made to connect or disconnect the charging cable while the vehicle was running. They remained sympathetic and asked that I check with them again if the problem recurred. Not sure this helps a lot, but perhaps all experiences add to our collective knowledge on this frustrating mystery. In the meantime, as another who posted mentioned, the 10 mm socket wrench remains in the car.

If you want, you can contact the service tech and give her the specific TSB number: PIC6452A or PIC6452B
It was mentioned a couple of pages ago:

charging port will not accept charging cable

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...

www.chevybolt.org

Edit: Here's a link that references the specific TSB

Unknown

Unknown. Service Bulletins - Service manuals, electrical schematics and bulletins for 1995 to current GM vehicles.

www.repairprocedures.com

 

[Curt]

I also told them the problem has not recurred since I stopped "pre-conditioning" the vehicle. The service consultant and an associate of hers seemed interested in the problem but said they had not had other Bolt owners report this.

It's got nothing to do with preconditioning. I've never used that, yet twice I found the charge port locked after pulling into the garage. You probably misled the dealer into searching for preconditioning bulletins.

But it still might have to do with low SOC, so I'm curious to hear from others on that.

 

[Dave Bloom]

2019 Bolt. Traction battery replaced 12/21 per recall. Original 12v battery. In March ‘22 after charging at home using Level 2 charger, I could not remove the charging cable. I was desperate to remove the cable so that my wife could charge her EV. From this forum I used the remedy of disconnecting and reconnecting the 12v battery. Thankfully, that worked. I would not have figured out a solution on my own. Then, last week I couldn’t insert the charging plug completely. This was not immediately apparent it was the same problem. But it was and the same remedy worked. I called dealer service (Mission Bay Chevrolet) this morning to enquire about a proper fix for what might be a software problem. Enzo, the service agent, hadn’t heard of this problem and said I’d need to bring the car in for a diagnostic at $160 and leave the car for a couple days. The car is just over 3 years old so no longer covered by bumper to bumper warranty. I now keep a 10 mm wrench in the car at all times. But this is a serious problem that needs a proper solution.

 

[Curt]

The car is just over 3 years old so no longer covered by bumper to bumper warranty.

Predictably, the GM policy of "take it to a dealer" will cost serious money to every 2019 owner, all soon to be out of warranty, as they make multiple dealer visits and suffer from dealers' inability to address a software bug through diagnostics scans and expensive, irrelevant parts replacements -- even though it's well-known GM introduced the problem in the battery recall.

I'm hopeful GM will do the the right thing and update each affected vehicle as part of the battery recall. I'm also hopeful that if they don't, it will be easy to amass our collective evidence and file another class action.

 

[MichBolt]

2019 Bolt. Traction battery replaced 12/21 per recall. Original 12v battery. In March ‘22 after charging at home using Level 2 charger, I could not remove the charging cable. I was desperate to remove the cable so that my wife could charge her EV. From this forum I used the remedy of disconnecting and reconnecting the 12v battery. Thankfully, that worked. I would not have figured out a solution on my own. Then, last week I couldn’t insert the charging plug completely. This was not immediately apparent it was the same problem. But it was and the same remedy worked. I called dealer service (Mission Bay Chevrolet) this morning to enquire about a proper fix for what might be a software problem. Enzo, the service agent, hadn’t heard of this problem and said I’d need to bring the car in for a diagnostic at $160 and leave the car for a couple days. The car is just over 3 years old so no longer covered by bumper to bumper warranty. I now keep a 10 mm wrench in the car at all times. But this is a serious problem that needs a proper solution.

Predictably, the GM policy of "take it to a dealer" will cost serious money to every 2019 owner, all soon to be out of warranty, as they make multiple dealer visits and suffer from dealers' inability to address a software bug through diagnostics scans and expensive, irrelevant parts replacements -- even though it's well-known GM introduced the problem in the battery recall.

I'm hopeful GM will do the the right thing and update each affected vehicle as part of the battery recall. I'm also hopeful that if they don't, it will be easy to amass our collective evidence and file another class action.

Literally 2 posts above, GM has issued a TSB for this.

charging port will not accept charging cable

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...

www.chevybolt.org

 

[fry288]

My dealer says there's no solution in the TSB. The only solution they offered was to keep me in a rental (see my BECM woes in a different thread).

 

[Curt]

Literally 2 posts above, GM has issued a TSB for this.

We saw that. But it remains to be seen whether such a future TSB will be covered after the bumper-bumper warranty is over (mine ended in March), and/or will be attributed to the battery recall, and/or dealers will be aware of it and able to diagnose it whether or not any code is thrown. The only thing going for it is that it might be nothing but a firmware update.

 

[W1TIM]

Hi Boltemort,

Good and bad news... our 2019 pre-recall-fix is having the same issue. It seems to have started since the software update that limited charging for safety.

Bad news, no one seems to know anything about it or if there is a fix or if it is a hardware or software failure.
Good news, I have a workaround that works, but is rather a PITA.

You are right that the issue isn't the latch itself, but the locking pin behind the latch. The pin should lock the latch in place during charging to prevent inadvertent disconnects, but for some reason it decides randomly every couple of days to lock when there is nothing plugged in, thus preventing the cable from being fully seated.

We've tried every possible easy solution under the sun to get it to unlock, but we've found only one PITA solution that works... pulling the 12v, waiting a minute or two, and reconnecting it. Fixes it every time, and is a complete and total pain... good reason to make sure you have a 10mm in your car at all times.

Good luck!

JWH

It worked for me. disconnected the 12 volt negative terminal for couple minutes. Now a carry a 10 mm wrench.

 

[DanimalZ]

Just had the same issue on my 2019 Bolt. Unplugging the battery solved this for me as well, for now…
Recently had my battery upgraded at the dealer.

 

[Pod]

2019 here. No issues so far. Got the wrench just in case. I precondition all the time and seldom run the charge below 40%. Battery replaced in November but they didn't install the monitoring software until January. A month after the replacement, I took a 2,000 mile road trip with lots of DCFC and low states of charge. I've had an odb2 dongle plugged in almost all the time (which I hear may be a bad idea). Anyway, more data points.

 

[gbeddow]

I've had an odb2 dongle plugged in almost all the time (which I hear may be a bad idea).

The jury is still out on whether it's a bad idea. I used to leave mine plugged in all the time until I got the dreaded "conditions not correct for shift" error and had to have the EUV towed to the dealership. They were not able to reproduce the problem by then, and couldn't definitively diagnose it, but pointed me to GM service bulletin #13-08-116-001G that suggests it might be related to the obd2 scanner. The bulletin doesn't specifically refer to that error message, although it does mention "Transmission may not shift for one key cycle (TCM in default mode)". It hasn't happened since then; just in case I'm not plugging in the odb2 scanner unless I'm actually using it.

 

[Pod]

The jury is still out on whether it's a bad idea. I used to leave mine plugged in all the time until I got the dreaded "conditions not correct for shift" error and had to have the EUV towed to the dealership. They were not able to reproduce the problem by then, and couldn't definitively diagnose it, but pointed me to GM service bulletin #13-08-116-001G that suggests it might be related to the obd2 scanner. The bulletin doesn't specifically refer to that error message, although it does mention "Transmission may not shift for one key cycle (TCM in default mode)". It hasn't happened since then; just in case I'm not plugging in the odb2 scanner unless I'm actually using it.

I've also read it's a bad idea from a security perspective.

 

[gbeddow]

I've also read it's a bad idea from a security perspective.

Yes, potentially. Depending on the scanner, you'd have to physically stand next to the car - during the brief period after the driver left the car and before the device had timed out - then connect to it via bluetooth and perhaps gain access via a default password, etc. Odds are low, but I'd never tell anyone it could never happen.

 

[Curt]

It happened today for the third time. I went to the movies and pulled into a charger spot near the theater with 117 miles on the GOM. The charge port was locked. I used the 10 mm wrench in my glove compartment to disconnect the battery and get going.

I know I ought to have left it in the bad state and taken it to the dealer. I'm just concerned about being charged for out-of-warranty diagnostics. A subset of Bolt owners are going have to take the hit on this before it's fixed. Maybe I ought to put on a battery disconnect switch? Maybe there's a way to block or remove the latch with no other ill effects? I just realized I should at least try checking for OBD codes myself.

 

[micantony]

Just postulating:

I seem to recall reading instructions to the dealers for the replacement battery process whereby upon installation completion, one of the steps they should take is to perform a DCFC charge on the vehicle as part of the final steps and diagnostic process?
Could this step cycle the DCFC locking mechanism or somehow reset things. and if they skip this step, could it maybe be related to this glitch whereby the lock engages during L2 charging/randomly?
Isnt hooking up and cycling the connector lock a couple times part of the TSB from chevy on this issue?

No idea why it would only be 2019’s though.

I‘m watching this thread closely as we own a 2019 (no issues yet)
and my parental unit also owns a 2019 which is currently at the dealer with a “broken” locking mechanism, even though my Mother has never used DCFC. I highly suspect her vehickes failure may be related to this issue. I just havent had a chance to discuss with her Service tech yet; If they would even listen.
I asked her to have them cycle the DC lock or disconnect the 12v battery to see if it magically “fixed” what “broke” on her port.
Havent followed up.

 

[MichBolt]

...I know I ought to have left it in the bad state and taken it to the dealer. I'm just concerned about being charged for out-of-warranty diagnostics. A subset of Bolt owners are going have to take the hit on this before it's fixed. Maybe I ought to put on a battery disconnect switch? Maybe there's a way to block or remove the latch with no other ill effects? I just realized I should at least try checking for OBD codes myself.

Instead of taking it in, you could refer the dealership to the specific TSB number PIC6452B and just provide the answers to the questions listed by the GM Tech that @cwerdna posted in post #111 above:

charging port will not accept charging cable

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...

www.chevybolt.org

With the TSB number, you could also ask the dealership specifically if they will charge for the service.

 

[EV Fan]

Instead of taking it in, you could refer the dealership to the specific TSB number PIC6452B and just provide the answers to the questions listed by the GM Tech that @cwerdna posted in post #111 above:

charging port will not accept charging cable

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...

www.chevybolt.org

With the TSB number, you could also ask the dealership specifically if they will charge for the service.

Careful with how you approach this. Most dealers will be hesitant to guarantee anything over the phone. They will likely want to diagnose it themselves before making any promises.