Black plate (22,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
10-22 Vehicle Care
Notice
.When using concentrated
washer fluid, follow the
manufacturer's instructions
for adding water.
.Do not mix water with
ready-to-use washer fluid.
Water can cause the solution
to freeze and damage the
washer fluid tank and other
parts of the washer system.
Also, water does not clean as
well as washer fluid.
.Fill the washer fluid tank only
three-quarters full when it is
very cold. This allows for
fluid expansion if freezing
occurs, which could damage
the tank if it is
completely full.
.Do not use engine coolant
(antifreeze) in the windshield
washer. It can damage the
windshield washer system
and paint.
Brakes
This vehicle has disc brakes. Disc
brake pads have built-in wear
indicators that make a high-pitched
warning sound when the brake pads
are worn and new pads are needed.
The sound can come and go or be
heard all the time the vehicle is
moving, except when applying the
brake pedal firmly.
{WARNING
The brake wear warning sound
means that soon the brakes will
not work well. That could lead to
a crash. When the brake wear
warning sound is heard, have the
vehicle serviced.
Notice: Continuing to drive with
worn-out brake pads could result
in costly brake repair. Some driving conditions or climates
can cause a brake squeal when the
brakes are first applied or lightly
applied. This does not mean
something is wrong with the brakes.
Properly torqued wheel nuts are
necessary to help prevent brake
pulsation. When tires are rotated,
inspect brake pads for wear and
evenly tighten wheel nuts in the
proper sequence to torque
specifications in
Capacities and
Specifications on page 12‑2.
Brake linings should always be
replaced as complete axle sets.
Black plate (10,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
11-10 Service and Maintenance
Hoses
Hoses transport fluids and should
be regularly inspected to ensure
that there are no cracks or leaks.
With a multi‐point inspection, your
dealer can inspect the hoses and
advise if replacement is needed.
Lamps
Properly working headlamps,
taillamps, and brake lamps are
important to see and be seen on
the road.
.Signs that the headlamps need
attention include dimming, failure
to light, cracking, or damage.
The brake lamps need to be
checked periodically to ensure
that they light when braking.
.With a multi‐point inspection,
your dealer can check the lamps
and note any concerns.Shocks and Struts
Shocks and struts help aid in control
for a smoother ride.
.Signs of wear may include
steering wheel vibration, bounce/
sway while braking, longer
stopping distance, or uneven
tire wear.
.As part of the multi‐point
inspection, trained dealer
technicians can visually inspect
the shocks and struts for signs
of leaking, blown seals,
or damage, and can advise
when service is needed.
Tires
Tires need to be properly inflated,
rotated, and balanced. Maintaining
the tires can save money, fuel, and
can reduce the risk of tire failure.
.Signs that the tires need to be
replaced include three or more
visible treadwear indicators; cord
or fabric showing through the
rubber; cracks or cuts in the
tread or sidewall; or a bulge or
split in the tire.
.Trained dealer technicians can
inspect and recommend the right
tires. Your dealer can also
provide tire/wheel balancing
services to ensure smooth
vehicle operation at all speeds.
Your dealer sells and services
name brand tires.
Black plate (5,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-5
G
Garage Door Opener . . . . . . . . . . 5-65Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-65
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-60
Gauges Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Driver Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Trip Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Warning Lights and
Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
General Information Service and Maintenance . . . . . 11-1
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-64
Vehicle Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
GM Mobility Reimbursement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
H
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Hazard Warning Flashers . . . . . . . 6-3
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Daytime Running
Lamps (DRL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-2
Lamps On Reminder . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Heated Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Heated Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Heating and Air Conditioning . . . 8-1
High Voltage Battery Gauge . . . 5-14
High Voltage Devices and Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . . . 9-9
Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-7 Hood, Door, Hatch Open
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
I
Immobilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Infants and Young Children,Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-36
Information Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-43
Infotainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-1
Instrument Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
Instrument Panel
Storage Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
J
Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-75
Black plate (6,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
i-6 INDEX
K
Key and Lock Messages . . . . . . . 5-51
Keyless EntryRemote (RKE) System . . . . . . . . 2-3
Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
L
Labeling, Tire Sidewall . . . . . . . . 10-45
Lamps Daytime Running (DRL) . . . . . . . 6-2
Dome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Exterior Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1
License Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-31
Malfunction Indicator . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51
On Reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Lap-Shoulder Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
LATCH System
Replacing Parts after aCrash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-50
LATCH, Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children . . . . . . . . . . 3-42
LED Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Lifting the Vehicle, Tires . . . . . . . 10-3 Light
Ready Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Vehicle Ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Lighting Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Illumination Control . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Lights Airbag Readiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Antilock Brake System(ABS) Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Brake System Warning . . . . . . . 5-22
Charging System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Electric Parking Brake . . . . . . . . 5-22
Engine Coolant Temperature Warning . . . . . . . 5-25
Engine Oil Pressure . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
High-Beam On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-2
Hood, Door, Hatch Open . . . . . 5-28
Low Fuel Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Mountain Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Safety Belt Reminders . . . . . . . . 5-16 Lights (cont'd)
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Service Electric Parking
Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Sport Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
StabiliTrak
®OFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-25
Traction Control System (TCS)/StabiliTrak
®. . . . . . . . . . 5-25
Traction Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Locks Automatic Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Lockout Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Power Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Low Fuel Warning Light . . . . . . . . 5-27
Lower Anchors and Tethers
for Children (LATCH
System) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-42
Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-7
M
MaintenanceRecords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11-14
Maintenance Modes . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Maintenance Schedule Recommended Fluidsand Lubricants . . . . . . . . . . . . .11-12
Malfunction Indicator Lamp . . . . 5-19
Messages Airbag System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
Anti-theft Alarm System . . . . . . . 5-53
Brake System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
Door Ajar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
Drive Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
Electric Drive Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
Engine Cooling System . . . . . . . 5-49
Engine Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
Fuel System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
Key and Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51
Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-51
Object Detection System . . . . . 5-52
Propulsion Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52
Ride Control System . . . . . . . . . . 5-53
Service Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-54
Starting the Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 5-54
Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55 Messages (cont'd)
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
Vehicle Reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55
Vehicle Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55
Mirrors Automatic DimmingRearview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
Convex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Folding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Heated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Manual Rearview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Mode
Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Extended Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Modes Driver Selected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Monitor System, Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-51
Mountain Mode Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
MP3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-16
Multi-band Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-13
N
Navigation OnStar®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Vehicle Data Recording and Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-17
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . . . 9-17
O
Object Detection System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14 Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Off-Road
Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Oil Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-9
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . 10-12
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Older Children, Restraints . . . . . 3-33
Online Owner Center . . . . . . . . . . 13-5
Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
i-8 INDEX
OnStar®
Additional Information . . . . . . . . 14-5
Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5
Emergency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
System, In Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-30
Ordering Service Publications . . . . . . . . 13-13
Out of Fuel/Engine Unavailable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Outlets Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Overheating, Engine . . . . . . . . . . 10-21
Overview, Infotainment
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Overview, OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
P
Park Shifting Into . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Shifting Out of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Parking Assist, Ultrasonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42
Brake and P (Park)Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . 10-27
Over Things That Burn . . . . . . . 9-23
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
Passenger Sensing System . . . 3-26
Perchlorate Materials Requirements, California . . . . . 10-2
Personalization Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-56
Phone Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . 7-22, 7-24, 7-28
Plug-In Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-48
Power Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-30 Power (cont'd)
Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Protection, Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Retained Accessory (RAP) . . . 9-21
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Pregnancy, Using Safety Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17
Privacy
Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) . . . . . . . 13-17
Program Courtesy Transportation . . . . . . 13-9
Proposition 65 Warning,
California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Propulsion Power Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52