
Black plate (9,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
Service and Maintenance 11-9
Additional
Maintenance and Care
Your vehicle is an important
investment and caring for it properly
may help to avoid future costly
repairs. To maintain vehicle
performance, additional
maintenance services may be
required. It is recommended that
your dealer perform these
services—their trained dealer
technicians know your vehicle best.
Your dealer can also perform a
thorough assessment with a
multi‐point inspection to recommend
when your vehicle may need
attention. The following list is
intended to explain the services and
conditions to look for that may
indicate services are required. Battery
The battery supplies power to start
the engine and operate any
additional electrical accessories.
.To avoid break‐down or failure to
start the vehicle, maintain a
battery with full cranking power.
.Trained dealer technicians have
the diagnostic equipment to test
the battery and ensure that the
connections and cables are
corrosion‐free.
Belts
.Belts may need replacing if they
squeak or show signs of
cracking or splitting.
.Trained dealer technicians
can inspect the belts and
recommend replacement when
necessary. Brakes
Brakes stop the vehicle and are
crucial to safe driving.
.Signs of brake wear may include
chirping, grinding, or squealing
noises, or difficulty stopping.
.Trained dealer technicians have
access to tools and equipment
to inspect the brakes and
recommend quality parts
engineered for the vehicle.
Fluids
Proper fluid levels and approved
fluids protect the vehicle’s systems
and components. See
Recommended Fluids and
Lubricants on page 11‑12 for GM
approved fluids.
.Engine oil and windshield
washer fluid levels should be
checked at every fuel fill.
.Instrument cluster lights may
come on to indicate that fluids
may be low and need to be
filled.

Black plate (13,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
Service and Maintenance 11-13
UsageFluid/Lubricant
Electric Drive Unit DEXRON
®-VI Automatic Transmission Fluid
Key Lock Cylinders Multi-Purpose Lubricant, Superlube (GM Part No. 12346241, in
Canada 10953474).
Hood and Hatch Hinges Multi-Purpose Lubricant, Superlube (GM Part No. 12346241, in
Canada 10953474).
Weatherstrip Conditioning Weatherstrip Lubricant (GM Part No. 3634770, in Canada 10953518) or
Dielectric Silicone Grease (GM Part No. 12345579, in Canada 992887).
Maintenance Replacement Parts
Replacement parts identified below by name, part number, or specification can be obtained from your dealer.
Part GM Part Number ACDelco Part Number
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter 20871244 A3148C
Engine Oil Filter 55352643 —
Spark Plugs 55564962 —
Wiper Blades
Driver –65 cm (25.6 in) 22742323 —
Passenger –65 cm (25.6 in) 22742324 —

Black plate (2,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
12-2 Technical Data
Vehicle Data
Capacities and Specifications
The following approximate capacities are given in metric and English conversions. Refer toRecommended Fluids
and Lubricants on page 11‑12 for more information.
Application Capacities
Metric English
Air Conditioning Refrigerant R134a For the air conditioning system refrigerant charge
amount, see the refrigerant label under the hood. See your dealer for more information.
Cooling Systems Engine 7.3 L 7.7 qt
High Voltage Battery 6.2 L 6.6 qt
Power Electronics 2.8 L 3.0 qt
Engine Oil with Filter 3.5 L3.7 qt
Fuel Tank 35.2 L9.3 gal
Electric Drive Unit 8.45 L8.93 qt
Wheel Nut Torque 140Y 100 lb ft
All capacities are approximate. When adding, be sure to fill to the approximate level, as recommended in this
manual.

Black plate (10,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
13-10 Customer Information
Courtesy Rental Vehicle
Your dealer may arrange to provide
you with a courtesy rental vehicle or
reimburse you for a rental vehicle
that you obtain if the vehicle is kept
for an overnight warranty repair.
Rental reimbursement will be limited
and must be supported by original
receipts. This requires that you sign
and complete a rental agreement
and meet state/provincial, local, and
rental vehicle provider requirements.
Requirements vary and may include
minimum age requirements,
insurance coverage, credit card, etc.
You are responsible for fuel usage
charges and may also be
responsible for taxes, levies, usage
fees, excessive mileage, or rental
usage beyond the completion of the
repair.
It may not be possible to provide a
like vehicle as a courtesy rental.Additional Program
Information
All program options, such as shuttle
service, may not be available at
every dealer. Please contact your
dealer for specific information
about availability. All Courtesy
Transportation arrangements will be
administered by appropriate dealer
personnel.
General Motors reserves the right to
unilaterally modify, change,
or discontinue Courtesy
Transportation at any time and to
resolve all questions of claim
eligibility pursuant to the terms and
conditions described herein at its
sole discretion.
Collision Damage Repair
If the vehicle is involved in a
collision and it is damaged, have the
damage repaired by a qualified
technician using the proper
equipment and quality replacement
parts. Poorly performed collision
repairs diminish the vehicle resale
value, and safety performance can
be compromised in subsequent
collisions.
Collision Parts
Genuine GM Collision parts are new
parts made with the same materials
and construction methods as the
parts with which the vehicle was
originally built. Genuine GM
Collision parts are the best choice to
ensure that the vehicle's designed
appearance, durability, and safety
are preserved. The use of Genuine
GM parts can help maintain the GM
New Vehicle Limited Warranty.

Black plate (15,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
Customer Information 13-15
Reporting Safety Defects
to the Canadian
Government
If you live in Canada, and you
believe that the vehicle has a safety
defect, notify Transport Canada
immediately, and notify General
Motors of Canada Limited. Call
Transport Canada at
1-800-333-0510 or write to:
Transport Canada
Road Safety Branch
80 rue Noel
Gatineau, QC J8Z 0A1
Reporting Safety Defects
to General Motors
In addition to notifying NHTSA
(or Transport Canada) in a situation
like this, notify General Motors.
Call 1-800-222-1020, or write:
Chevrolet Motor Division
Chevrolet Customer Assistance
Center
P.O. Box 33170
Detroit, MI 48232-5170
In Canada, call 1-800-263-3777
(English) or 1-800-263-7854
(French), or write:
General Motors of Canada Limited
Customer Care Centre, Mail Code:
CA1-163-005
1908 Colonel Sam Drive
Oshawa, Ontario L1H 8P7
Vehicle Data
Recording and
Privacy
This GM vehicle has a number of
sophisticated computers that record
information about the vehicle’s
performance and how it is driven.
For example, the vehicle uses
computer modules to monitor and
control engine and electric drive unit
performance, to monitor the
conditions for airbag deployment
and to deploy airbags in a crash,
and to provide antilock braking to
help the driver control the vehicle.
These modules may store data to
help your dealer technician service
the vehicle. Some modules may
also store data about how you
operate the vehicle, such as rate of
fuel consumption or average speed.
These modules may also retain the
owner’s personal preferences, such
as radio pre-sets, seat positions,
and temperature settings.

Black plate (16,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
13-16 Customer Information
Event Data Recorders
This vehicle has an Event Data
Recorder (EDR). The main purpose
of an EDR is to record, in certain
crash or near crash-like situations,
such as an airbag deployment or
hitting a road obstacle, data that will
assist in understanding how a
vehicle's systems performed. The
EDR is designed to record data
related to vehicle dynamics and
safety systems for a short period of
time, typically 30 seconds or less.
The EDR in this vehicle is designed
to record such data as:
.How various systems in the
vehicle were operating.
.Whether or not the driver and
passenger safety belts were
buckled/fastened.
.How far, if at all, the driver was
pressing the accelerator and/or
brake pedal.
.How fast the vehicle was
traveling.
This data can help provide a better
understanding of the circumstances
in which crashes and injuries occur.
Important: EDR data is recorded
by the vehicle only if a non-trivial
crash situation occurs; no data is
recorded by the EDR under normal
driving conditions and no personal
data (e.g., name, gender, age, and
crash location) is recorded.
However, other parties, such as law
enforcement, could combine the
EDR data with the type of
personally identifying data routinely
acquired during a crash
investigation. To read data recorded by an EDR,
special equipment is required, and
access to the vehicle or the EDR is
needed. In addition to the vehicle
manufacturer, other parties, such as
law enforcement, that have the
special equipment, can read the
information if they have access to
the vehicle or the EDR.
GM will not access this data or
share it with others except: with the
consent of the vehicle owner or,
if the vehicle is leased, with the
consent of the lessee; in response
to an official request by police or
similar government office; as part of
GM's defense of litigation through
the discovery process; or, as
required by law. Data that GM
collects or receives may also be
used for GM research needs or may
be made available to others for
research purposes, where a need is
shown and the data is not tied to a
specific vehicle or vehicle owner.

Black plate (6,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
14-6 OnStar
OnStar service cannot work unless
your vehicle is in a place where
OnStar has an agreement with a
wireless service provider for service
in that area, and the wireless
service provider has coverage,
network capacity, reception, and
technology compatible with OnStar’s
service. Service involving location
information about the vehicle cannot
work unless GPS signals are
available, unobstructed, and
compatible with the OnStar
hardware. OnStar service may not
work if the OnStar equipment is not
properly installed or it has not been
properly maintained. If equipment or
software is added, connected,
or modified, OnStar service may not
work. Other problems beyond
OnStar ’s control may prevent
service such as hills, tall buildings,
tunnels, weather, electrical system
design and architecture of the
vehicle, damage to the vehicle in a
crash, or wireless phone network
congestion or jamming. See
Radio Frequency Statement on
page 13‑17 for information
regarding Part 15 of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
rules and Industry Canada
Standards RSS-GEN/210/220/310.
Services for People with
Disabilities
Advisors provide services to help
subscribers with physical disabilities
and medical conditions.
Push
Qfor help with:
.Locating a gas station with an
attendant to pump gas.
.Finding a hotel, restaurant, etc.,
that meets accessibility needs.
.Providing directions to the
closest hospital or pharmacy in
urgent situations.
TTY Users
OnStar has the ability to
communicate to the deaf,
hard‐of‐hearing, or speech‐impaired
customers while in the vehicle. The
available dealer‐installed TTY
system can provide in-vehicle
access to all of the OnStar services,
except Virtual Advisor and OnStar
Turn‐by‐Turn Navigation.
Onstar.com
The website provides access to
account information, manages the
OnStar subscription, and allows
viewing of videos of each service.
Get subscription plan pricing and
sign up for OnStar Vehicle
Diagnostics. Click on the “My
Account” tab on the home page.

Black plate (1,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
INDEX i-1
A
Accessories andModifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Accessory Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Add-On Electrical Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-65
Additional Information,
OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5
Air Cleaner/Filter, Engine . . . . . 10-13
Air Conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Air Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Airbag System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-32
How Does an AirbagRestrain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
Passenger Sensing
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-26
What Makes an Airbag Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
What Will You See after an
Airbag Inflates? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
When Should an Airbag Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
Where Are the Airbags? . . . . . . 3-21 Airbags
Adding Equipment to the
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-31
Passenger Status Indicator . . . 5-18
Readiness Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Servicing Airbag-Equipped Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-31
System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Alarm System Anti-theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
AM-FM Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Antenna
Multi-band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-13
Anti-theft Alarm System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Alarm System Messages . . . . . 5-53
Antilock Brake System (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Appearance Care Exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-85
Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-89
Assistance Program, Roadside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6 Audio Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-14
CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-14
MP3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-16
Audio System Radio Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-13
Theft-Deterrent Feature . . . . . . . . 7-2
Automatic
Climate Control System . . . . . . . . 8-1
Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
Auxiliary Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-18
B
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
High Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-75
Power Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Battery and Charging Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
Blade Replacement, Wiper . . . 10-28
Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . 7-22, 7-24, 7-28
Brake Parking, Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-34
System Warning Light . . . . . . . . 5-22