Page 305 of 454

Black plate (1,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
Vehicle Care 10-1
Vehicle Care
General Information
General Information . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
California Proposition65 Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
California Perchlorate Materials Requirements . . . . 10-2
Accessories and Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Lifting the Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Vehicle Checks
Doing Your Own Service Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-7
Engine Compartment Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-8
Engine Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-9
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . 10-12
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter . . . . 10-13
Cooling System (Engine) . . . 10-15
Cooling System (High Voltage Battery) . . . . . . . . . . . 10-16
Cooling System (Power Electronics and Charger
Modules) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-17
Engine Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-18 Engine Overheating . . . . . . . . 10-21
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-21
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-22
Brake Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-23
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Electric Drive Unit Shift Lock
Control Function Check . . . 10-27
Park Brake and P (Park) Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . 10-27
Wiper Blade Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Headlamp Aiming
Headlamp Aiming . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Bulb Replacement
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
LED Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Back-Up Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-31
License Plate Lamp . . . . . . . . 10-31
Replacement Bulbs . . . . . . . . . 10-32
Electrical System
High Voltage Devices andWiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
Electrical System Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33 Engine Compartment Fuse
Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
Instrument Panel Fuse Block (Left Side) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Instrument Panel Fuse Block
(Right Side) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-40
Rear Compartment Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-42
Wheels and Tires
Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-44
Winter Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-45
Tire Sidewall Labeling . . . . . . 10-45
Tire Designations . . . . . . . . . . . 10-46
Tire Terminology andDefinitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-47
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-50
Tire Pressure Monitor
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-51
Tire Pressure Monitor Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-53
Tire Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-57
Tire Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-57
When It Is Time for New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-58
Buying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . 10-59
Different Size Tires and Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-61
Page 337 of 454

Black plate (33,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
Vehicle Care 10-33
Electrical System
Overload
The vehicle has fuses and circuit
breakers to protect against an
electrical system overload.
When the current electrical load is
too heavy, the circuit breaker opens
and closes, protecting the circuit
until the current load returns to
normal or the problem is fixed. This
greatly reduces the chance of circuit
overload and fire caused by
electrical problems.
Fuses and circuit breakers protect
the following in the vehicle:
.Headlamp Wiring
.Windshield Wiper Motor
.Power Windows and other
Power AccessoriesReplace a bad fuse with a new one
of the identical size and rating.
If there is a problem on the road and
a fuse needs to be replaced, the
same amperage fuse can be
borrowed. Choose some feature of
the vehicle that is not needed to use
and replace it as soon as possible.
Headlamp Wiring
An electrical overload may cause
the lamps to go on and off, or in
some cases to remain off. Have the
headlamp wiring checked right away
if the lamps go on and off or
remain off.
Windshield Wipers
If the wiper motor overheats due to
heavy snow or ice, the windshield
wipers will stop until the motor cools
and the wiper control is turned off.
After removal of the blockage, the
wiper motor will restart when the
control is then moved to the desired
operating position.
Although the circuit is protected
from electrical overload, overload
due to heavy snow or ice, may
cause wiper linkage damage.
Always clear ice and heavy snow
from the windshield before using the
windshield wipers.
If the overload is caused by an
electrical problem and not snow or
ice, be sure to get it fixed.
Page 454 of 454

Black plate (12,1)Chevrolet Volt Owner Manual - 2012
i-12 INDEX
Vehicle (cont'd)Starting and Stopping . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Total Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-81
Vehicle Care Storing the Tire Sealantand Compressor Kit . . . . . . . 10-74
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-50
Vehicle Ready Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Ventilation, Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
Voltage Devices and
Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
W
WarningBrake System Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Warning Lights, Gauges, and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8
Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Cautions and Danger . . . . . . . . . . . .iv
Hazard Flashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-21 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-55 Wheels
Alignment and Tire
Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-63
Different Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-61
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-63
When It Is Time for New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-58
Where to Put the Restraint . . . . 3-41
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Windshield
Wiper/Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10
Winter Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-45
Wiper Blade Replacement . . . . 10-28
Wiring, High Voltage Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32