2017 Bolt EV tapping noise

Yip it's the dealership....it's to be expected.
I had installed a "Mouse Blocker" to prevent rodents from chewing up the wiring, and the 'technician' disconnected it, leaned on it and bent the bracket that I had made to hold the device and then left it disconnected!!!
So as I said it could have been worse and believe me I've had worse.
 
Crazycatman said:
Yip it's the dealership....it's to be expected.
I had installed a "Mouse Blocker" to prevent rodents from chewing up the wiring, and the 'technician' disconnected it, leaned on it and bent the bracket that I had made to hold the device and then left it disconnected!!!
So as I said it could have been worse and believe me I've had worse.
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That's insane!
 
I have a ‘17 (only 21,724 miles) that’s 4 1/2 months out of warranty. I was out of town for a month and when I returned 2 weeks ago it started doing the tap-tap-tap thing. Definitely the iBooster. I checked when opening the car door and got down by the brake pedal and it might’ve actually been moving very slightly; a push on it with my hand and it stopped the sound and movement. I’ve also pumped the brakes gently while powered up but parked, and it went away.

I appreciate this forum which helped me to identify the problem, and my experience is the same as those who’ve had this issue.

I guess Monday I’ll see if GM is going to cover this or if I’ll be out-of-pocket on it. I’ll get it fixed either way, I’m not going to live with it. I’ll follow up to let you know if GM will cover it out of warranty.
 

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Awaytome said:
Our 2017 Bolt has also begun making this knocking noise. We're having difficulty with the dealership recognizing the problem. They won't accept our video recording to help with identification. Had to reschedule an appointment to try to talk directly to a technician.

In case it can help anyone else with this issue the recording can be seen here:

Click to expand...

Awaytome said:
Our 2017 Bolt has also begun making this knocking noise. We're having difficulty with the dealership recognizing the problem. They won't accept our video recording to help with identification. Had to reschedule an appointment to try to talk directly to a technician.

In case it can help anyone else with this issue the recording can be seen here:

Click to expand...


Excellent video and audio, thank you very much!
 
Thanks all, bc I just bought a used 2017 Chevy Bolt with 25,000 miles on. It has this EXACT sound. (I leased a 2017 Bolt until last week, then purchased a used one. My leased bolt never made this tapping sound through 41,000 miles). So my question is... HOW MUCH should I anticipate it will cost to fix the iBooster?
I have no warranty so my fingers are crossed.
 
patrickbolt said:
Thanks all, bc I just bought a used 2017 Chevy Bolt with 25,000 miles on. It has this EXACT sound. (I leased a 2017 Bolt until last week, then purchased a used one. My leased bolt never made this tapping sound through 41,000 miles). So my question is... HOW MUCH should I anticipate it will cost to fix the iBooster?
I have no warranty so my fingers are crossed.
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I got quoted 1800 to fix it. I'm in MD.
 
I know that any unrepaired issue can and will eventually balloon into something much more expensive. That said, what exactly does this part do, and what is the harm of leaving it unrepaired? Is it a safety issue, or just something that will get more expensive later?
 
I just got my car back from the dealer. My brake pads were worn way down to metal. They said the sound was in fact the booster but the problem was that it was working so hard due to the worn down pads. They replaced the brakes and sure enough, the tapping went away. I’m glad it did, as a brake job (which was necessary anyway) is cheaper than replacing the booster!



Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
GetOffYourGas said:
I just got my car back from the dealer. My brake pads were worn way down to metal. They said the sound was in fact the booster but the problem was that it was working so hard due to the worn down pads. They replaced the brakes and sure enough, the tapping went away. I’m glad it did, as a brake job (which was necessary anyway) is cheaper than replacing the booster!
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Brakes worn to the metal?! I'm not sure if I've ever heard of brakes on an EV getting worn down that much. Just curious...do you drive with light regen and have a lot of miles on it?
 
No, this confused me a little too. I do have 56k miles on the car, but I drive almost exclusively in L. I rarely touch the brake pedal. However, I live in upstate NY and we have lots of road salt in the winter. In order to control surface rust, I occasionally put the car in neutral and brake hard to a stop. Maybe I have been overdoing it.
 
GetOffYourGas said:
No, this confused me a little too. I do have 56k miles on the car, but I drive almost exclusively in L. I rarely touch the brake pedal. However, I live in upstate NY and we have lots of road salt in the winter. In order to control surface rust, I occasionally put the car in neutral and brake hard to a stop. Maybe I have been overdoing it.
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That is strange, then. I doubt your rust clearing has that much effect... Maybe some other Bolt EV owners will appear with similar issues, since it seems wearing through the pads makes the tapping noise.
 
Well, this is the story that Chevy gave me, and it seems to match what happened. That said, I think others have resolved the issue with a software update? I did have the recall applied at the same time. And I hear they bundled the cold-weather charging performance into that update. Maybe it also included something for the iBooster? That's just me putting 2 and 2 together and running with it.

I would love to hear if anyone else fixed the tapping with just a brake job (and no software update).
 
GetOffYourGas said:
Well, this is the story that Chevy gave me, and it seems to match what happened. That said, I think others have resolved the issue with a software update? I did have the recall applied at the same time. And I hear they bundled the cold-weather charging performance into that update. Maybe it also included something for the iBooster? That's just me putting 2 and 2 together and running with it.

I would love to hear if anyone else fixed the tapping with just a brake job (and no software update).
Click to expand...

After hunting around on this, just wanted to flag for folks that the Chevy Bolt Forum found a TSB from 12/11/2020 that says a software update is coming in early 2021 to address this and that the iBoosters are not defective and should not be replaced.
 
Walter said:
We purchased our 2017 Bolt EV in early June 2017 and now have about 5000 miles on it. So far, we've been very pleased with the car. However, a few months ago, the car started to make a rapid tapping sound when the door is opened and the car started. At first, the sound was very intermittent and went away with a brief tap on the brake pedal. Now it's more frequent and some times comes on even while driving, then goes away. I could easily trace the sound to the brake master cylinder.

We took the car to a Chevy dealer who confirmed that the sound was not normal. They could not determine what the cause was, so they recorded the sound and contacted GM. The latest from GM is that they will be sending out a part called an "I Brake". Neither the service guy at our local Chevy dealer, nor the certified Bolt technician have heard of such a part, and I couldn't find anything online to identify the part either.

If anyone in Boltsville has had a similar issue, or knows what an I Brake is, I would appreciate you sharing this with the group and myself.
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In July of 2022 my Bolt went in for the 2nd recall with gm's help because the dealer can not be trusted. THE POINT IS
at the same time they did a TSB to reprogram the iBooster. I heard that ticking for 1 1/2 years
All good now.
 
Boogaloo said:
In July of 2022 my Bolt went in for the 2nd recall with gm's help because the dealer can not be trusted. THE POINT IS
at the same time they did a TSB to reprogram the iBooster. I heard that ticking for 1 1/2 years
All good now.
Click to expand...
Well the sound is back now. The brake job got rid of it for a time but not for good. How do I get GM to install this software update? If I go in and say I want an update I heard about on the internet, they will roll their eyes at me, charge me $100 to "look at the car", find nothing, and return it to me unchanged.
 
GetOffYourGas said:
Well the sound is back now. The brake job got rid of it for a time but not for good. How do I get GM to install


this software update? If I go in and say I want an update I heard about on the internet, they will roll their eyes at me, charge me $100 to "look at the car", find nothing, and return it to me unchanged.
Click to expand...

Well I had to pitch a fit to get it done by calling gm.
Ref
2017-2018 Bolt EV Brake Booster (iBooster) thread on GM Bulletin #20-NA-170
This info on .org Bolt site with the grey bolts in the header. Don't know how much is ok to say about that.
The reprogramming takes about 15 min and it really works. The TSB tells the shop Do Not Replace iBooster
Hope to be helpful
 
When you say you called GM, do you mean the local dealer, or did you call GM directly? If the latter, what number did you call?
 
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