Opel Ampera & Chevrolet Volt Forum

Hi guys!

I was hoping to get little help from this forum. It's mind boggling that I can't get any in-detail information in English and I can really forget about Finnish.

So anyway, I've been spinning the idea of selling my volvo away and replace it with ampera.
Me and my fiancee are taking a short vacation in central Europe this spring and thought that I could drive back with ampera bought from Germany or Netherlands (BTW, why are they cheaper in Netherlands?).

Still, there are few things that bother me...

I understand that 2012 model is somehow inferior in arctic environment compared to 2013, but I don't know why. Can anyone kindly explain this to me?
This is really important to me as I live near the arctic circle and just last week we had the -30 temperatures

The second thing, and I understand that this might sound stupid, but does ampera have a timing belt (Zahnriemen)? I'm thinking of buying fairly much driven (+100k km) car, as they are cheap-ish and I have a few mechanic friends that can do at least the basic repair / maintenance work (excluding electric engine, of course).

If you have information regarding my "concerns", any help would be much appreciated!

MfG,

Pekka

PS. I'm really sorry if these questions breaks the forum rules (questions asked in different section). Just that my German is really, really rusty and google translate isn't THAT good on translating German to even English.

Welcome to our forum!

I don't have a problem with writing in english, so here you go:

"Why is 2012 Ampera inferior in arctic environment?"

Well, every Ampera which was built before August 2012 starts its petrol engine when the outside temperature goes beyond -4°C (25°F). There is no legal option you have, no software update, nothing.

Every Ampera which was built after August 2012 can be configured by the owner to start the petrol engine when the outside temperature goes beyond -4°C (25°F) or -10°C (14°F).

The petrol engine starts at low temperatures because it was requirement for GM to get the windshield of the Ampera/Volt free in a certain time, so it uses this heat from the engine.

Regarding your second question: the Ampera has a V-rib belt. It needs to be changed every 120.000 km.

Hope this helps

warm welcome, Pekka.

concerning the market price in the Netherlands: incentives took place there which boosted sales and has led to a larger offer of preowned PHEV's nowadays (in comparison to Germany).

Cheers,
Maik

Wow, I actually didn't expect any answers, at least so soon!
Thank you guys, these information bits are invaluable to me!

Every Ampera which was built after August 2012 can be configured by the owner to start the petrol engine when the outside temperature goes beyond -4°C (25°F) or -10°C (14°F).

OK, follow-up question, if you don't mind: Does the Ampera VIN plate separate production month and year or just year?
Have my eyes on one which is registered 12/2012, but I do understand that it won't necessarily mean that it's manufactured late 2012. But if it can be found out from VIN plate, I could easily ask from seller to provide the information.

On the other hand, how hard (or safe...) it would be to install custom firmware to fix the above mentioned issue? If I remember correctly, at some site they were customizing their cars by installing something in OBD-port.

Thanks again!

- Pekka

Hello Pekka

Welcome to our show!

What your 2nd question is about.
As far as I know, the ampera has a chain to drive the the camshafts.


regards
Andi

Welcome to our show!

Thank you! I'm bit surprised how active this forum is, considering we are in "introduction section".
This is really great and I'll be sure to stay active once I buy my ampera.

Finland hat geschrieben:
OK, follow-up question, if you don't mind: Does the Ampera VIN plate separate production month and year or just year?
Have my eyes on one which is registered 12/2012, but I do understand that it won't necessarily mean that it's manufactured late 2012. But if it can be found out from VIN plate, I could easily ask

I'm sorry for this reply, but I completeley skipped your question for some reason.

So here's my late answer:

You have to check the VIN indeed. Our own Cyberjack found the VIN that SEEMS to decide over the -4°C/-10°C menu:

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=1173&p=53274#p53131

It is VIN number CU119678. Every car above this number should have the menu to configure the temperature. You can try it yourself when you visit the car, check out the climate settings of the Ampera for "cold temps" and "very cold temps".
__________________

Regarding the software update for the older Ampera models: Opel didn't have the OK to upgrade the 2012 cars, so there really is NO software available. I wouldn't trust any third party software, it could be a potential risk for the rest of the car's software.

There are hardware modification options available (resistor-based), but they might hurt the battery cooling of the Ampera in the long term.

Further information here: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php ... le-options

LambdaCore 21 hat geschrieben:

Finland hat geschrieben:
It is VIN number CU119678. Every car above this number should have the menu to configure the temperature. You can try it yourself when you visit the car, check out the climate settings of the Ampera for "cold temps" and "very cold temps".

Ok, thanks again! Though now I'm beginning to wonder that does it really matter for me whether it is -4 or -10 degrees, when the engine starts. I understand it takes more gasoline, but hey, living in Finland so winters tend to be cold anyway.

One other thing that has been quite controversial... Does anyone have any actual experience (=seen) of the timing belt? I've seen quite different opinions what kind of system the engine uses.

I've seen several suggestions of what it is (chain, v-ribbed belt...). Where can I actually see the correct information and at which point it is to be changed?

I have finally decided to fly to Amsterdam and drive back with Ampera in the end of April- early May!

That's great news

Here's my official Opel inspection sheet, "Keilrippenriemen" is the german word for v-ribbed belt:

Finland hat geschrieben:[…]
One other thing that has been quite controversial... Does anyone have any actual experience (=seen) of the timing belt? I've seen quite different opinions what kind of system the engine uses.

I've seen several suggestions of what it is (chain, v-ribbed belt...). Where can I actually see the correct information and at which point it is to be changed?
[…]

Service Manual Page 7000 (!):
Service manual: http://temp.paoberson.ch/AMPERISTE/Service_Manual.pdf

P.S.: V-ribbed belts are used to drive e.g. water pumps etc.