Filled up tonight on my way home from meeting some friends, and for some reason my fuel gauge only read 3/4's when I left the station. I have had my car for a year and it has just under 12,000km on it. First time anything like this has happened.

Searching this forum for "gas gauge", I found a number of threads that indicated a dealer re-flash would fix it. However, I saw a few posts from BlwnGP that indicated that there was no reflash or fix for the 2006 2.4L LE5's. This was quite some time ago, and I am unable to PM or email him through the board.

Has anyone else with a 2.4L LE5 had an issue with incorrect fuel gauge readings? If so, was the dealer able to correct the problem, with a reflash or otherwise?

Also, if anyone knows BlwnGP in person could they please ask him to respond to this thread, and let us know if GM was ever able to fix his problem?

 

i have a 2.2 and my fuel guage does that from time to time. it'll say i have no gas and throw up the low fuel warning when i have a full tank. it usually ends up going to the correct level after about ten minutes. i havent really looked into though

 

thats odd. i never had that problem. hmm interesting. def bring into the dealer. its covered under warranty.

 

Like I said, BlwnGP reported this same problem and a dealer reflash didn't fix it. I don't want to take my car to the dealership unless I absolutely have to, so I am hoping to hear from someone else who had this issue and got it resolved.

 

Should be a reflash, take it to the dealer with this information - it is for ALL COBALTS:

Make : CHEVROLET
Model : COBALT
Year : 2006
Manufacturer : GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Service Bulletin Num : 060604012
Date of Bulletin: NOV 01, 2006
NHTSA Item Number: 10019838
Component: FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER:STORAGE:FUEL GAUGE SYSTEM
Summary:
ERRATIC FUEL GAGE READINGS (DOES NOT GO TO FULL OR MOVES OFF FULL TOO QUICKLY). *TT

 

Sweet, thanks.

Just out of curiosity, would a dealer reflash reset everything back to stock? I'm glad this happened before my injector upgrade...

 

It shouldn't, this should be a flash of the BCM (Body Control Module), all performance-related stuff is stored on the PCM (Powertrain Control Module).

 

I gotta get this done..I was wondering whymy gauge was wierd

 

Sorry man, I didn't see this post until today. Yes, the reflash didn't work for me (was done at the dealership where I bought the car in Michigan-they were pretty much a bunch of idiots). However, the dealership in Florida (where I live now) decided to replace the fuel sending unit. It seems to have made a difference. There was a TSB for that one (different from the one mentioned above - it speciffically says to replace the sending unit). Mine never failed to read, it was just off by about 1/8 to 1/16 of a tank when I filled up. I still think it is off slightly, but have later read somewhere that even at empty, it still has 1.5 gallons in the tank as reserve. That might explain why I have been able to fill the car over 13 gallons on occasion and average 12 gallons of fill up when it is below "E".

The only other solution I could see would be the vent line is not functioning properly, installed properly, or designed properly, causing the fuel nozzle automatic shut off to click prematurely-making you believe that the tank is full. That is the only thing I haven't investigated. I just live with the fact that I have to top off every time I fill up the car to make sure I have a full tank.