Only 26,000 miles
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,151
Likes: 294
From: Opelousas, Lousiana
CI 6-7 & 9 Veteran
Only 26,000 miles
And the fuel guage on my 02 has stopped working. I am now trying some Chevron gasoline along with some techron. I am not sure if it will work, but regardless, there is no excuse for a fuel guage not lasting longer than 26,000 miles. I cannot believe GM has not issued a recall on this. I have heard from reading this board that this is not an isolated incident but relatively common. 
Pro
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 539
Likes: 0
From: Nevada City CA
If you are still under warranty take it to your dealer and they will replace the sending unit.
Btw my wife's mercedes had the same problem.
Btw my wife's mercedes had the same problem.
Originally Posted by crawfish333
And the fuel guage on my 02 has stopped working. I am now trying some Chevron gasoline along with some techron. I am not sure if it will work, but regardless, there is no excuse for a fuel guage not lasting longer than 26,000 miles. I cannot believe GM has not issued a recall on this. I have heard from reading this board that this is not an isolated incident but relatively common.
Pro
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 539
Likes: 0
From: Nevada City CA
If you are still under warranty take it to your dealer and they will replace the sending unit. My 04 sender died a few months ago.
Btw my wife's mercedes had the same problem.
Btw my wife's mercedes had the same problem.
Originally Posted by crawfish333
And the fuel guage on my 02 has stopped working. I am now trying some Chevron gasoline along with some techron. I am not sure if it will work, but regardless, there is no excuse for a fuel guage not lasting longer than 26,000 miles. I cannot believe GM has not issued a recall on this. I have heard from reading this board that this is not an isolated incident but relatively common.
Lifetime Member
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 10,702
Likes: 76
From: New Jersey
St. Jude Donor '05, '12-'13, '15-'16, '21
Originally Posted by BlackVettesRBest
The Chevron w/ Techron always works for me. But I also put the Techron concentrate in it every time I change my oil.
Consistently good results from other members. Give it a shot. 
CHICAGO CREW !
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: We are living in a Bazzaro World everything is upside down half ass backwards !
CI 4-5-6-7-8-9 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08 & '12
I have a 2000 with 18000 + miles below a half a tank it drops to empty so it is going in and be fixed thank god for the extended warranty . I have had the car 3 years and this year i have used the warranty 3 or 4 time in the last 6 months on bs stuff nothing major >>>>>>
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Redsox, Pats, Celts & Bruins !!! Redsox Nation !!!
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12
Originally Posted by BlackVettesRBest
The Chevron w/ Techron always works for me. But I also put the Techron concentrate in it every time I change my oil.
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Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,151
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From: Opelousas, Lousiana
CI 6-7 & 9 Veteran
Thanks for the tips. I am very discouraged though. Mine went from working perfect to Empty while driving down the highway at 75 MPH. It did not partially work at anytime. Hopefully it will clear up soon. I hate the thought of having to spend $900 on that. 
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Good idea to try the Chevron and Techron. It has worked for other forum members.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 932
Likes: 0
From: Las Cruces New Mexico
Mine did the same thing this past February. We were driving back to New Mexico from San Antonio, TX. The gauge showed over a 1/4 tank and 2 minutes later it was at empty. I had to buy gas from someone other than shell or chevron. I found the next exit in the middle of nowhere and paid 2.85 a gallon. I put 3 gallons in it and found the next town with a chevron.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,275
Likes: 19
From: Camden County NJ
Another good product is BG-44K. Now the key to both Techron and 44K is to let it sit in a full tank for a few days then burn it off. Usually 2 tanks of 44K does it for me then I use it once a month as preventive measures.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 108
From: Ocala, Fl. State of Confusion
Originally Posted by BT-01-vette
Another good product is BG-44K. Now the key to both Techron and 44K is to let it sit in a full tank for a few days then burn it off. Usually 2 tanks of 44K does it for me then I use it once a month as preventive measures.
I have been using the Chevron and it had fixed the occasional sticking, but now it just went straight to empty and is staying there.
P.S. Mine only has 21,000 miles on an '02.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,275
Likes: 19
From: Camden County NJ
Originally Posted by TomT
Is this BG-44K stuff available at auto parts stores?
I have been using the Chevron and it had fixed the occasional sticking, but now it just went straight to empty and is staying there.
P.S. Mine only has 21,000 miles on an '02.
I have been using the Chevron and it had fixed the occasional sticking, but now it just went straight to empty and is staying there.
P.S. Mine only has 21,000 miles on an '02.
I get mine at a local Nissan dealership, there are a few other dealerships that carry it. Check there for it....good luck
Race Director
Joined: Aug 1999
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From: Manhattan, KS Missing SoCal since 2005
Originally Posted by LB04CE
On my 99 when I had it, I got Techron at Walmart poured it in, cleared up on on one tank. Put in at every oil change
While this problem is sometimes caused by bad sending units, most of the time it seems to be caused by using fuel that has a high sulfur content, which fouls the sensors. Once the computer sees a value that's out of normal range, it sends the "low fuel" message and drops the tank guage to "E." Techron should help clean things up.
Also, you might check with the dealer, as I think there is a software-only upgrade for this as well.
The problem is not just with GM vehicles, as another poster indicated. I suspect most modern cars use the same sort of sensors.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 502
Likes: 1
From: Fountain hills AZ
Originally Posted by crawfish333
And the fuel guage on my 02 has stopped working. I am now trying some Chevron gasoline along with some techron. I am not sure if it will work, but regardless, there is no excuse for a fuel guage not lasting longer than 26,000 miles. I cannot believe GM has not issued a recall on this. I have heard from reading this board that this is not an isolated incident but relatively common.
Now, with this particular "bug", we see it in all cars, but probably exacerbated by the sophistication of the Corvette dual tank system. I, for one, am happy that my fuel pumps - in all my cars - keep working. I remeber replacing the old fashioned mechanical fuel pumps frequently on cars made in the 40s-60's. No more. Failure rates are way down.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 5,865
Likes: 6
From: Saraland Alabama
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
If you have an erratic fuel guage reading it is caused by fuel contamination to the fuel card. One for each tank is located in your 2002-2005 Corvette. The new and improved parts have a new ink coating to prevent this. The part numbers for the new and improved cards are 88967315 left and 88967316 right side.
Don't let the dealer install the 2004 part number 10310028 left & 10310103 right. These don't have the improved ink coating that will stop the problem.
I recently received the above info from a member of my Corvette Club.
Please help me pass this info on to as many C-5 owners as possible. When I receive info of this type I simply print a copy of it and file it in a folder marked 2002 Corvette. Whenever I see a post on the Forum that could benefit from the info I pull my file and print it to try to help someone else.
Don't let the dealer install the 2004 part number 10310028 left & 10310103 right. These don't have the improved ink coating that will stop the problem.
I recently received the above info from a member of my Corvette Club.
Please help me pass this info on to as many C-5 owners as possible. When I receive info of this type I simply print a copy of it and file it in a folder marked 2002 Corvette. Whenever I see a post on the Forum that could benefit from the info I pull my file and print it to try to help someone else.
Pro
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 618
Likes: 0
From: Houston TX
One for each tank is located in your 2002-2005 Corvette. The new and improved parts have a new ink coating to prevent this. The part numbers for the new and improved cards are 88967315 left and 88967316 right side.
I've only had it hit E suddenly twice so far, and both times it fixed itself when I added fuel. The part that bugs me is that I only fuel up at GM's approved 'top tier' gas stations... period. Haven't had any issue recently, but it never reads a completely full fuel tank even though I know its full... its almost one tick down from full. *shrugs*