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Flakey fuel gauge

MCMLVII

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Messages
62
Location
PROVING GROUNDS
Corvette
BLACK 57, blu 15 vert
I have a 2004 with 18K miles.

Filled up yesterday and fuel gauge started to jump around from empty to full then back to empty.

Reviewed the archives for info on this. Sounds like a problem prior to mid 2003. Took it to a dealer who said it has a bad "sender card" on the left side. That is on "National Back Order" and may be two weeks for one to show up.

In the meantime I should reset the trip milage and keep track of fuel consuption that way.

I have a 1,500/ 2,000 trip scheduled next week.

Does this dealer sound like they know what they are doing?

Any additional suggestions?

TIA

MCMLVII
 
You can try a very good fuel injection cleaner as the problem could be in one of the sending units in one of the tanks. The best is BG44K, but Techron is good too. Either of these might clean the sender units enough to work....especially if your gas there has a high sulfer content.......Good luck!
 
MCMLVII said:
I have a 2004 with 18K miles.

Filled up yesterday and fuel gauge started to jump around from empty to full then back to empty.

Reviewed the archives for info on this. Sounds like a problem prior to mid 2003. Took it to a dealer who said it has a bad "sender card" on the left side. That is on "National Back Order" and may be two weeks for one to show up.

In the meantime I should reset the trip milage and keep track of fuel consuption that way.

I have a 1,500/ 2,000 trip scheduled next week.

Does this dealer sound like they know what they are doing?

Any additional suggestions?

TIA

MCMLVII

Your dealer is right on. The new cards and their part numbers should be available this month. I have had the same problem on past C5s and all you can do is keep track of your mpg and distance traveled. On interstate travel you should get in the high 20mpg so plan on filling up after 400 miles or so. Don't let the fuel get too low or you may suffer a fuel pump failure. It uses the gas as a coolant and can overheat with low fuel. Sounds like a fun trip, 2000miles in a Corvette is not a chore. Have fun.
Paul
 
Paul T said:
Your dealer is right on. The new cards and their part numbers should be available this month. I have had the same problem on past C5s and all you can do is keep track of your mpg and distance traveled. On interstate travel you should get in the high 20mpg so plan on filling up after 400 miles or so. Don't let the fuel get too low or you may suffer a fuel pump failure. It uses the gas as a coolant and can overheat with low fuel. Sounds like a fun trip, 2000 miles in a Corvette is not a chore. Have fun.
Paul


Paul,

Thanks for the low fuel tip, did not know that.

Going to do the "Tail of the Dragon", this time with the top down.

MCMLVII
 
Go with the fuel system cleaner first. May save you some grief. This has been known to help with these sort of problems if the false reading can be attributed to contaminates in the fuel system. I also recommend BG 44K - ain't cheap but it's very good.
 
MCMLVII said:
Going to do the "Tail of the Dragon", this time with the top down.

MCMLVII

Check out the white water rafting on the Ocoee and Nantahala...almost as much fun as a Corvette on a crooked road! :D
 
Glenn W. said:
You can try a very good fuel injection cleaner as the problem could be in one of the sending units in one of the tanks. The best is BG44K, but Techron is good too. Either of these might clean the sender units enough to work....especially if your gas there has a high sulfer content.......Good luck!

I tried to pick up BG44K but two auto parts places never heard of it. They had a wide selection including Techron.

Is there a brand name? Any suggestions before I pick up the Techron?


Thanks

MCMLVII
 
BG is the brand name and 44K is the product.

The only place I find BG 44K is at 'high end' parts houses or "tire & service" centers. It's around 20 bucks a can, so AutoZone, etc. will not carry them and the people that work at those places will not have a clue.
 
bg44k

Just type in BG44K in your search engine....either Yahoo or Google will work and you can order it over the 'net. Mine only cost 19.95 with about a buck shipping.....and the car seems to be running much smoother at idle too. The gas gauge has not gone to empty yet with it in the tank, but I'll let you know......
 
MCMLVII said:
I have a 2004 with 18K miles.

Filled up yesterday and fuel gauge started to jump around from empty to full then back to empty.

Reviewed the archives for info on this. Sounds like a problem prior to mid 2003. Took it to a dealer who said it has a bad "sender card" on the left side. That is on "National Back Order" and may be two weeks for one to show up.

In the meantime I should reset the trip milage and keep track of fuel consuption that way.

I have a 1,500/ 2,000 trip scheduled next week.

Does this dealer sound like they know what they are doing?

Any additional suggestions?

TIA

MCMLVII

You have RPO - FFS Revised Fuel Tank System (2003/2004) like the system used in the C6. Card failure is very common. (actually common failure sounds too harsh it is really not a big number of failures but Corvettes are a limited production car so the percentage of failures just seems high).

Don't worry they'll fix it as soon as their card manufacturer can export it to the USA.
 
Techron works.
 
Received a notice from the dealer that the new card is available. Will take the car in first part of the week.

Keeping track of fuel use with the trip indicator is a pain.

The trip to the "DRAGON" was great. Spent 2 1/2 days twisting and turning. The great thing was NO TRAFFIC. I don't know where everyone else was, but it wasn't in the mountains of North Carolina.

Thanks for all the advice.

MCMLVII
 
Try not to have an empty/near empty tank for extended periods of time such as a week especially if your car is a weekend warrior. Before putting it away Sunday night be sure you have at least 2/3rds tank. I had this problem intermitantly until 2-yeasr ago when I made sure to keep the tank fairly full between uses. A friend in the gas business said that the vapors were worse than the actually immersion. I switch off every other tank with Chevron and Unocal premium (in California only 91 octane).
 
Thanks good tip.

Dropped the car off to replace the fuel card this morning. Dealer called and said they have to drop the transmission to install the card. Does this sound correct? (Their transmission tech wont be in until after 5th of July so I picked up the car.)

This is beginning to be a pain.

PS. Ordered BC44K on the internet and will put it in after I get the card installed.

Thanks for all the advice.


MCMLVII
 

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