A Tale of Two Maxxes

A buddy, who's a member in Edmund's Town Hall purchased his Maxx the day before I did last month. (We kinda coordinated) My mfr. date is late April, his early May.

We are both having weird "situations" with our dash guages. (Yes, e2helper, the buddy is "maxx4me").

On mine, when I fill the tank, the fuel guage refuses to go above 7/8, drops to 3/4 pretty quickly and then sits on 3/4 for what seems like forever. Anyone else have this problem? Any advice? I will need to fill it later this week for the 2nd time, and I'm tempted to really "top it off". Watch me become covered in gasoline.

On his, the fuel guage is OK, but his temp guage sits above the middle, whereas my temp guage sits exactly at the middle. Anyone else with a "high" temp guage? Any advice? Actually, his completely died all day yesterday (even with multiple engine starts), but was back to working again this morning.

Thanks.

harry,
Your case sounds a little worse than a couple others I have heard about. I would not recommend intentionally overfilling your fuel tank because it might cause liquid fuel to get into vapor cannister. I do not have any suggestions at this time but if I hear of anything will repost.

On the temp gauge, I wouldn't be that concerned with needle reading slightly above the middle. Of course, if it stopped working completely - that is something that a dealer needs to look at. I will have to check Edmunds again because I think I know the post you are talking about.

Thanks, e2. I won't get crazy at the pump.

Thank God for the Driver Info Center, because at least I can get an estimate there of how far I can go before running out.....

Hey wpbharry, didn't you just buy this car?? I hope its not a sign of things to come.

Yes, I did. But I also really don't have any bona fide problems, just "anomalies". Rechecked the Owner's Manual last night and it says that such a fuel guage issue is considered "normal". But, it's already driving me nuts.

My friend's Maxx (he's in Wash DC and I'm in FL) that has the temp guage issue IS a bona fide problem, and I'm concerned with that.

I'd rather live with the fuel guage issue, though, than risk trannie failure on an Accord. They recalled ALL automatic '03/'04 Accords within days after I bought the Maxx. Too ironic.

I'd be more concerned that the fuel guage reads 1/4 full when it is really empty.

GM guages seem to be notorious for not reading correctly. I usually just fill up when my trip odometer reads around 200 miles traveled.

I agree with keeping an eye on the odometer; exactly what I did with my '98.

However, due to the forward march of technology, the trip odometers (there are now 2) are integrated into the Driver Information Center/radio, and not so easy to keep tabs on (the odos are not in the "speedo guage cluster" anymore).

BUT, the DIC should warn me of a low fuel situation via sounds and words, let's hope anyway.

Our Maxx was manufactured 01/04 and so far those guages are working as expected.
The outside temperature indicator is obviously wrong at times (says 80º when it's 101º) and may or may not correct itself during that particular drive. This started happening after the anti-lock brakes were reprogramed. It has not affected operation of the autoclimate feature.

The vehicle must sit for off over 3 hours in order for it to automatically jump to whatever the current ambient temperature is. If vehicle was sitting for less than that amount of time then it will need to be driven before the displayed temperature will start increasing. This is to make sure you aren't getting underhood heat causing erroneous temperature display. The amount of time you have to drive depends on how long the vehicle had been left off and the speed that you are driving. To get the fastest update you will need to be driving over 35 MPH. If you are in stop-and-go traffic any time spend below 10 MPH actually makes it take longer for the display to update. Once the temperature starts to climb it will change steadily to settle at the actual temperature - although it might take an additional minute or so. If the outside temperature is lower than the display you don't have this initial delay and the temperature will change much quicker.

If you have the factory remote start system and are using it I believe the temperature display will always start off at temperature you shut vehicle off at, even if the vehicle was sitting for over 3 hours.

The one thing I don't know is if you were to immediately be able to get up to speed and then drive steadily over 35 MPH the maximum amount of time you would need to do this before you started seeing the temperature change. You actually only need to drive over 10 MPH for it to eventually start updating it will just take longer.

Well, e2, that's not the case with mine, ironically. This past week, I did a LOT of errand-running and the temp indicator is actually OVER the actual temp. Was between 95 and 97 outside dring the day most of the week, and the temp indicator was in the 99-102 range consistently.

Also, both Maxxes are having the key FOB glitch. Using the same FOB as normal (NOT the spare FOB), the radio likes to reset itself at random. One time it jumped from XM to AM, another time I had to reset all of the stations. Pain in the arse. Widely reported in Edmund's.

Not going to worry about either issue yet. Going in tomorrow morning for the fuel guage issue (new guage cluster) and the trannie whine TSB (and to report the flapping skylight sunshades). They want the car for 2 days, getting a free rental. Will report back later in the week.

I have seen cases of complaints on radio presets and I think enough people, like you, now know about fact that the 2004 model has a radio setting personalization feature based on what KEY FOB you are using.

Because of that I think there is something else up which I have not heard of any explaination for yet. I know that for 2005 they turned off the radio personalization feature because of all the complaints which is one way to address issue :( .

The RKE receiver sends out KEYFOB1 or KEYFOB2 message to body module based on what KEYFOB unlocks the door. This is communicated to the radio so it switches to DRIVER1 or DRIVER2 presets and radio settings. The XM receiver does the same thing with its presets. I always have wondered if this problem is seen more by people who normally use KEYFOB2 all the time (or it happens equally with either KEYFOB). You can't tell which you are using but your dealer could tell you when you take vehicle in for service if they hooked their TECH 2 scan tool up to vehicle and read data from body module.

If this has happened often enough to you you might want to at program both KEYFOBs to same radio stations. I know that is a pain, sorry.

The XM changing to AM could be something else. I think if the XM receiver isn't initially recognized by the radio when you start up it might switch to AM band. You might want to keep your eye on if this happens again.

I am also interested on if new cluster fixes fuel gage issue you were having with it when FULL. I don't think it will, but I have been wrong before - many times :)

I have set the radio presets with both FOBs to the same stations.

I could be wrong, but I think that there was a misunderstanding in Edmund's several months ago in response to a post by "triedntru" (who works at the Fairfax plant, as you know). I don't think the radio personalization is being turned off in the 05s. He was trying to indicate that the seat anchor (or whatever it was recalled for) has been redesigned beginning with the '05s, and somehow ETH members misconstrued the posts (board had been active around then). I don't have time right now, but if you do, you might want to go back and revisit the applicable posts.

wpbharry,

Back to your problem with fuel gauge. I understand a new powertrain controller calibration is in the works to correct this problem which only affected certain Maxxes. I suggest checking back with dealer around end of August to give it time to make sure information has been communicated to them and they have it available

Funny you thought of this yesterday, e2. I called my dealer yesterday by chance, to see if the "sending unit" had yet arrived. The Parts Dept. at my dealership is smokin something these days. They've lost all 3 items I've ordered (finally got the rear headphones - which should have been included and the touch-up paint - for just in case) and they have no idea. Service Writer was no help either. I HAD been impressed with the dealership before this. I'll stop by next week. Interesting that GM claims a different fix.

Per requests in Edmund's I tried to set up an account in "MyGMLink" for the Maxx (had one for the '98 Malibu), to voice complaints about items with no fix, and the VIN can't be found, so I have to send all sorts of written documentation. Other VINs for vehicles manufactured after mine are in the system.

Is this GMs joke? If the car doesn't exist, do I have to make payments on it? :evillol:

The intermittent warning I'd had in the DIC about "Check Gas Cap" has finally vanished, and I haven't yet refueled since I last saw it.

This Malibu/Maxx, unlike the '97, seems to be having a ton of wildly different issues, not common ones like the '97 had. One car is a mess, one is basically good (like mine), and a few are perfect. Another oddity. Back in '97 all were affected by some issues.

Sorry to hear about your problems harry :(

I am sure that your VIN is known by someone :) - hey , did you ever try http://calid.gm.com ?

The info I gave you is a little "hot off the press" and so dealer wouldn't actually know about it yet. I will repost when notification is officially out to them. There are sometimes a few different ways to fix problems in the field and if it can be done with a calibration update that is preferred over more intrusive/expensive changes ;) - it is the case with this fuel gage complaint.

Do you have rear seat audio system or the DVD player in your vehicle? Both are options on the Maxx.

Actually that is one change for the 2005 model I never saw mentioned anywhere, the rear seat audio (UK6 option) changes to wireless headphones just like the DVD player (U32 option) had in 2004 model.

The VIN will be loaded this week I'm sure, based on what I sent them last week. It went to a specific individual.

Re: the rear headphones. I only have the rear audio system, which, for some unbelievably idiotic reason, did NOT come with headphones for the '04s (how are you supposed to use the unit?), so I had to pay approx. $60 to get them after-the-fact. I see that this has changed for the '05s.

Similar to the omission of the rear wiper/washer on the '04s. Just plain stupid.

Harry,

Next time you go to dealer regarding your fuel gage concern tell them to look up P.I. #PIC3088. It was finally posted in information they can look up.

cya

I finally received word back from GM on Friday that my VIN was finally loaded into MyGMLink. So, I updated info on the site yesterday and additionally, sent them a "complaint" about no fix for either the flapping rear sunshades or the fuel gage/"Check Gas Cap" issue. No reply as yet.

I'll be at the dealer's in Sept. for oil/filter change #1 and will attempt to get the fuel gage/"Check Gas Cap" warning addressed at that time. Interesting that the "Check Gas Cap" warning disappears after a fill-up, but then reappears when about 2/3 of a tank remains. For sure, it's not a gas cap issue, since I have the original still on the car and have heard that replacing it with another does no good.

It may have something to do with when this diagnostic runs. According to my information ;) one of the conditions for this diagnostic test to run is that fuel level is between 15-85%. So when you fuel up you are outside of that range for a while.

I received an e-mail from the head of Chevrolet Customer Care this morning that she'd be calling. I just attempted to reach her, got voice mail, and asked her to call tomorrow. I intend to ask a LOT of questions. She claimed that Chevy knows about the sunshades and my fuel gage/Check Gas Cap issue and wants to know why the dealer hasn't done anything about it. Surprising.

I intend to ask several other questions as well. Will report back.

A poor soul in Edmund's has the exact same fuel gage issue, so it's appearing.

I find it rather discouraging hearing all the problems with the Maxx. I like the functionality of the car, but if there are as many irritating problems with the car the Dodge Magnum looks like a good alternative.

Keep us informed of the problems and Chey's resolution.

The only 2 other major issues with the Maxx are the electric power steering failures and the transmission whine. I'll bet that I find out later today that my vehicle, built in late April, is not affected by these 2. Let's hope. The fuel gage issue is irritating, but doesn't compromise the driveability of the car.

First year vehicles always have teething problems.

I'd be more cautious with the Magnum, since it's a combination of Chrysler and Mercedes technology. Mercedes lately is not known for great reliability. I could be wrong, but I think its been recalled for something already.

Well, Chevrolet Customer Care did call as I requested, but I only achieved minor success. Basically, they are not-technically oriented, had little to no info, but logged the complaints with a "File Reference Number". When I take the car to the dealership next month, they told me to bring a copy of the correspondence with me for the dealer to reference, but that's it.