1996 Cavalier gas gauge gone screwy

My girlfriend bought a like-new 96 Cavalier 2 door from her 73 yr old auntie who gve up driving. Bought the car in October ('04) with 10,315 mi on it. You know the joke about the used-car dealer telling the prospect that this car was driven only by an old lady to church on Sunday.

Well we bought that car for real. Looks, feels and runs like new! The car is hers, but I like driving it (almost) better than my truck.

Here's the problem: Two weeks ago the gas gauge became erratic. Whatever it show -- that is NOT what's in the gas tank. And the needle gradually drifts. She already ran out of gas once.


Does this mean we have to drop the gas tank to install a new sender?

Or might it be the gauge itself that needs replacing?

Or might it be simply dirty contacts on the wiring harness at one end or the other.

If any of you have had this problem, I'd sure appreciate hearing how you fixed it.

Thanks,

Fir

GM Gas gauges do that. They have a program concerning them, most call them Tech Service Bulleteing, but GM calls them "Special Policies."

I'm betting you either get your gas from a shell station or a texaco station, high sulfur contents totally screws the gas gauges. Find the dealer the car was purchased from, and inform him that you'd like it repaired under GM's "Special Policy" concerning faulty fuel gauges.

GM Gas gauges do that. They have a program concerning them, most call them Tech Service Bulleteing, but GM calls them "Special Policies."

I'm betting you either get your gas from a shell station or a texaco station, high sulfur contents totally screws the gas gauges. Find the dealer the car was purchased from, and inform him that you'd like it repaired under GM's "Special Policy" concerning faulty fuel gauges.
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Thank you very much Overallcoma.

I checked the recalls and TSBs for 1996 Cavs and found nothing. I'll have to find a way to check all years of Cavaliers without spending a ton of time on it.

For now, we refuel the car every 150 miles or so, using a written mileage record kept in the driver's door pocket.

In case we cannot get the dealer to fix the gas gauge free, any ideas on how to fix it.

Thanks again Overallcoma.

Fir

P.S. We don't use Shell or Texaco gas, but Racetrac here in Florida. Lowest prices. But never had any problem with their gas in our other vehicles. That doesn't mean their gas isn't high sulpher as you mentioned.

As taken from the Lemon-Aid website
(http://www.lemonaidcars.com/update.htm)

A known-problem since 2000 with outbreaks in Erie, Pennsylvania, Louisville, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida, and Canada, no attention is paid to the fact these cars will likely fail mandatory annual emission inspections and engines could be damaged by the sulfur, according to a 1998 Environmental Protection Agency report. In the States, Shell accepts claim costs that could range from $300 to $600 (U.S.), just to replace the fuel gauge components; add another $500 for the converter (http://www.interactclaims.com/shell). Compare this to the expired Canadian offer for $100-175 given, only if claimants can prove they spent at least $100 for Shell gas, and don’t own a Jeep. (http://www.shell.ca/code/help/faq/claim_form.pdf). It’s not surprising Quebecers have rejected this weasel-like offer. Owners should be watchful for a rotten-egg smell or inaccurate fuel gauge readings. If any of the above symptoms occur:

Have the dealer or an independent garage inspect the vehicle;
If an inspection confirms fuel gauge or converter damage was caused by excess sulfur in the fuel, send your claim to the fuel retailer you frequent;
If the gauge or converter has failed due to premature wear (7 years/100,000 miles is a good benchmark), make your claim under product liability legislation.
Other points to keep in mind:

Of the 13,000 registered complaints, only a handful involves foreign vehicles.
GM confirmed its sensors on 1996-2003 models were particularly failure-prone in TSB # and offered Canadian customers gift certificates for free oil changes and gas to thank them for their "loyalty and patience."

Texaco, Chevron, Petro-Canada and independents also got the high-sulfur gas


Any rejected claim can be appealed through provincial small claims courts.


---Your question shouldn't be the name of the place from which you buy your gas, but rather "do they buy their gas from a shell or texaco refinery?" If so, that'd be why your gauge is screwed. Article mentions Florida as being an outbreak location, and the good news with that is that its documented and you have a good case to make. Also, GM must have some sort of TSB as the article mentions it. Save time, call the dealer and tell him that you know a TSB exists, and you just need the TSB number.

[QUOTE=OverAllComa]As taken from the Lemon-Aid website
(http://www.lemonaidcars.com/update.htm)
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OverAllComa,

Thank you so very much for your excellent information.

Since I haven't been able to find a TBS specific to the erratic fuel gauge, I'm contacting Mr. Edmonston at Lemon-aid to see whether he has the TBS #.

Meantime we keep track of mileage in our door-pocket journal.

I refuse to pay a huge amount to fix this. If I cannot get satisfaction from Chevrolet, we'll just live with the problem (I've had worse!)

Thanks, again,

Fir

Also, you might find this tidbit interesting.

http://tinyurl.com/b6v8o

It's happened once...... Who knows but a claim is in order?

Running good fuel/carb cleaner for a few tankfuls has been known to solve the problem too.

Tookie said:
Running good fuel/carb cleaner for a few tankfuls has been known to solve the problem too.[/QUOTE]
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I will try this. Meanwhile I've put a call in to my GF's aunt, who now lives in Minnesota, so see whether she bought fuel from Shell or Texaco.

Thank you very much for the info.

matis