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'12 Eco Gas Gauge Off Calibration??

19K views 60 replies 23 participants last post by  milehigh 
#1 ·
Hello. 1st post, great to be here. Let me preface by saying I had a Silverado and traded in for the 2012 Cruze Eco. Great car, great gas mileage!

Ok, When I bought the car they said they filled the tank up. Drove off the lot and noticed it was 1 - 1.5 "hash marks" below the big fat 'F' line. Okay, they didn't fill all the way up. Fast foward to 350 miles later and I filled up the tank. Few clicks of a top-off and started the car up. Still 1-1.5 lines BELOW the 'F' line on the gauge. Hmm....get out and try to really cap it off. Did a better job and started the car. It's now 1 line below the 'F'. I am thinking it may just be a thing that happens with this car but don't feel its right to let this sort of thing slide on a 375 mile old car. I will call my dealer on Monday morning.

But the funny thing is, when I turn the car on and the dials do their thing. I see the gas needle goes all the way to 'F' and back down to 'E' -- Just when the dials get "normal" I'm still 1 notch below 'F'. Normal or something screwy?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. And as I said earlier, great to be here!
-Ttols5
 
#4 ·
The Eco manual transmission has a special filler tube that cuts off the fill after 12 gallons. The gas gauge wasn't recalibrated to reflect this.
 
#7 ·
Yes, it was calibrated. I've filled up several times where the gas gauge goes right to the Full line. If you actually filled up 15.6 gallons, you'd drive 150+ miles and the needle would stay on the exact same full line until those "extra" gallons were used up.

My 2012 Eco went thru some growing pains or something weird. Twice now, after filling (I go to the same gas station, the pump auto-stops when full like it should), the guage never made it up to F. It stayed a notch below F. It took three or four start cycles for it to finally read FULL. Why is that? I don't like having a bad read from my fuel guage. Thanks.
PS: I live in Pacific NW, moderate climate, not below freezing, not high altitude, either.
This is normal. It happens on my car all the time. It also takes the sensor in the gas tank a little while to adjust completely. Nothing to be worried about.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Ok, since it wasn't recalibrated to reflect this, how difficult/easy is it for them to correct this? Do they have to keep the car a while?

Also, just read the manual about the fuel gauge and read this:
Here are four things that someowners ask about. None of these
show a problem with the fuel gauge:
.
At the service station, the fuel
pump shuts off before the gauge
reads full.
.
It takes a little more or less
fuel to fill up than the gauge
indicated. For example, the
gauge may have indicated the
tank was half full, but it actually
took a little more or less than
half the tank's capacity to fill
the tank.
Think its still something worth mentioning to Chevrolet?
 
#6 ·
My 2012 Eco went thru some growing pains or something weird. Twice now, after filling (I go to the same gas station, the pump auto-stops when full like it should), the guage never made it up to F. It stayed a notch below F. It took three or four start cycles for it to finally read FULL. Why is that? I don't like having a bad read from my fuel guage. Thanks.
PS: I live in Pacific NW, moderate climate, not below freezing, not high altitude, either.
 
#8 ·
Has this concern been resolved? If you still feel that you are experiencing something that is not normal, I would recommend mentioning it to your dealer at your next visit. Please keep us posted.

Tricia, Chevrolet Customer Service (filling in for Stacy).
 
#9 ·
I took my Cruze by the dealer today. They advised it shouldn't be doing this and he said to bring it in at 8:00 tomorrow morning. He said they would probably run diagnostics, see what it says, contact Chevy and see if they have a problem documented for it or a fix for it. Ugh, we'll see how this goes.
 
#13 ·
Ttols5,
Please keep me posted on the outcome of your visit to your dealer. In the meantime if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service
 
#15 ·
My 2012 Eco does the exact same thing. I always fill the tank when I hit the half tank mark, and it never makes it to "F". I've tried to put in extra gas on top of it to fill it all the way, and it just doesn't work. Closest I've ever gotten is .5 marks underneath.
 
#16 ·
It's not the filler neck. It is a spacer added onto the vent shut off float assembly on the fuel pump. There is only 1 gas tank listed, but 2 fuel pumps, 1 for 12.5, and 1 for 15.5 gal tanks. To change this to get easy use out of the whole capacity, you would have to replace the fuel pump assy. I use the full 15.5 now, but it takes me an extra 10 minutes or so at the pump "dribbling" those last few gallons in. STACY, if you are reading this, this is annoying to NO END! If I fill to the capacity, I can make my entire commute week on one tank, if I don't I have to fill before the week is over. I sure wish they would make it an option available to us to swap out that assembly. That is my only real complaint about my 2012 Cruze Eco, (obviously MT).
 
#17 ·
Stacy, I concur that GM needs to swap out these short changed fuel pumps. Not only would it make the ECO MT owners happy but GM would save money by reducing the number of parts they need to manufacture and maintain.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Ok, update:
Last time I posted here they said that they talked to Chevrolet and Chevy recommended a new fuel gauge sensor. NOT 1 Chevrolet dealer around town had one. They said it would take "about" 5 days for the part to come in. SEVEN days later, I called them and my service rep gets on the line and says, "Let me see, what part did we order?" - I told him a fuel sensor - He says, "Oh it looks to be in, I sure do apologize for not contacting you." - Whatever, I'll bring the car in tomorrow and I just needed a rental for a few hours. (They have given me a rental once before and said he usually has 16."

When I told him that I would like a rental for a few hours he told me that he doesn't have any to offer. I responded with, "NONE?" To which he said, "No." Ok I'll be there at 8 in the morning. Drop my car off the next morning and he's nowhere to be seen. Another service rep comes out and I tell him my deal and he finds my guy. He comes out and show's me a piece of paper that says they are replacing a fuel sensor. Now, at this point I'm pretty annoyed and it got worse when he said, "So all we're doing is replacing the fuel sensor, right?" -- WHAT? YOU TELL ME?! You're asking someone who just knows there is a problem? Hello??? I told him to, "Do what you guys have to do to fix this." -- He said it would have been a 3 hour fix. OK 3 hours no problem I have a family member go out of their way to help me get around.

Fast forward SIX hours and still no call. So I call them and a nice service rep said, "Sir the car is done and you can come pick it up." --WHAT? Does ANYBODY know how to keep track of things over there? Is it that difficult to notify someone of something or ANYTHING?So, I go to the dealer and get my car, it was washed and cleaned. A nice gesture but I turn on the car and Need maybe a gallon or 2 to fill up the car and they DIDN'T even attempt to put ANY gas into it. HOW can you see if the part you installed works if you don't even TEST it? I would even have paid their almost $4 a gallon to see if it worked. (I haven't filled up yet to see if it even test it)

On my way to work after getting the car, I called to complain on the CRAP service and my experience. Talked to a manager who at first didn't seem too interested in hearing on how a 2nd time Chevrolet buyer from THEIR dealer wanted to express some frustration. He eventually listened and said he would check on it and call me back. I got a message from him late last night that he has something "lined up" and to call him back. I called him this morning and left a message for him. FIVE hours later and there is NOTHING back from him.

After all this while giving my money to Chevrolet and that dealer, I somewhat regret buying the car. The car is great but my dealer who represents Chevy has everything left to be desired. Terrible customer service and even worse reliability with their personnel. A big part of me regrets giving my money to them and wished I gave my money to a car company with a comparable car but better service.

I will go and talk to a different local dealer and see if I can give them my business with oil changes and service in stead of my current one. Bravo Chevrolet :eusa_clap:
 
#23 ·
Ttols5,
I would like to apologize about the experience that you had with your dealership and the service center. I understand that this is very frustrating to deal with. I would like to look into this for you. Can you please send me a PM with your name, address, phone number, VIN, current mileage as well as the name of your dealership? I look forward to hearing back from you. If you have any additional questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service
 
#30 ·
Mark,
If you are having second thoughts about them installing the new gas tank I would suggest that you speak to your dealer about it. They are in the best position to provide you with information on this fix for your vehicle. Please keep me posted on this. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service
 
#26 ·
I have a 2012 ECO Auto and noticing the same thing. My dealer can't find any info from Chevy. I tried Chevy directly and they were completely useless. So not it's going back to my dealer to check all the sensors because that's what Chevy wants for logging purposes. The dealer still has no clue what to look for and my dealer agrees something doesn't make sense. Problem is not that many 2012 ECO's are being bought compared to the non ECO's.

I'm taking it up to my dealer later this week and I'll post back what they find. Just not sure why us as the end user has to go through this much hassle to have the tank calibrated correctly.

In my other thread I did get 13.8 gallons but was riding on E for almost 40 miles.
 
#31 ·
Arius1,
I understand that this can be frustrating to deal with. Please keep me posted on your follow up with your dealer. If you have any additional questions please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service
 
#27 ·
Just another reason for Chevy to start replacing the vent challenged pump assemblies in the ECO MT.
 
#29 ·
Everytime I fill my car, it never takes a full tank. It will cut off. I either have to keep pumping and I can squeeze in extra gas (1-2 Gallons) or I let it be. I have only ever seen my car at the F line once. Every other time, it sits at like 7/8ths of a tank. Its quite a ways down there. I'll fill up tonight and take a picture if I remember.
 
#32 ·
Here is a picture of my fuel up this afternoon. This is actually the 2nd highest I've seen it go. Also, picture is angled more, but its at the tick mark below FULL. I've had it actually hit FULL. My Altima's gas gauge always went above FULL. So this gets annoying. Especially when I think I got a full tank of gas, and I am left questioning whether or not I do. I was pissed at the dealer when I bought it as they promise a full tank of gas, and it was almost at the 2nd mark and thought they ripped me off a few gallons.. Until I filled it up the first time =\

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Gauge Speedometer
 
#33 ·
Oh yah.. An to note, today was the first day I actually had gas spit back out when filling my tank. The pump clicked off and soon as I hit it again, I got some lovely back flow down the side of the car. I've been able to put in almost a gallon more before... Things with this car get weirder and weirder every time I drive it.
 
#34 ·
I wonder if you have something floating loose in your gas tank. I think I would let the dealer replace the tank.
 
#35 · (Edited)
Is it possible that the MT ECO's float doesn't go all the way up due to the tank not being completely full? Can other MT ECO owners chime in? Do your gas guages go all the way over full? If they don't, the cure may be the 15.6 gal fuel pump module.

EDIT: I just found out that the fuel mump module AND the sending units are BOTH different on the MT's and AT's.
 
#39 ·
I can easily get my needle to go above "F" and stay there for 200 - 250 miles.
 
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