1996 CHEVROLET Malibu

January 15, 2004Rod Tyler1311 Nothaven DriveMississauga, ONL5G 4E8My car has run out of fuel 5 times in the past 12 months, each time with 1/8-1/3 of a tank indicated on the fuel gauge. It is a 2002 Malibu, under warranty with 25,000 miles.Performance of fuel gauge sender (located in fuel tank) becomes erratic due to its high sensitivity to sulphur content in gaosline. Sulphur corrodes the unit rendering poor/inaccurate/erratic response to tank float levels, and consequently poor/inaccurate/erratic fuel gauge indications. The result is that the fuel gauge may indicate there is anywhere from 1/8 to as much as 3/4 tank of fuel in the car, when in fact there is no fuel left at all. In this condition the car may run out of gas and the engine may consequently stall/cease operating at any time. According to a recent Toronto Star Newspaper article/expose on the subject (published Dec 03): – In a photo of a corroded fuel sender accompanying the article, the sender shows a identification marking ‘VDO’ (the company VDO is not named specifically in the article at all however, nor does any caption indicate that the part in the image came from a GM car)- tens of thousands of late-model GM autos exhibit this anomoly – VW/Audi had a similar problem in the 90’s and enacted a recall- Insisting there is nothing wrong with the unit from design/material/spec points of view, GM has opted to cite the cause of the problem as high sulphur of certain fuel suppliers’ gas, saying that using these suppliers should be avoided, and calling it a maintenance issue when these suppliers are used and the part performance does deteriorate- GM has ordered that the first step to resolve the problem is make an attempt to clean the unit with a fuel additive – If the poor/erratic readings continue (which is frequently the case, according to the article) the sender unit will be replaced with the identical part, possibly leading to the problem occurring again – The fuel suppliers in question maintain that sulphur levels are within gov’t/self-regulatory limits, where applicableMy position is simply that in all GM vehicles where this part is installed, it should be replaced, at no cost to owners of the vehicles in question, with a unit that can give accurate readings with fuel available in the general market. Furthermore, in any case where vehicle stalling from inaccurate fuel level readings as a result of sulpher corrosion of the fuel tank sender were ever determined to have led to/resulted in.. – lost time, inconvenience or expense to any party- undue asset depreciation of the vehicle – personal injury/death to any party- damage to any property..that General Motors and/or the manufacturer and/or the supplier of the part take responsibility.Thank you for your time and consideration.Rod Tyler