CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2002-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer is known for many things, but perhaps it is most famous for its faulty fuel gauge.
This gauge flip-flops more than a politician during election season. Some report that the gauge says "empty" after a fill-up, while others report the gauge says "full" when they're running on fumes. Either way, there's one thing everyone seems to agree on: the darn thing is just wrong.
Following hundreds of complaints and a few accidents allegedly caused by the malfunction, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into the issue in May 2011. Unfortunately for frustrated owners, no recall has been announced.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 6
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 11
Average Mileage:
53,851 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
After refueling vehicle, gas gauge goes to E, with low fuel warning light/buzzer going off. After travelling 30-40 miles, gas gauge goes to normal. Afterwards, gauge is erratic, and you have no idea how much fuel you really have left, without knowing your fuel mileage and how many miles you have driven on a tank of gas so far. Now gauge will go E, even with 1/4 tank of gas remaining.
Last night on 01/17/12 I filled my truck with gas and when I restarted the vehicle it started dinging at me and the gas gauge was stuck on empty. This morning I started the truck and drove to work and the fuel gauge kept moving and reading differnt amounts. I placed a call to GM and they are fully aware of the problem but say it's not a safety concern so no recall was issued and that I would have to pay for half of the repair that could only be done thru an authorized dealer. Something is seriously wrong, this is a huge safety concern for me not to know if I have fuel and I have to pay GM more money when they are fully aware that they used faulty equipment.
Truck ran out of gas on a highway exit ramp this has happen at least 10 times since the fuel gauge read random levels when I know that there is either more or less gas than its reading it tends to vary between empty and gas light on to 1/2 full no matter how much gas is in it.we have to calculate mileage in order to ensure we do not run out.the gauge works maybe 1%of the time.
The fuel gauge was giving false reading saying empty when it was not or full when it was empty and sometimes in between. This cause the engine to stall when driving on a public road making it very hard to pull over and stop because the power steering and power brakes quit working. I have searched on this issue and it is a huge problem with Trailblazers.
The gas gauge on the vehicle has stopped working. I called GM and they state that there is no recall even though this a common problem on this vehicle line. GM needs to do a full recall and not only offer to pay for half of the repairs to the vehicle for this issue.
NHTSA action number: DP10001 fuel gauge not working properly. Gauge will show empty when vehicle is full; gauge will show full when the vehicle is empty. The gauge indicator started fluxing between full, empty and levels in between. Now it typically stays at empty all the time regardless of the amount of fuel.
The gas gauge on my 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer began to show an empty tank when I filled up, after driving about 50 miles the gauge would properly show the amount of gas I had in the tank until the next fill up. The problem has gotten worse and I have read that other Trailblazer owners are having the same problem. The defect seems to be common, expensive to repair, and should be the responsibility of Chevrolet.
Purchased vehicle on 09-08, with roughly 45000, check engine light comes on and off, after several months of going back and forth at Chevy dealer they determined it was a faulty cylinder head on the number four cylinder. Filed bbc complaint and spoke with Chevy who refused to do anything. Couple months later and approx mileage 60000, the fuel gauge no longer works causing me to run out of gas a couple different times. About the same time, the stability control system dash lights would intermittently come on and off. I have not contacted Chevy about the other two issues as I felt they would not do anything the same as the head problem.
The fuel tank flange on the filler line into fuel tank leaks and is defective at manufacturing it is a plastic flange that has broke allowing fuel to leak out of fuel tank. It is at Chevy dealer in kissimmee Florida and I have photo's of flange and area that has been leaking. I have call Chevy and they are reviewing the case but I want an investigation due to the safety of fuel leaks near hot exhaust pipes. We have 2 Trailblazer in our family and both have leaks from the same flange. Case number [xxx] for the 2006 model and [xxx] for the 2004 model. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Fuel usually reads empty. Even after fill up. Sometimes wanders from 1/4 to 1/2 then drops again. Engine light comes on after fueling up, will go out after an hr of driving.. give or take. Knowing that this many people all are having the same issues, GM should stand behind their product, step up and look after it!!!! running out of gas is not only dangerous...but does not make for happy customers or repeat business.
Got full tank of gas. Fuel gauge drops to empty. Appears to fix self then drops to empty more. Fuel gauge completely unreliable. Have to use trip meter now to judge gas level. Dangerous if I run out of gas in heavy traffic.
Driving down the road at 65 mph fuel gauge drops from 3/8 full to zero. Other gauges such as oil pressure, coolant temperatures also drops to zero. Also several warning lights such as check engine and anti lock break turn on. I stopped the car shut off the engine and it would not start again. After adding 2 gallons of gas it started again but when I took it to gas station I could only add about 11 gallons into a 24 gallon tank. So I believe the reading at 3/8 full was correct before it went to zero. The same situation occurred again when we had 3/4 tank full, this time our family was stranded out of town.
Chevrolet should be made to pay full price for the repair of the fuel sensor. Why should I have to pay half for replacing a faulty product. I purchased the vehicle for it to run perfectly. Since the problem we have twice been stuck on the road with no gas. Trying to estimate fuel consumption for our next fill up is ridiculous. I have heard of drivers running out of gas on the highway, a very dangerous situation.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Gettysburg, PA, USA