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Pickups Chevrolet Silverado & GMC Sierra Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra - Owners hangout 
5688 messages, Last post on Oct 17, 2006 at 9:34 PM
You are in the Chevrolet Silverado & GMC Sierra Forum. Your Host is kcram
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I need you to perform a test on your trucks. Very simple. When your gas gauge is reading between 1/4 and 3/4 level, and you are driving at any speed between 10 and 45 MPH, shift the automatic tranny to neutral, apply the brakes normally, and observe the fuel gauge. Look for sudden jerky movement toward empty, or completely empty with the "Low Fuel Light" coming on. When putting the truck back in gear, the gauge may or may not return to the correct reading. If it doesn't, turning the vehicle off and back on will reset the problem. While the problem first appeared by shifting to reverse while not moving, the failure will now occur every time the shift lever is moved to neutral with the vehicle moving and the brakes applied. Sounds like an odd set of conditions till you realize how often you slow your truck and shift to reverse (going through neutral to get there) while you are still moving slowly forward. The problem can sometimes occur when the truck is not even moving. Just start, shift to drive and then to neutral and boink, gas gauge reads empty. This first showed up when I would pull up in front of the house and put the truck into reverse to back into the driveway. Almost every time, the gauge would quit working. The dealer has spent three weeks on the problem, replaced the complete instrument cluster and the sending unit. I have over 20 years in electronic product engineering and I suspect a problem in either the ECM (engine control module) or the BCM (body control module). GMC has decided to not persue the problem any further and has left the dealer hanging out to dry. All agree there is a problem but don't know what to do next. So, I am going to work on the problem and determine what is wrong. The dealer has agreed to supply whatever parts and documentation I need. The purpose of this little exercise I am asking of you brother truck owners is to determine whether I am dealing with a single point failure or a design defect across many vehicles. Either way, when the problem is solved, I will post the fix here. When responding (with or without the failure) please give details as I have on my truck so I can look for trends based on equipment. Thanks for your time, Jim Flemmons 2000 Sierra 2500 w/ 6.0L, Auto, 3.73 gears, and 18K miles. |
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The guage is set up so it will keep a constant reading as you are going down the road (truck in gear) - so that every little bump or turn does not impact the fuel level reading. If you just give it some time / drive a few miles the guage will adjust itself back to the correct reading. I park on a hill almost every day - if I am pointed up hill my guage will read that I have 3/4 of a tank - when I really have only 1/2 a tank. If I park on the same hill - but point down it will read only 1/4 tank (even causing the low fuel light to come on - I never saw this as a problem or defect - |
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Thinking of buying either a '03 reg cab SWB or a ext cab SWB with 5.3L and 3.73 rearend. This truck will be modified for better handling and performance. Do you guys know where I can find the weight of each one of these vehicles, and the weight of the stepside version? My goal is to get the lightest truck I can find for performance reasons. Thanks. |
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| the lightest would be the Reg. Cab SWB with the fewest options. Edmunds lists the weight for most vehicles but I doubt any difference would be noted for Sportside vs Fleetside. | |
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Somebody told me the ext cab was about 200 lbs more. I read somewhere that the Sportside bed is made of SMC, which should be lighter. Obviously the reg cab is lighter but I need to know the weight. If it is 4400 lbs I might just wait and step down to the new Colorado, or find a pre '99 which weighs less than 4000lbs. |
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I found it on edmund's. They are saying the reg cab is 4142lbs. and the Ext. cab is 4555lbs. About 400lbs more, which is significant. Edmunds is saying this is the V6 model, although i expect it is the v8 model. I doubt seriously that the ext cab model weighs 4700lbs+ if I factor the extra weight of the V8. |
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| Well, After a small test... I too have seen the same thing... Interesting... Low fuel light and all.. Going up hill... | |
| X-cab (which comes with 4.8 as std). Edmunds list it as 4548 lbs. The 4.3 V6 being an older engine probably isn't much lighter than the newer V8's. The Sportside bed might be a little lighter that's true, but I just as soon have a little extra weight over the rear wheels. | |
| You are correct. I am not completely up to speed on what all the options and std equipment are on the Silverado. | |
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The V-6 has cast iron block and heads. The V-8 has aluminum heads. The gas gauge non-issue sounds like software. So programmer wrote code never expecting someone to do that. I would stop the truck before shifting it. I am sure the truck is taking notes if you don't. |
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