Wow im glad to see GM fixed that problem NOT! i cant believe they let this go on for so long they had a TSB in 2000 for bad fuel or erattic gauge and they used the same sensor all the way up to 2005 way to go GOVERNMENT MOTORS!
I couldn't agree more. Same thing with the plastic upper
intake manifold.
I'll share a quick story of my time working at Delco Electronics back in 1985 which illustrates their attitude perfectly. We were making the electronic HVAC controls for Audi (amazing, right, that Delco/GM was making a part for Audi?) and some of them were failing shortly after the car had been sold.
Failure analysis revealed corrosion on the (uncoated) circuit board, right underneath a die index hole on the sheet-metal lid of the unit (most electronic modules were still in metal and not plastic housings back then). Our best guess is that moisture was condensing on the outside of a cold HVAC vent duct in the dash right above the unit, and was then dripping down and going through the hole in the lid onto the circuit board.
Somebody in the returned parts department suggested that we place a piece of electrical tape over the hole (a simple, inexpensive fix), as this is where 99% of the failures on the board had been noted. I was the suggestions department investigator assigned to this idea. I went and talked to the PhD engineer in the design/R&D building (who had a dozen patents hanging on his wall) about this problem and he dismissed it, saying that they were going to wait until the next design cycle to fix it (meaning that two years' worth of "bad" parts would be built until then).
I even saw a report right on top of his desk about how bad the Audi HVAC control failure problem was - some cars had only a few hundred miles on them when the part failed (meaning that Audi had to fix all of them under warranty which ticks off any manufacturer). Audi discontinued the use of the Delco part within the next couple of years.
I've had more electrical problems with my 2005 Buick than I ever did on my 1988. The latest one is that the automatic headlights are now deciding to stay on when I turn the car off, and I have to cycle the switch on the dash in order to turn them off. If I don't cycle the switch and then use the remote to lock the car they turn off briefly, and then turn back on again.
Agree on the above, you can dummy in a resistor to check the cluster, but my money is on a flaky sending unit.
