NEWS:
U.S. probes gas
gauges in 865,000 GM vehicles
DETROIT FREE
PRESS -- April 29, 2011 – The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration has
opened an investigation into whether nearly
1 million General Motors vehicles may have
faulty gas gauges.
“Consumers
have reported incidents of inaccurate and
random fuel level reading while driving,
resulting in the vehicle running out of fuel
and causing vehicle stall with no restart,”
NHTSA investigators said in their formal
document opening the probe.
GM spokesman
...said the Detroit automaker planned to
“work with NHTSA and was cooperating in the
investigation.”
The agency
estimates 865,000 vehicles could be
affected, and NHTSA said it has received
“668 complaints alleging inaccurate fuel
gauge reading while driving in model year
2005-07 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy,
Buick Rainier, and Saab 9-7x vehicles.”
Of those
complaints, 58 involved stalls, and 43 were
stalls where a driver specifically reported
that it was “because the fuel level reading
indicated more fuel availability than what
is actually in the fuel tank.”
NHTSA said at
least one crash allegedly took place when a
vehicle ran out of gas, when it “stalled
while exiting the interstate, became
disabled, and was struck from behind.”
The safety
agency said the complaints they were
receiving showed “an apparent increasing
trend” of the problem, with “most complaints
received within the past year.”
What NHTSA
terms a preliminary evaluation has been
opened this week “to assess the scope,
frequency and potential safety consequences
associated with the alleged defect.”
NHTSA
spokeswoman...told the Free Press there is
“no set timetable” for how long the initial
phase of the investigation could take. She
said government officials would seek
information from GM and ultimately decide
whether to elevate the investigation into
what’s known as an engineering analysis.
NHTSA
spokeswoman declined to provide more
specific details on the cases involved.
GM spokesman
...said the Detroit automaker had received
NHTSA’s formal notification document about
the preliminary probe, but had not yet
received detailed questions from the agency
about the potential gas gauge problem. He
said those would likely be sent to GM by the
government within the next couple of weeks.
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