My 07 got down to one blinking pip. I stopped at a gas station but could not force more than 5 dollars in (~1.5 gallons) before it started choking. The gauge never reset. I ran thru the gas gauge reset on level ground and it appears to reset ok but the gas gauge is still stuck on one blinking pip. I am getting ready to try disconnecting the +12 volts for a few minutes. Anything else I can try?
If I were you, I'd not bother with the gas gauge until you figure out why you can't put any gas in the tank... Please explain in much greater detail what you mean by "started choking." Did you spill gas because it didn't go in? Did you try a different pump? Have you had any symptoms prior to this?
Any time you lose 12v power to the car (like a dead battery, loose connections at the battery or disconnecting the battery) the fuel gauge defaults to one blinking dot until it recalibrates itself. This could be 5 minutes or 5 hours or a day or two depending on how much you drive and how finicky the PITA thing wants to be. Loss of 12v also causes loss of radio channel presets and the driver window automatic up/down feature. Have you recently lost 12v?
I was on the way to town a few miles away and I had 4 bars. When I got to town, I had one blinking bar. Pulled up to gas station and fueled. While I was adding fuel, it was cutting off. Had to pull the pump handle out a bit from the gas tank neck a bit to keep flow going. It did not throw fuel out of the neck but it was gurgling and definitely getting full. Did not try another pump. Three or 4 months ago, we were getting bad reads from the fuel gauge and we did the fuel gauge calibration with the Odo/trip button and power buttons in sequence. That seems to have solved the gas gauge reading for quite a while. Until now anyway.
No problems with the 12 volts lately (for years). On a hunch, I went out and tested the auto-window and the preset radio stations -- all ok. Then I went up the gas station and tried another pump. I managed to put 5 gallons in it despite it protesting by throwing up air loudly and gurgling. Started it up and the gas gauge immediately went to full. Maybe it's fixed. Thanks everyone!
I very much appreciate @TMR-JWAP explaining that your issue with filling the gas tank and how it "choked" comment... Obviously your gas tank is full... Your description confirms that. What doesn't make sense to me is how you don't know if your gas tank is full or not, or even near full or not without that gas gauge? Can't you retrace your steps and figure out how much gas is in the tank without the gauge? There's some known issues with these particular tanks that make this situation problematic, but in your case I'm too confused to walk you thru the most likely one. And what say you of @TMR-JWAP suggesting you should drive for a while so the system gets back to normal. Have you tried that yet?
In similar "problem filling" cases discussed around this forum the solution has been to invert the gas pump handle and keep it upside down while filling the tank. It's worth a try before looking for more complicated solutions. I had the problem once about two years ago; the upside down handle one time fixed the problem. Since then everything has been normal. EDIT: It also helps to remove the gas cap and let the car sit for a minute or so before putting the nozzle in. I guess it allows the inside pressure of the gas bladder to normalize to the outside pressure.
