My VUE was recently into the mechanics for a new alternator and battery. It has about 125,000 kms (77.000 miles) I brought it in with less than a half tank of gas but when I picked it up it had just over 3/4 of a tank. When I called to question this I was told than some Saturns had fuel pump issues and he had to take it to the nearest gas station because the checks cannot be conducted with less than a half tank of gas? Can anyone confirm this please?

 

The vehicle is running monitoring tests on different parts of the vehicle. The EVAP tests in particular often require 2/3 or 3/4 of a tank before they will begin. It's built-in programming and has to do with getting valid results out of the monitoring tests.

Did you perhaps also bring it in for inspection at the same time? A minimum number of these monitoring tests have to have completed and passed for your inspection overall to be a pass. Please advise.

 

No an emisssions test wasn't required. He replaced the battery and alternator but stated that he has had problems with fuel pumps in certain models I guess. But thank you for your response. I truly appreciate your help.

 

He's probably been burned for vehicles he worked on that didn't pass inspection after he worked on totally unrelated parts of the system. Anytime you disconnect the battery, the OBD2 memory is cleared as are all of the monitors. They are all set back to incomplete status and the vehicle has to go through a drive cycle or a few drive cycles as defined by in this case GM in order for all of those monitoring tests to run and complete. He is just avoiding possible issues later. Maybe the Vue has some quirks with the monitor testing

 

I understand..Thank you once again. You are very informative and helpful.