Got car back from shop, still not driving it :(

OK I talked to bikerboy and Dream about this last night, I'm hoping someone can post a pic to help me out....

Picked up car from the body shop last night, 23 days after sending it there after I was vandalized. :roll: Everything looks great, despite the fact that they are all stock parts back on there which is indescribably lame. I was very low on gas and stopped in Roseville to fill up. Pull on fuel door release lever on the floor. Nothing. Pull again, harder, pull several times...nothing.

Opened the trunk, pulled back the liner and felt around with my hand where the cable runs to and tried monkeying with it. Gave up and went back to gf's place. Now late last night after searching NASIOC I went back out and did manage to open it by propping up the release lever and then pulling the door open with my fingers.

This leads me to believe that it is something hinge-related. There is a little white plastic peg that holds the latch in place, when you pull the lever it's meant to retract, thus releasing the fuel door. This part seems to be operating, as the peg is retracted and flush with the little black gromment shaped piece of plastic while I have the release lever propped.

Anyway, quite frustrating and I'm hoping to hit on a solution sometime this weekend.

le sigh

 

You are missing the spring. This happened in my old toyota. I compensated by propping the key under the latch release, walking back there and prying it open from the outside.

All you need to do is get another spring and it will work normally again. Its just a folding leaf springy type thing. A dealership should have it.

 

I had this happen early in the winter one morning on the way to work. I had just gotten the car washed the day before and I think something was frozen. Ended up having to shove my wallet under the lever and pry the door open with my frozen fingers.

Steve

 

Ok, i went and looked at mine out in the garage.
there is a spring that is essentially a bent piece of metal that presses up against metal panel underneath the gas door.
just looking at it, i could see how it might not be installed, or properly. its smaller than about 2 knuckles of my pinky finger.
i'll post pix as soon as their off my camera.

 

Here's the pic:

 

Thanks Shane, that pic really helps a lot, you da man. To show my appreciation I won't even point out the handy "Focus" features that cameras have or the Image->Resize function available in most image software. :lol:

j/k I will check things out when I get home and see if I have that piece or not.

 

The "Focus" feature wouldn't work at that range and light level.
and i purposely chose not to resize, to help make up for the lack of focus.

 

Its called Macro mode. Learn it, use it, live by it.

 

That IS marco mode.

 

Haha, thats horrid!

 

manual focus FTW

 

esperunit wins the prize for the correct answer, no spring. Called the shop and they had indeed removed the fuel door to do blending work. They are either going to find it or get me a new one.

 

Yeah, mine did that earlier this winter during a snow storm and I was almost totally done. Took me like five minutes in the freezing cold to do it. My SHO never did that. Dumb design I think, but what do I know, I'm not an engineer.

 

This is something the average owner won't know. I'll keep this diagnosis in my memory.