Fuel door issue on a 13' JSW

[Talon]

The fuel door will not release this needs to be pryed open. Any thoughts on correcting this?

 

[meerschm]

First of all, make sure the car is unlocked. I had my car for about five years before I figured out the fuel door locks with the other doors. never tried to open with the doors locked before that.

(and click the locks on and off a couple times while trying to get the door to operate)

you also want to try search, or the similar threads listed below this one.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

The fuel door will not release this needs to be pryed open. Any thoughts on correcting this?

DO NOT PRY IT OPEN...

- You have to unlock car...
- Ignition off (key out ignition not sure is required)
- Press unlock X2 (X1 might work but to make sure X2)
- Press fuel door in lightly and release - POPS out

Sit down in car and read the owners manual, familiarize yourself with all the features.
You will be surprised at all the features.... seriously I did and learned a few things.

 

[Talon]

I did have the car off, I did have it unlocked, then even unlocked it with the key a number of times. Well meaning folks like to close the door for me.
Thanks I also did read the manual. Worked for the first 2 months I owned but at about 40k miles it stopped functioning properly.

 

[meerschm]

They do screw up from time to time.

you could try to press on the fuel door while clicking the unlock.

could shoot some silicone spray at the latch through the crack. (kind that says it is non-sticky)

and if that does not work, you will have to use some force.

 

[super1]

I did have the car off, I did have it unlocked, then even unlocked it with the key a number of times. Well meaning folks like to close the door for me.
Thanks I also did read the manual. Worked for the first 2 months I owned but at about 40k miles it stopped functioning properly.

While using your remote try locking & then unlock it, should pop open ?


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[super1]

Haven't tried it yet:
It appears that the fuel door latch can get "out of sync" with the rest of the locks. It took several cycles -- close all doors and hatch, lock, unlock, open at least one door, re-lock, repeat -- for the fuel door to pop open.


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[Rob_MacCara]

Mine will on occasion become stuck and not open as per normal. In those cases when unlocking/locking/unlocking doesn't work, I pop it open with a plastic flat tool. Then it goes back to working normally for a few more months.

 

[irondogger]

Fuel Door

I have a '12 Sportwagen and the fuel door 'stuck' on me. I think the fuel door mechanism sometimes does not "switch" to unlock mode. I cycled the locks a couple of times and the fuel door started working fine. Hopefully it keeps operating properly as the 'stealership' wants an arm and leg to replace the mechanism.

L8r,.........irondogger

 

[super1]

Try this:
Remove key fob from ignition switch & from outside the car lock & unlock doors a few times with it & fuel door should pop open


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[oilhammer]

The little motor in there fails. It is pretty common now. Same piece the Tiguan uses.

The little motor just allows the pop out spring release to work or not, and it only allows it to work if the driver's door is unlocked. You can take it apart and disable it (so it always works regardless of the lock status of the driver's door).

I have had some customers opt for that after the second or third little motor replacement. If you take the assembly out (easy to do) you can take it apart and see what I am talking about.

This is another reason why I recommend disabling the auto lock/unlock nonsense on the doors, because that little motor back there is working back and forth constantly each and every time to get in and out of the car and there is no reason for it to do so. If you limit the duty cycle of any little motor like that, you can lengthen its longevity.

 

[calimustang]

Thanks! I will get VCDS asap and get it done. I'm still on the original one lol at 238k miles now.

 

[redbarron55]

I unlocked mine and then unplugged the darned thing.

 

[ricks]

My wife took the car to the gas station to fill it up while running errands and the fuel door would not respond. She tried it several times and no love. She had a guy try and still stuck. Luckily there it is on reserve but with my fuel gauge that means running on fumes.

When home, I cycled the lock/unlock 10 times and not hearing a peep out of the door motor I resorted to using a plastic trim tool to force the door open. With it open the locking pin was immobile. I sprayed the locking pin with a generous amount of siliconespray and cycled the lock several times. Closed the door and it stuck. Repeated the prying process and shot with even more silicone and now it works fine. The little motor was probably defeated because of accumulated gunk on the locking pin because the car lives outdoors. The next test is when it really needs fuel. I put the plastic pry tool in the arm rest cubby just in case. Am confident that it is solved.

Moral to the story, better lube yours proactively so it doesn't stick on you at an in opportune time and not have a plastic tool handy.

 

[740GLE]

Why waste lube when you can just disconnect the motor once it's unlocked?

Its as pointless as keyed security lugbolts, just another thing waiting to fail in the worse time. Until fuel is $6/gal I don't think people will be syphoning fuel out of these small tanks.

I gotta dig into how to access the connector it on the Alltrack

 

[ezshift5]

Dumbass Department: How do I disconnect the motor? Is there a diagram in the OM?

Good idea, 740...........



ez sends

 

[ricks]

Why waste lube when you can just disconnect the motor once it's unlocked?

Its as pointless as keyed security lugbolts, just another thing waiting to fail in the worse time. Until fuel is $6/gal I don't think people will be syphoning fuel out of these small tanks.

I gotta dig into how to access the connector it on the Alltrack

You're absolutely right. What the hayull was I thinking with the price of lube these days. I bet I used at least 30 cents, and on a fixed income no less.

And now you want me to buy 4 new lug bolts? Compared to the price of lube, I might as well just set my wallet on fire.

 

[wolf1389]

anyone have a guide or pics on how to disable the lock on the fuel door?

 

[Porch]

Why waste lube when you can just disconnect the motor once it's unlocked?

Its as pointless as keyed security lugbolts, just another thing waiting to fail in the worse time. Until fuel is $6/gal I don't think people will be syphoning fuel out of these small tanks.

I gotta dig into how to access the connector it on the Alltrack

Fast forward to late 2022 and presto, diesel IS $6/gallon thanks to the genius foreign policy of the US, and thanks to wolf1389 resurrecting this thread recently, I found out for the first time that my fuel door locks, and I'm pretty glad about it!

 

[DivineChaos]

My actuator has frozen a couple times. Every once in awhile I have to pry it open. Yes it did partially break the locking tab on the cap.

 

[rocky raccoon]

After experiencing the frustration of a malfunctioning fuel door release once too many, I disabled the lock in the simplist of ways.

I simply cut the ears off of the tee-shaped locking pin using a diagonal cutter (dikes). The door still latches shut and releases with a push but cannot lock.

No that many fuel thieves in Beaverdam.