Fuel door won't open

[danham]

Is there an emergency release? It's been working fine for 5 months and 6k miles. Today, a Sunday of course and I'm low on fuel, it will not open.

I've tried key on/off lock/unlock doors and hatch -- no joy.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

-dan

 

[danham]

Call off the dogs!

But maybe we should leave this on the forum in case it happens to anyone else.

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.

It now works fine.

Whew!

-dan

 

[flylow2]

glad to be of help

 

[MuthaFunk]

Wow. I'm glad I read this. Now if I ever get caught with this I won't get all pissed and pry it open with a screwdriver.

Good thread.

 

[dupp]

Could be the vacuum control module located in the rear pass side area above the tire. This pump effects the vacuum mech for the locks and fuel door. I have a spare for $45. + shipping.

 

[dupp]

My mistake - above vacuum control module is for B4V, not sure about the A6's.....

 

[fleuger99]

Thanks for the info, good to know.

 

[danham]

Wow. I'm glad I read this. Now if I ever get caught with this I won't get all pissed and pry it open with a screwdriver.

Good thread.

That thought began to edge its way into my brain, but I slammed the door on it very rapidly

-dan (putting away pry bar and hoping nobody notices)

 

[740GLE]

my sugestions you need to use it more frequently. So far I've been having to open mine once a week and it's been trouble free!

Drive more!

 

[danham]

Once a week? Have you checked for leaks ?

-dan

 

[740GLE]

if there was, i would be stranded on the side of the road

 

[tcsjr]

Is the 2011 TDI fuel door mechanical? Mine is a push and release type door. My TDI has less than 1000 miles on it and only two trips to the pump...... design flaw? VW will hear from me today.

 

[lethe]

Once a week? Have you checked for leaks ?

-dan

that's nothing, my fuel door gets exercised every 2 days. 250 miles every weekday will do that

 

[lonniebear]

Is the 2011 TDI fuel door mechanical? Mine is a push and release type door. My TDI has less than 1000 miles on it and only two trips to the pump...... design flaw? VW will hear from me today.

Your fuel door locks when your doors are locked. Try it out.

 

[MyAvocation]

that's nothing, my fuel door gets exercised every 2 days. 250 miles every weekday will do that

Crap, that's ~60K/yr if you deduct vacations/holidays and add weekend travel.

 

[BillAud]

Could be the vacuum control module located in the rear pass side area above the tire. This pump effects the vacuum mech for the locks and fuel door. I have a spare for $45. + shipping.

dupp, I think VW stopped using vacuum actuators for the door locks when the MK4 (1999.5) Golf and Jetta were released. My sister had a MK3 Jetta and I remember hearing that vacuum pump whirring every time the locks cycled. The last 3 generations have all used electronic locks... this is why the computer can lock individual doors after they have been opened.
I sure hope my fuel door never gets stuck like danham's did... that's some serious frustration!

 

[lethe]

Crap, that's ~60K/yr if you deduct vacations/holidays and add weekend travel.

yup plus added to that I've been using it for the weekend running as I'm trying to keep my wife's mileage down as she's getting something new soon.
Maybe I'll throw my mileage down in my signature as something fun to keep track of.
Think of me as the beta tester to see what goes wrong on these before you all see it.

 

[kirbfucius]

Think of me as the beta tester to see what goes wrong on these before you all see it.

A driving/maintenance log sounds good! Though I hope you have 200k of trouble-free driving.

 

[1963gp]

this has happened to us 3x in 30k miles on our 2010 jsw dealer says lock is fine. dealer service SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[740GLE]

spray some lube in there, free it up.

 

[dwfdiesel]

All you VC should be able to come up with a shut off so we don't get locked out

All though a lock keeps out the gremlins

 

[geodug]

My lock got sticky on me a month or so ago. Took some jiggling and recycling to get it to open again. When you are low on fuel that is a pretty uncomfortable feeling.

I wonder if there is a manual door release in the panel similar to a trunk release if you get locked in the trunk of sedans. I will have a look to see one day.

 

[3516ACERT]

It took me ten very frustrating minutes when my car was new, didn't realize that if the people doors were locked, so was the fuel door.

If cycling the door locks several times frees up the mechanism, I would blame the actuator, some little 12v two position plunger of some kind.

 

[jetlagmech]

I installed a manual release in my trunk for the fuel door. very easy to get to thru the trunk once you find where it is. I am not very computer savy to post a link but I did a thread with pictures if you do a search for my threads. I saw someone say a credit card will push in the crack and release it but have not tried it myself.