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fuel flap not opening,

bob59

New Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
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uk
unfortunately my wife has the terrible habit, of not putting fuel in the car, when fuel warning light comes on. went off to garage Saturday to fill up, before going out,

Could not get the flap open, so on bank holiday Sunday, with help of previous reviews / messages from the forum, I managed to fix the stretch cable with a fishing led shot as described previously on here,

unfortunately not exciting pictures to show , but may help someone else in the future,
 

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That's a novel and useful idea i had missed so thank you for sharing it :thumbup:
 
I still remember getting a call from my wife years ago when she was trying to fill up our first car and didn't know how to (1997 Vauxhall Corsa). She was only about 22 or so and just had never done it before.

Not sure she's done it since TBH.

Great fix well done!
 
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Back in the day when we had 'Pump Attendants' my Dad would arrive in his '64 Ford Corsair and, after a search, they would say "where's the filler??".

The rear number plate hinged down to reveal the filler cap !

Bob.
 
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Hello. That’s a neat fix. This is my first reply here and I am probably stating the obvious - but you can release the fuel flap manually until you have time to do a proper repair. You need to remove the cover where the jack is kept and reach up inside, behind the trim, to manually release the same mechanism that the cable pulls (shown in bob59’s photos). A bit of a fiddle but worth knowing in case you can’t open the flap one day. Sorry if everyone already knows this.
 
Hi Beastrider,
I just removed the whole panel to try a do a repair, I am no mechanic , but just had ago, after seeing an old thread that I think I saw on here, so did not observer if you could slide your hand up there, to pull the cable to release the flap, I think possibly not,
my fix has not sprung open the flap as I would want, but did release it to allow you to fill up.
 
Hi - the other common fault is that the leaf-spring that springs the flap open either gets weak or breaks. Easy to replace from the outside (once the flap is open) and only a few pounds from Roughtrax. You can definitely reach inside and push a catch to release the flap. I can’t recall if you press up or forwards etc. I’m away from home right now so I can add some more detail when I return next week.
 
I should add that I wasn’t implying you hadn’t done a ‘proper repair’ - my comment about the internal release was a general one. I think using the split-lead shot was an excellent idea.
 
Hi - just confirming that it is possible to manually release the fuel flap in case the cable breaks or has stretched. This could be done indefinitely or until a repair can be done - either replacing the cable or adding a split lead shot, as shown earlier in the thread. The release mechanism can be pushed upwards to release the fuel flap. The tip of my middle finger is pushing upwards where the red arrow is.
On the flap itself, there should be leaf spring. Mine was ok, but apparently they can break and prevent the flap from swinging open. I hope that clarifies what I was saying earlier.
 

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Hi Beastrider,
thank you for the extra tips, advice , & pics.
 
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