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I know all of you came here immediately to tell me about the little cable pull..
My door is stuck. Seems like a broken plunger. I hear the solenoid click and nothing.. I pulled the cable. This feels like its disconnected from the plunger.. No spring feel to it when I pull it.. I even held the door down a bit while pressing the button to relieve any tension on the plunger..
I know exactly where the plunger is but I cannot fit anything in that little slit and still push the plunger down. Too many angles to overcome.
Even thought of pulling the plunger mechanism from the wheel well. Nope.. There is a nut on the inside that needs to come off..
Help!!!! any gas thieves on here? LOL How can I get this door open without messing stuff up..
Last edited by chuckster; Apr 11, 2022 at 10:54 AM.
I just took a look at mine, it is a surprisingly good design. There does not appear to be any way to get a tool onto the plunger. Your brute force options are to try and break the plunger off or peel the plastic door away from the bracket (The door is bonded to the metal bracket with Vette glue, and the plunger is 1/8" dia plastic)
Keep pulling and jiggling on the cable. Alternatively every once in a while press the release button. Doing that sometimes loosens it enough to open. Over time the plunger gets dirty and also corrosion happens in there. That causes the plunger to get stuck and not able to be released with the button or cable. When you get opened somehow/someway take that plunger apart and clean and grease it up. Should give you trouble free operation after.
edit: just wanted to clarify the plunger I'm referring to is the large metal plunger and not the little plastic latch plunger
Last edited by chain_5001; Apr 10, 2022 at 09:46 PM.
Keep pulling and jiggling on the cable. Alternatively every once in a while press the release button. Doing that sometimes loosens it enough to open. Over time the plunger gets dirty and also corrosion happens in there. That causes the plunger to get stuck and not able to be released with the button or cable. When you get opened somehow/someway take that plunger apart and clean and grease it up. Should give you trouble free operation after.
edit: just wanted to clarify the plunger I'm referring to is the large metal plunger and not the little plastic latch plunger
I can clearly see where the emergency cable is attached to the solenoid. The slide is all the way back and stuck there.. it does not have that springy feel to it..
I am certain the plastic plunger is broken inside or detached.. Until I can open the door.. I cannot access the Effing nut holding the latch. I am feeling something will get destroyed just getting this open.
I also posted this in another. If you take out the wheel well liner you will gain more access to the solenoid assembly. Its been a while since I've worked on it but more access is always better.
I also posted this in another. If you take out the wheel well liner you will gain more access to the solenoid assembly. Its been a while since I've worked on it but more access is always better.
Actually I have full access to the solenoid from the inside of the trunk in my convertible. Really is no need to pull the liner. I did push the liner out of the way and fit my hand in there.. but the whole thing comes out from the inside of the car.
Fuel Door Latch Solenoid
Last edited by chuckster; Apr 11, 2022 at 03:18 PM.
As you said before you are against taking off the wheel well liner to access the assembly. This is the only way I can see it working. When you take off the liner you'll have access to the plunger and you can disassemble it from there.
When that happened to me I had to use the emergency cable to open mine. Since it worked I was able to fill the tank and drive home. Upon talking with a few retired engineers in our club they suggested that since the emergency cable worked the assemble was ok and to replace the switch in the console. Did than and no problems since.
As you said before you are against taking off the wheel well liner to access the assembly. This is the only way I can see it working. When you take off the liner you'll have access to the plunger and you can disassemble it from there.
Actually the Plunger assembly on the inside of the fuel door is held on by a nut. The only access to that nut is to open the fuel door. Once the door is open and the nut is off, the entire mechanism will slide right out the trunk. That plunger part in your photo will slide right through the gromet leading to the trunk
I'm not arguing that. Your door is stuck. You can't get to the nut. So the only way is to take the wheel well liner off. Have access to the plunger assembly and that it apart. There are 2 pieces that clip together to make the housing that holds the plunger, a spring and the cable/cable ends. When you unclip the housing the 2 pieces come apart. The front piece will remain bolted to the door because the nut will hold it there. The rear piece along with the plunger, spring and cable will be loose and you can pull it to the rear. The plunger will disengage from the keeper on the door and it will swing open from the spring tension.
[QUOTE=chain_5001;1605008067]I have a feeling you're messing with me. But here's a picture anyway.
[/QU
OTE]
Thank you!! Actually I needed this picture and the details on detaching it to help me understand that you were not just assuming I could pull it out. Did not want to go through the work only to be dead ended. So to be clear.. when this comes apart.. The plunger housing and nut are still attached to the fuel door housing and this slides right out?
I was able reach in and slide the rubber sleeve back and felt around for something to unclip. Do you have details on how to unclip it once the rubber sleeve is pulled back?
Yes, the front half of the housing remains on the door because the nut holds it there. Take a screwdriver and pry off the tabs on the front portion of the house. Be really gentle you don't want to break the tabs.
[QUOTE=chain_5001;1605008067]I have a feeling you're messing with me. But here's a picture anyway.
[/QU
OTE]
Thank you!! Actually I needed this picture and the details on detaching it to help me understand that you were not just assuming I could pull it out. Did not want to go through the work only to be dead ended. So to be clear.. when this comes apart.. The plunger housing and nut are still attached to the fuel door housing and this slides right out?
I was able reach in and slide the rubber sleeve back and felt around for something to unclip. Do you have details on how to unclip it once the rubber sleeve is pulled back?
EDIT
Just found this link that has a photo showing the clips on both sides. Hope that plastic is pliable.. If it beaks I can just JB Weld it back
I have a feeling you're messing with me. But here's a picture anyway.
So I finally got around to fixing the door..What a pain in the ****! Remove the Wheel, remove the liner.
I reached up there and felt for the clips on both sides and simply bent it sideways until it unlatched from the housing. Is was clear what happened to the cable once it was apart. The cable slipped out of the little slot behind the plunger. So even with it all apart.. The door was still being held by the plunger which was still in the housing. I took a pair of needle nose pliers and grabbed the back of the plunger and the effing door finally was open. I then had to remove the nut and pull the housing. Since nothing was actually rusted or broken.. I simply reconnected the cable and snapped the assembly back together and reinstalled.. Working fine.. I can only think that when I pulled the manual release in the trunk, I may have pulled to aggressively thinking it was the tonneau cover release sticking. However the solenoid does also engage with hard thump.. So whatever.. Its finally working and I appreciate all of your help here.
Help opening the Gas Door. Stuck
Until that time, watching Martha Stewart will have to suffice!!!!
