One of those unexpected disasters... at the gas pump, I turned and took a step forward into a setting sun, right leg bumped the fuel filler lid, which fell on the pavement.

The curved portion of the lid assembly's hinge was broken. I noted the "PBT GB" material designation on the inside of the lid, and Googled that; "Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT)."

Apparently the correct adhesive/bonding stuff for this plastic is Loctite 401 "Prism," also recommending Loctite 770 "Prism" primer. I have ordered this without knowing how well it will hold, so I would appreciate any knowledge of this situation from the forum.

Thanks!

 

or you can see if you can get a new hinge from your local mazda dealer.

glue? yeah right that will hold. all you will accomplish is losing your gas door to the side of the freeway versus getting a replacement hinge while your door waits for it.

 

RE,

Thanks for your reply; I get it. Adhesive separates and lid is lost. But Loctite published shear strength tests and claims its cured 401 Prism adhesive is stronger than the PBT base material. But you are right... I guess adherence is the problem, not bond strength.

The Mazda P/N for this part (supplied as 1 piece; door with hinge) is FD01-42-41X. It would need to come in Chaste White (code PT). I can just picture the price and delivery... probably just available in primer, but I will check.

[Edit:] Yep, price is $114.12, and comes primered... which means have the new part painted to code PT; no idea how much that will cost. At least the delivery to dealer is 1 day, or so they say...

 

I checked, and Ray should be able to get it for about $80 or so. Call or email him at Malloy Mazda.

It will come primered, they don't have them pre-colored. Shouldn't be too much to have a body shop paint it, they will need to do almost no prep work on it.

You could maybe find one used in white, but that will be tricky. Could be worth asking, though.

Dale

 

Yep. I'm running around with a primered black one for a few years now as I'm too cheap/lazy to get it painted.

 

It doesnt show. Get a used one, and spray paint it with your "best guess white" rattle can. I'm sure Fritz Flynn can get you one. Maybe even a white one.

 

for plastic pieces sometimes it is better to get something newer. like headlight covers, another common exterior issue point similar to this. plastic just doesn't age well, and when talking about painted bits it's better to just bite the bullet.

 

^^ Agreed. For plastic stuff just get new

 

Right. Ordered a new one from Malloy, price $81.46 + $10 shipping/handling. Unfortunately we had previously ordered and received the Loctite adhesive and primer. Amazon will not allow the primer to be returned because it is "hazardous." Interesting that they can send it to me but I can't send it back... so that's another $35 to add to the cost of this glitch. Plus the cost of painting the new piece with hope it will match. All because the sun was in my eyes.

 

sorry, had i known you already bought it and it cost that much i would have said to try it first. which you still can and just keep the new one as a backup for when the glue does eventually lose hold.

 

You can get OEM matched paint in an aerosol can from paintscratch.com. Ive used them before for some touch up stuff and the color was spot on for the MB I ordered. Also I have repaired a broken gas door hinge with loctite adhesive before. Mine broke right in the middle of the ribbed part so there was a ton of surface area for the glue to adhere to. Its holding up just fine although I do plan to replace it since I dont care for parts of my car glued together haha.

 

DriftDreamzSS,

That is where mine broke, but I wouldn't say there is a "ton" of surface area. But since I have to keep the adhesive and primer anyway, I will try to repair the broken one just as an experiment. Did you use Loctite 401 Prism and the 770 Prism Primer for your fix?

 

Could have just bent yourself a bracket and made it work.

 

No, I just used loctite gel superglue from the hardware store. I put some 2 part epoxy down in the grooves around the cracked part also. Its very secure, no way in hell that thing is going to come apart without alot of force.

 

Easier said than done (for me, anyway). I initially tried this:

Pic 1: Drilled thru holes, literally by hand (no drill motor or vise... just fingers!)
Pic 2: Formed bracket (just to have something to hang a hinge on)
Pc 3: Long screws, bracket, drilled lid hinge portion
Pic 4: Initally assembled lid portion - later realized the long screw without the bracket might be better as an attachment point.

Thought better to replace; I ordered a new lid assembly from Malloy. (I'll continue to see if this can be repaired.)

 

Received the OEM fuel filler lid yesterday. It appears to be just the bare plastic lid and hinge without any primer, although both here on the forum and from a parts guy (not Ray) at Malloy, it should be primered. So... if I supply the old lid and the Mazda color code ("PT") to a good body shop, can I just walk away and assume the painted part will be done correctly? Or do I need to know the correct type of primer for PBT plastic and go from there?

 

Can you just walk away? Given that it is a reputable body shop I'd say that it will very likely be done right. But the real question is: Will it match? Given that paint color can vary from lot to lot, and that paint on a car tends to fade over time, coupled with not leaving the car there so thay can match it; I doubt it will be a 100% match. But your car is white and that color is more lenient to the eye when it comes to slight mismatches. Keep in mind that is subjective so it may be acceptable to some and not others.

Personally in order to assure the best match I would drop the car off along with the lid.

 

I would just bring the broken lid with the new one. A good body shop should not need the entire car to match the paint.

 

^This. Many modern collision shops have equipment to custom tint/blend paint to the particular car. Bringing in the old lid should work.

 

New part is in shop for paint, with old part for reference (along with paint code).

 

New filler lid received back from body shop today; paint is a perfect match, lid is now installed and works fine. (Shop wanted $50 in cash in small, unmarked bills which I was happy to supply.)

I may still have some "experimental" fun with the old lid assembly.