Fuel Door wont close.........@#^&$*
 

This is almost more frustrating then the rebuild I recently had done. The fuel door doesn't want to close. At first I would just push the release down again, walk back and close it fine. But now it refuses to click close, even after dozens of attempts messing with the release. After a day or so I will walk out and just push it close....it makes NO SENSE. Can hardly tell how the mechanisms work so here are pics for reference for anyone that can help out, I will paypal you 1000 high-fives..

http://i3.tinypic.com/30kaq8w.jpg

http://i14.tinypic.com/2z54ojk.jpg

http://i11.tinypic.com/332315g.jpg

thanks

In this pic: http://i3.tinypic.com/30kaq8w.jpg

To the right, there is a little "finger" that is recessed into a cylinder when you press the remote gas door release. Over time, that "finger" becomes stuck. The reason it closes after a few days is because I guess in your case, it becomes "unstuck".

Solution. You could either replace the whole unit, which is rather time consuming, or you can just take precautions. Well, for now, just pry it out with a very small screw driver. Then lubricate it. The next time you open your gas door, don't press the lever down all the way. Press it down just enough to open the gas door.

Rediculous, I suspected that piece but I never got it to budge really. But just took a small knife and wedged it in there just right and it popped out, lubed it and now it works just fine.

1000 high-fives for you :beerchug:

Mine does the same... I've been pressing the lever half way to open to door for a while now. Why does the FD have so many quirks like this...

I had a similar problem except my "finger" was broke off, the nut was missing and the "finger" assemble was inside the body of the car. This was the first thing i did to my car after buying it. its not that hard of a job to replace if you have to.

the parts are about 70 bucks from Ray at Malloy Mazda. there is one cable that runs from trunk release lever through the car to the gas door and then to the trunk release. you have to remove the trunk plastics and a bunch of interior plastics on the driver side.

That's a lot of work for nothing.

Welcome to rotary hell.

how can u say that? for him it may not be necessary to do all that but for me i had a gas door that would flap open every time i drove the car. a few hours, a few bucks and it works as good as new from the factory. this job wont even make you break a sweat.

definitely try to lube it up first but if he HAD to replace it its not that hard.

At least you guys have a gas door... :(

Clean the dirt out of it. Spray some pb or wd. After 13 years its a little gunked up.

2 FD's they both had that problem. Going to try the WD-40, on mine when it is hot outside I never used to get that problem.

It happened to me and the mechanism was pretty far gone. But patience and PB proved successful.

Does Anyone Have That Finger Piece. When I Brought My 3rd Gen, That Finger Piece Was Broken. Pm Me If You Have An Extra Finger Thanx

You can't buy the finger piece separately, it comes complete with the entire cable assembly. It's $70-ish as stated above. That being said, I've seen used cables floating around out there but it seems sooner or later everyone runs into this problem so buyer beware of used parts on their way to failure. Once you get the whole new assembly you can remove the metal scissor piece from the cable and put it on your old cable without having to tear out all your interior plastic. When I bought my car, the pin had been snapped off already. I just installed the new piece a few weeks ago ;)

good looking out bro

you could also try to get it released by moving the lever up and down from inside.. I used to use a small razor or screw driver to pull it and the other day, I just moved the lever up and down few times and it popped out! Give it a try!

Funny thing.. I was at a gas station couple of months ago and guy with a new Aston Martin Vanquish was having problem opening his gas tank door. He asked me if I could sit in his car and push the button so he could pop the door.. I thought it was pretty funny!

I had the same prolbem - the little finger that pops the thing open became stuck. I just sprayed some WD40 on it and havent had a prolbem sence.

A pair pliers works good too.