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Fuel Filler Flap


jst_at_home

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Have you stood by the filler flap locking and unlocking the car numerous times with the fob while tapping firmly at the rear of the filler flap?

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Have you stood by the filler flap locking and unlocking the car numerous times with the fob while tapping firmly at the rear of the filler flap?

Oh yes! Many many times, putting all sorts of different pressures on the actuator end of the flap, pulling, pushing, hitting it, thumping it, you name it, I've tried!

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Still no success opening the filler flap.

Called into my local Skoda garage this afternoon.... "never come across that problem on a Yeti before" was the response.

Apparently the locking solenoid can easily be levered out with a small screwdriver once the flap is open. but when closed it locks itself into the housing.

"Have you tried going in from the boot?" they asked - and of course I have to no avail.

"Have you tried removing the arch liner & seeing if you can find anything there" - and of course yes I have but no luck.

Then they fiddled on the computer for a while & came up with the diagram featured in earlier posts together with instructions how to replace the solenoid when the flap is open....  but no instructions what to do if the flap is locked shut.

 

"Looks like you're going to have to lever it open until something breaks" was the ultimate technical solution.

 

There's got to be another way...  all I need to do is find someone who's actually done it without breaking something!

I even looked a brand new car in the showroom to see how the locking post engages with the flap, but it's clearly designed to resist attempts to open it to steal fuel.

I'll try phoning Skoda technical helpline tomorrow in the probably forlorn hope that they may have an answer.

 

205 miles worth of fuel left now......  and counting.

Edited by speedsport
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Still no success opening the filler flap.

Called into my local Skoda garage this afternoon.... "never come across that problem on a Yeti before" was the response.

Apparently the locking solenoid can easily be levered out with a small screwdriver once the flap is open. but when closed it locks itself into the housing.

"Have you tried going in from the boot?" they asked - and of course I have to no avail.

"Have you tried removing the arch liner & seeing if you can find anything there" - and of course yes I have but no luck.

Then they fiddled on the computer for a while & came up with the diagram featured in earlier posts together with instructions how to replace the solenoid when the flap is open....  but no instructions what to do if the flap is locked shut.

 

"Looks like you're going to have to lever it open until something breaks" was the ultimate technical solution.

 

There's got to be another way...  all I need to do is find someone who's actually done it without breaking something!

I even looked a brand new car in the showroom to see how the locking post engages with the flap, but it's clearly designed to resist attempts to open it to steal fuel.

I'll try phoning Skoda technical helpline tomorrow in the probably forlorn hope that they may have an answer.

 

205 miles worth of fuel left now......  and counting.

i had the same problem with my 13 yeti i had to just pull it apart untill it broke (daughter having baby and had to get to her) it did snap the small plastic bit on the flap then i took it to the dealers to put a new solenoid on and fix the flap .

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Skoda helpline very apologetically says

"We cant give you advice on this other than you should go to another Skoda garage and see if they know how to open the flap."

"Alternatively you ask any Skoda agent to raise a technical enquiry with VW UK and then our technical department will see if they have an answer....."

 

Back to the drawing board!

Edited by speedsport
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....This was a great help as it confirmed there's no point removing it at all ....

 

Oh, the poignancy of it all! 

 

You're a persistent sort of chap, aren't you :clap: ?!  For goodness sake make sure this goes into the Yeti Tech section. 

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Anyone any ideas on how to prevent this happening in the first place? Wonder if a quick spray of WD40 around the locking post would keep everything free?

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I can't understand why these manufacturers make life so complicated. Why is it necessary to use a solenoid with its electrical connections, etc. to lock the fuel filler flap. Why can't they just use a cable like they used to. Much less likelihood of failure and much cheaper but I suppose it doesn't reflect the wonders of the technological age in which we live.

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I can't understand why these manufacturers make life so complicated. Why is it necessary to use a solenoid with its electrical connections, etc. to lock the fuel filler flap. Why can't they just use a cable like they used to. Much less likelihood of failure and much cheaper but I suppose it doesn't reflect the wonders of the technological age in which we live.

The ecars of today have a single loom from the computer which would make plugging in a 'cheap' solinoid v simple compared to routing a cable and the fixings at each end............. Time and ease of assembly on the production line, I suspect.

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Looks as though the "cheap" solenoid isn't so cheap after all.

My enquiry to 3 dealers has revealed prices ranging from £32 to £43.50 plus delivery. Interestingly, the lowest price was a VW dealer, the highest was Skoda.

Not spoken to my local Skoda agent yet, but I'm guessing their quote will be around the higher price. That's just the solenoid unit, it doesn't include fitting - which I intend to do myself anyway.

EDIT: Just noticed an email's come in from Listers Seat Worcester (via [email protected]) who have quoted £24 delivered, which is better, but still not cheap.

 

As for preventing future failures, I'm not sure of the best action at the moment. I certainly don't recommend WD40 as a long term solution. WD40 = Water Dispersant that works for 40 days before it evaporates. It was developed for US space missions at a time that rockets were not expected to stay in orbit for more than half the product's design life.

An electrical contact lubricant may be a better bet, such as one of Electrolube's plastic friendly products (I still use an EML aerosol can that I've had for years) or a silicone based oil possibly.

 

As the cover appears to clip onto the body of the solenoid housing, I was going to have a go at taking the unit apart to see what's sticking inside and lubricate it with contact grease, but I'm pretty sure the contents are spring loaded and could fly out all over the place if i take the cover off. I'll look at it again in a few days time when I have nothing else to do....  (a very rare occurrence!).

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I'd definitely try the silicon dry lube even for lowering the grip of ice in inconvenient places.

It's deadly slippery though so just don't get it on any controls.

I used it on the front radiator gills and frontal surface to make it easier to blast off the hopper bugs we get out here in summer.....they don't weld on so much now.

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My local Skoda Agent Lookers, Eccles (Ex-Claybank) just quoted me £24.80 inc vat to supply a new Filler Flap Lock - so I guess this is probably the correct "official" Skoda price.

 

Ho humm, another expense on top of whatever it's going to cost for them to diagnose & rectify the bearing noise that's slowly getting worse!

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I'm sure you've checked here, but just for the record: http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/36891-How-to-manually-open-fuel-filler-flap/page2  Post by 'Wickers' on 11 March 2016

 

quote

Just a quickie as I was having this very problem on a 59 Golf TDI estate (we also run a 53 mk4 Golf estate - we're nothing if not dull in our house) and I searched all over the shop for a solution. The fuel cover has been playing up for a while, I had to lock-unlock, lock-unlock, lock-unlock and eventually it would release - however today it just wouldn't have it. I was just about to rip out the lining to look for this mythical manual release when I tried - simply:

Locking the car with the remote fob.

Operating the release switch (i.e. pressing the fuel cap cover in)

Unlocking with the remote key whilst keeping the pressure on the cover.

Lo and behold it worked - I then tried it about ten times in a row and it worked every time.

The only thing I can assume is that the solenoid/relay/micro switch is not making when there is no pressure on the flap, and therefore the central locking is not unlocking it - but with a gentle push it is, and everything is good.

Not sure if this will work for everyone, but (so far!) it's been ok for me. Bit of a poor design if I'm being honest, there should be an easily accessible manual release for just this sort of a situation, but hey ho.

unquote

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