Fuel Filler lid replacement

[Rooster53]

Juast to let other know, I went past an open filler cap at night after filling the car and broke off the lid.  It was easy to get the part off the Skoda dealer and not very expensive.  The hardest part was trying to understand how to unclip the lid.  Just push the black base plate away from the raised metal fitting on the lid and it slides off.  May be quite hard but once you know, quite easy!  I attach relevant photos.

[rum4mo]

Good info, it could come in handy in the future for any VW Group car!

 

I'm guessing that removing the broken fitting was quite simple after removing the screw - obviously the drain pipe needs removing before swopping parts.

[Rooster53]

Hi, no - I was not successful.  I removed the screw and could not pull the fitting off.  It did not move at all - not even slightly.  There is an actuating cable and of course the fuel pipe.  I cannot understand how to remove it and looked inside the boot and tried to remove the plastic boot side interior but had to stop.  What is the process of replacing it ? Can I remove it all from the outside or need to go to a panel shop to remove the interior boot plastic?   It is a nice car and I did not want to damage anything.

[rum4mo]

Can you not look at the rear of the new part and see if the top comes out first and then you ease the fitting up vertically to disengage from the body?

[Rooster53]

HI, tnx for the response. there is no way to extract the old arm as it is attached very solidly, I fear a complete removal is the only way !

[Rooster53]

I think it is a push on fit from the outside however this makes it hard to extract as the clips open up.  I am sure this would be pretty much the same across the range of cars so any pointers how to remove it would be great.  

[rum4mo]

Yes, of course the complete assembly will need to be replaced, but what I meant was, that if you examine the rear of the new assembly, you should gain some insight into how it locates in the car's side panel, and so, after removing the screw, should be able to manipulate it in a way that allows you to get the old one out and the new one in, without causing any body damage.

[Rooster53]

Hi, tnx, yes agreed, I will try again tomorrow.  I would have thought a rotation of the unit would release any clips (through a slot) but it is solidly in place.  Looking at teh new unit, there do not appear to be any screw holes or places to put a screw thread from the inside of the boot so I still think there is a way to remove it from the outside.  I will advise how I get on.   No rush but we are in COVID lockdown so I cannot call anyone who may know eg a panel shop or Skoda NZ. 

[rum4mo]

Here is the instruction to remove the same assembly on a 2014> Polo:-

Removing
– Screw off tank cover.
– Remove bolt -2-.
– Peel rubber grommet off the fuel filler neck.
– Pull tank flap unit -1- together with water drainage hose -3-
towards rear -arrow a- out of fasteners and swing tank flap unit
-1- out of side panel -arrow b-.

 

"towards arrow "a" " means towards the rear of the car.

"out of side panel arrow"b" " means outwards away from the body panel.

 

Installing
– Insert water drainage hose -3- through opening in tank flap unit
and then pull it through as far as it will go.
– Push water drainage hose -3- into side panel.
– With hinge side leading, push tank flap unit -1- into side panel
-arrow a-.
– Then, swing tank flap unit completely into the side panel
-arrow b-. Make sure that locking hooks engage correctly in
side panel.
– Pull rubber sleeve over fuel tank filler neck and tighten screw.
Specified torque for bolt -2-: 1.5 Nm

 

"arrow "a" " in this case means the reverse of the direction "arrow "b" " in the removal instruction.

"arrow "b" " in this case means the opposite direction to "arrow "a" " in the removal instruction.

 

Try that and see if it makes any sense.

 

[JXS]

Not sure if this will appear correctly or not but here goes.

These are the instructions from the Skoda Manual.

It appears that you just remove the screw, 3, and judiciously pull it out

 

 

 

[Rooster53]

Brilliant, the rubber was harder than I thought but your instructions and then the diagram solved that puzzle.  Reattached drain hole, cap lanyard and screw etc.  Of note, the old labels (fuel and tyres)  came off easily and retained their stickiness so were transferred too.  Job done, thank you for your help, nice teamwork.  Keep safe.

PS We love the car, the small 1L turbo engine with a 7 speed performs way better than I thought it would.  

[jaser]

Thx a million for this guide.

I just completed replacing the assembly on a Fabia III.

It worked like a charm to release it, once I understood and trusted the "towards rear -arrow a- out of fasteners" step. The assembly is soft at some points, so it is easy to get the needed grip.

The only hard part was that my drain-hose must be mounted differently, since the hose did not come all the way out with the assembly as I have seen on some videos. The drain tube stayed in its mount in the car frame. To get the drain hose in the new assembly, 

I had to resort to use a piece of string, wrapped around the tube and let one end of string pass through the drain hole in the assembly, leaving the other end with the tube. Then I "unwound" the string around the neck of the tube, like when you need to get a ring over a swollen knuckle. At the same time pressing the tube neck towards the assembly from behind. It was not planned with the seized tube and it had started getting dusk, so I have no video of what I did. I needed a speedy wrap up.