Fuel filler flap not opening

[Jensung]

Hi all. 

 

I tried searching and couldn't see anything so clearly I'm a fool (or it hasn't been mentioned). 

 

Had a rather embarrassing experience at the petrol pump today in that my fuel flap won't open. I know they are linked to whether the car is locked or not but is there an easy way to try and get this open? 

 

I don't want to pry the flap and end up breaking the painted cover so any recommendations would be super appreciated? 

 

Has anyone come accross this issue? 

 

Thanks! 

[Shug]

Sometimes the spring mechanism sticks. Had that on mine once, just kept pushing it until it opened and then gave it a good clean and lots of WD40, sorted it.

 

Have seen a few on here a while back where the spring release device needed a bit of shaving to stop it sticking 

 

Good luck

 

[bertie1249]

I too had a problem recently with the fuel flap not opening. Did a search on here and found it to be a common problem and a possible fix if it wasn’t the actuator was to “shave off” a mm off the plastic clip with a Stanley knife. Well gave it a go and the so called fix has worked perfectly😁 That’s why I love this forum, it has a wealth of knowledge and saved me a wasted journey to VW.👍🏻
Below is a link of how to do it. Since doing it a few months ago now, haven’t had a problem since.
 

https://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk7/sticking-fuel-filler-cover/index.php

[Jensung]

1 minute ago, bertie1249 said:

I too had a problem recently with the fuel flap not opening. Did a search on here and found it to be a common problem and a possible fix if it wasn’t the actuator was to “shave off” a mm off the plastic clip with a Stanley knife. Well gave it a go and the so called fix has worked perfectly😁 That’s why I love this forum, it has a wealth of knowledge and saved me a wasted journey to VW.👍🏻
Below is a link of how to do it.
 

https://www.stuartdalby.co.uk/vwgolfmk7/sticking-fuel-filler-cover/index.php

Yeah, good in practise but if I can't get the damn thing open I won't be shaving anything. 

 

Tried like a bugger to get it free and nothing is shifting it. Seen a tip to try rapidly push and unlock the car so will give that a try after lunch but it feels like the flap is moving like it should but won't "unclick". 

 

I'll need to see if there's any other ways of carefully getting access. I can pull the door easily enough but feels like as if the flap is locked, same as if the car is locked. 

[bertie1249]

2 minutes ago, Jensung said:

Yeah, good in practise but if I can't get the damn thing open I won't be shaving anything. 

 

Tried like a bugger to get it free and nothing is shifting it. Seen a tip to try rapidly push and unlock the car so will give that a try after lunch but it feels like the flap is moving like it should but won't "unclick". 

 

I'll need to see if there's any other ways of carefully getting access. I can pull the door easily enough but feels like as if the flap is locked, same as if the car is locked. 

Mine was exactly like that. I pushed the flap in totally, locked car, then after unlocking it, I used a plastic trim tool, put some light force on it and it eventually popped open. I checked the actuator and it was fine, so it had to be the plastic clip.

Saying that people have also had problems with the actuator failing. I guess I was just lucky.

[R_wannabe_owner]

Fairly common issue on the mk7 Golf;

 

https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/27069-filler-flap-stuck-shut/

https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/30275-fuel-flap-stuck/

https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/38209-petrol-flap-sticking/

 

if you Google ‘mk7 golf fuel filler flap stuck’ you’ll find other instances on other forums. It’s likely to be either the filler flap actuator has failed or the plastic loop on the inside of the flap that the actuator pin slides into is too tight for the pin to slide freely in and out.
 

Quite a few cases of dealer having to shave off some plastic from the loop on early mk7’s - this was the warranty fix. 

[TripleO]

Can you hear the petrol cap locking / unlocking?

[Jensung]

1 hour ago, TripleO said:

Can you hear the petrol cap locking / unlocking?

Sadly no, which I think is the problem. 

 

To sum up what I've tried.

 

1. Firmly pressing in and out - nothing. 

2. Locking / unlocking and trying to pry open after pressing - nothing. 

3. Forcefully trying to pry open the flap - nothing and feels like the painted cover is one pull away from snapping off. 

4. Frantically unlocking the car and pulling / pressing - nothing.

5. Prying open with a credit card and spraying in some WD40 near the clips - nothing 

6. Giving it the good ol' whack-a-mole approach and battering it senseless. Nothing. 

 

Sure is jammed in there. Phoned the dealer up as the car is on its last 3 days of warranty to see what they can do and they don't seem overly interested so won't be kitting this drop for crappy attitude. 

 

Pretty poor design for not having a manual release somewhere. 

 

Thanks for the advice so far. Fingers crossed they can do something. 

[TripleO]

If you are unable to hear it locking/unlocking it will be the actuator. It is 100% covered under warranty, especially as it has completely failed. 
 

The part itself is about £32 but cost at a garage seems to be £150-200 fitted. 

[gregozedobe]

The only thing I can suggest to try is pressing the unlock button on the remote multiple times while also at the same time hitting the flap hard with an open hand many times.  This has worked for some people (but not all).

 

If that doesn't work then the locking actuator has probably failed, so forcing the flap open is the only option left, and this will probably break something (hopefully some of the mechanism rather than the flap itself. As Triple0 suggests, replacing the actuator is a non-trivial exercise.

 

Earlier VAG cars used to have a manual release cord/cable accessible from inside the boot, but Golfs haven't had such a "luxury" for many years (thank you, penny-pinching accountants 😒 ).

 

Please let us know how you get on.

[LouCyffer]

On 24/04/2022 at 15:47, Jensung said:

Phoned the dealer up as the car is on its last 3 days of warranty to see what they can do and they don't seem overly interested so won't be kitting this drop for crappy attitude. 

Take it up with them again. I had mine (swiftly) fixed under extended warranty. I was due to take a trip & needed to fill up before I did. The dealership got the car in and fixed it as a matter of urgency.