Fuel Filler Door Won't Close

i looked at mine today. along with the lock button at 3 o'clock, there's also a switch 10 or 11 o'clock. not sure what it's for, maybe to send the door open signal?

 

Thanks for the report. I will be sure to lubricate mine occasionally.

I would much prefer the manual version for the fuel door... get out of the car and just pull it open.
Seems silly to have an electric button and a latched fuel door. Is that supposed to prevent gas theft? Any one of us could pry that flimsy door open in about 2 seconds.

 

What did they recommend for lubrication? Thinking of Armor All/mineral oil/Vaseline????Vics vapor rub would open it up.

 

yes, it is for theft. started sometime after the gas shortage in the seventies, when people would spend their nights transferring gas from other cars to theirs.
first they came out with locking gas caps, then doors. i suppose a thief would move onto a car without a locking door, but do they all lock now?

 

A Chevy Cruze I had for a rental did not. Push in a little on the fuel filler door and it would unlatch, like a retractable pen.

 

Good to keep stuff out of your tank also. But very easy to pry open.

 

that's how the charge port door works, press and let go to open, press and let go to close.

 

So lube of choice? Any don't do that's?

 

And go easy on the lube, or the "nub" will attract dirt and it might get stuck again? (I wash inside the "fuel port" with soap & water when I'm doing the rest of the car. My little "nub" is squeaky clean. )

I liked the old days, when fuel doors on cars were simpler, solid, and heavier, and they had a durable spring mechanism for opening/closing.

 

Reminds me of me when I was young and naïve, asking a redneck auto store person for some lubrication, rubber lubrication. Wife told me the fella wanted to clog me out. Lol

LG-H901 ?

 

Sounds like it's a clock

 

it is, tells me what time to fill up!

 

Tick tock

 

Mines in the dealer now for the same isue. First fill up and the nub wont come back out. They are ordering a new mechanism.

 

The electronic release is not to prevent theft, maybe the cable one was. The fuel tank is pressurized to prevent evaporation. In a normal car the evaporation goes through a charcoal canister to catch the emissions per CARB. That is then pushed back into the tank the next time the engine starts and the evap canister goes through a purge cycle. With hybrids and more so plug-in hybrids, the engine may remain off for an extended period of time. Toyota's bladder tank in the early Prius was trying to address the same problem. Sometime around when the Volt was being developed GM and other OEMs got together to come up with a different (better?) solution and they decided on the pressurized fuel tank. Now, if you open the fuel cap while the tank is under pressure you risk the chance of fuel blowing out and getting on you. Since we can't have that the solution was a push button fuel door. When you press the button the tank depressurizes. Once the pressure is equalized the fuel door opens. If it ever fails to open there is a release inside the trunk area on the left hand side behind the carpet (or so says the manual, I haven't gone looking for it). I would bet that the primary reason this system is on the standard Prius is cost savings, rather than designing and building two systems, one for the plug-in and one for the standard hybrid, it's cheaper/easier to just build one system.

 

Did they say what we could do to prevent this or is it a R&R only item?

many thanks,

 

Interesting Mr Mischief. I need to re-read my owners manual for the 9th time!

I've never heard any depressurizing... and my fuel door pops right open. Is that something we can hear? I stood outside the car, and then pushed the button. Didn't hear anything.

Also, there's a note on the inside of the fuel door. Something about being sure to gas up within 30 minutes of popping the fuel door.... otherwise the tank may overflow? It says to push the door release button again if you've stood there for 30 minutes...
Just another Prius oddity....

I found the "emergency release" device inside the trunk. There's a small plastic cover right under the cargo light, on the left side. It says: "For emergency use only." Otherwise, gas may spray out, or overflow, or....
Who knows.

 

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No wonder, I only read to 261.