Has anyone's spring on the gas door broken? Mine did making it a 2 person job to fill up. One to hold up the lever by the drivers seat and the other to use a key or credit card to pry the door open. Is there a good online parts catalog to find a part number and/or order something small like that? This is for an '01 prius. Thanks!
I can't recall hearing this before. Too bad you can't get gas alone for now. Luckily you don't have to get gas very often! :welcome: Welcome to PriusChat!
Is this the 01 (first gen) in your sidebar? When I had my 02, there was a bent piece of metal that acted as a spring to push the door out, at about a 45 degree angle. Every once in awhile (once per year or so), it would wear out its springiness, resting at about 25 degrees, which would make it hard/impossible to open the door without doing the trick you mentioned. The solution was to bend it back to a wider angle, where it would work again for the next year.
Yes, it's the 2001 with that same 45 degree bent metal type spring. Sorry I'm not very familiar with the more current prius designs. Didn't realize that it's no longer used. I suffered the same problem that it would gradually get bent into a much shallower angle and no longer function. The solution was the same as yours, I would bend it back out to it's original shape. Well over the years all that bending must have stressed the metal too much, the thing broke in half.
Get a piece of foam rubber or better yet, ethafoam (polyethylene foam). Glue it to either the door or the body. It will pop the door out and -never- wear out. Just use contact cement.
I have the same type of spring on my 1994 Ford Aerostar. I have to pry open the door while pulling on the lever. Fortunately I can reach both at the same time. I would replace the spring, but its cost would exceed the value of the car. Tom
this was a common problem on Camry's. Ask me how I know. Dealers had the replacement spring for about $5. Probably the same for the Prius. Less than a minute to install.
This happened to my 2009 prius this weekend. Go figure the first failure on my Prius is that it is so stingy on gas that it doesn't want me to fill it up. I had to ask for help from the person filling up their suburban at the next pump. Good thing there are still SUV's on the road or I might have had to wait for the second person to help me open the gas cap door. ;^)
I just got through washing my car and after doing some detailing, i came up with the idea for a spring door, I have to make one more post to get my 5 posts before i can show the picture but its a nice cheap fix.
Here is the photo, using a simple small office binder clip, I prefer the location on the bottom of the door vs. the side angle, It will not scuff the paint in the door as much on the side mount location. Also, make sure your gas cap is "horizontal" so its not putting excessive pressure on the clip on the bottom mount location. Hope this helps!
Thats great so simple. But that hinge is another place that needs lubrication. The hood hinges and hood lock also. And all door hinges especially the hatch hinges as they get wet and the hatch lock mechanism. And rubber revitalyzer on the rubber hose in the door jam that protects the wires is a really good idea. Ilike Black Magic Protectant.
As a temporary measure if the fuel door spring is not working right, try using the driver's seat belt looped around the fuel door lever, to hold it up.
Ok I found another solution, this one does not include Metal scraping on your paint. I was at work and found these really cheep ID Badge clips, I am sure you can find something similar at your local Office store or an Office building where Temp ID's are given out etc. I am sure if you go to any FAA ATC Facility or government building just ask for one you will get one. Bring a PIC of it on your phone or print out. I cut this thing at the locations noted, and With some Photoshop work that is what it should look like after the cuts in the pic. I tested this out (I removed the black binder clip) and this worked very nice, its smaller and "all weather", wont rust, and fits where the "Original" clip goes. Hope this helps! Los
