[Closet Boy]

Gas Door No Open - Temp 20F, Snow & Ice

Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Gas door will not open. Hear clicking when pressing either remote or interior release buttons. Sprayed de-icer through the seems of the fuel door but without any success. Weather has turned cold in past 48 hours. Snow and ice on car.
Any suggestions? Also, where exactly is the manual release in the trunk? I briefly looked for it behind the panel but could not find.

 

[lry99eldo]

The manual release on my '99 Eldo is on the drivers side, inside of the trunk, directly in line with where the fuel door is on the outside, is a cable threaded through a slit cut into the trunk liner, is attached to a plastic tab, that has a bit of velcro on one side to make it stick to the trunk liner. Gently pull on this to release the fuel door latch. If you don't find it, if it doesn'r work, and or you break it, you're on your own. Good luck.
lry99eldo

 

[Eldyfig]

If you can't find it where lry99eldo mentioned, it may be already broken.

I heard Ohio received alot of Thanksgiving day snow.

 

[terrible one]

Hair dryer.

 

[Ranger]

Are you sure it is frozen? Try getting your finger tips (nails) behind the edge and pull gently as you hit the release. I have found that they tend to get a little rusty and a drop or two of oil on the hinge (once opened) works wonders to keep it operating as intended.

 

[Closet Boy]

Thank you for the responses. Sun came out today. Let the STS sit directly in the sun for about 30 minutes to de-ice. The fuel door became operable once again.

Inspected the door flap hinges and release lock/unlock mech. Found no noticeable problems. Both are functioning properly at this time. I did spray the hinges with de-icer as preventative measure. I suspect ice was behind the door flap last night.

The conditions were bad yesterday. In summary, snow-melt-snow-melt, snow, freeze. Much ice on car. Windshield wiper arm assembly was frozen by ice. And doors were very hard to open.

The sun went down not long ago, and it has already started freezing. Unlike yesterday, the snow has been completed removed off of the car. Furthermore, very little moisture on car. Also, do not expect conditions like yesterday. Should be good to go now.

 

[Patrick7997]

Terrible One and Ranger are right. If you get your fingers under it, and get a helper to hit the release, gentle pressure should open the door, unless it's utterly packed with snow, or it got really soaked, and then froze.... then you need a hair dryer.

Also, on my 92 Eldo, I did replace the spring inside the fuel door once... from being closed all the time, it gets weaker and weaker, and then when it gets cold, it's not strong enough to open the fuel door.

Keeping those little hinges oiled is also a good idea.... when the fuel door is open, move it back and forth. It should move easily. If it's stiff, oil it & work it back and forth until it's moving real easily....

 

[iametarq]

off topic, but Patrick your Eldo is REALLY nice! :thumbsup:

 

[Patrick7997]

Thanks man. Appreciate that.

 

[Oceaneco1]

My Fuel door was frozen and I took the Blow-Dryer to it and that door popped right open!! Thanks for the tips!!! My trunk opened okay, but my fuel door would not open, so I assumed it was an electrical problem! Saved alot of money by using your suggestions ! Now I will oil up the hinges and locks as well!! Thanks again!!!

 

[Submariner409]

:bigroll: When I bought my '02 STS, The yellow "emergency" fuel door release pull tab was nowhere to be seen. Much feeling around behind the trunk liner below the left hinge and fuel door found the tab and tripwire, glued to the inner fender well by body filler splatter. Obviously, the previous owner had never needed the feature, and never read the owner's manual. There's a velcro patch on the pull tab so you can stick it to the liner. Grab a flashlight and go searching............Happy, Happy......