Fuel Door Spring Fix

Post by **mrbrian200** » 04 Apr 2016, 12:19

In my bit of research to determine how the fuel door mechanism works I gathered this is a somewhat common problem for breaking under normal use so I thought I'd put something on here...

After a minor collision that broke the fuel door spring tabs... I got it back from the body shop they didn't want to fix this (it was not broken as the fuel door closed/locked properly before the accident)

$3800 billed to insurance for rear quarter replacement + repaint you'd think this $10 hinge part wouldn't be an issue but they decided it was "pre-existing"...whaaatever!

Anyways rather than fight with them over this and after deciding the hinge placement makes it somewhat of a pain to replace I took matters into my own hands. Good as new with a couple 1/4" broad head screws I had laying around. Will back them out/set them with epoxy then a squirt of black spray. The picture is self explanatory. I was careful to size the screws so as not to protrude through the plastic as it looks like there's metal underneath I wouldn't want to damage the paint/ introduce a rust issue down the road.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 29 Sep 2016, 21:33

Very good! How is that door hinge holding up?

Post by **mrbrian200** » 03 Apr 2017, 10:46

MadeInJapan wrote: ↑29 Sep 2016, 21:33 Very good! How is that door hinge holding up?

Holding great. I set the screws with a bit of epoxy and hit them with a squirt of black rustoleum so it doesn't stand out/looks nice.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 10 Apr 2017, 20:25

Yeah, it's been awhile so glad it's working out...I did the cheap Euro brand replacement but within a year or so that didn't hold up and so I replaced out V70's hinge recently with a volvo brand. I had forgotten all about your fix... oh well!

War Iron · Post by **War Iron** » 05 May 2017, 12:07

Awesome fix! How did the accident break the spring tabs without smashing anything else in the vicinity?

Post by **mrbrian200** » 05 May 2017, 13:07

War Iron wrote: ↑05 May 2017, 12:07 Awesome fix! How did the accident break the spring tabs without smashing anything else in the vicinity?

Easiest would be to show pre-repair picture. Area was deformed just enough to stress/break the little plastic bits that secure the spring in place. Little old lady hit me a lot harder than the damage would suggest, most of the brunt was absorbed by the RR wheel/rear suspension. They had to replace the both upper and lower control arms to restore the camber back within spec. I had to fight with them on that (they replaced the body panel/cosmetic damage, but balked at addressing the alignment issue (RR camber was knocked several degrees negative, spec is 0 ± 0.5). I had had it professionally aligned maybe a month prior, camber was within spec before the accident, and I had documentation to show that. When I got it back the second time they still hadn't fixed this fuel door retention mechanism. I had just about had it with them by that point and fixed this last minor remaining issue myself.