Bent fuel door

Final verdict. The dealer replaced the door and had the body shop paint to match (obviously) the door, and the interior of the door (around the fuel cap). Painting around the fuel cap was important, because the door gouged the paint. I got the bumper to bumper 100K warranty when I bought it off the lease, at a cost of $2,500. The repair was no cost to me, nor was the loaner. they did have my truck for just over three weeks. The loaner was a loaded Highlander. All in all it feels ok, just a bit silly to have THAT be the thing that breaks.

I promptly sprayed the hinge with lithium grease.

 

Wipe off the grease. Use fluid film. I did mine once when new and the door has 0 resistance. Litium drys out and stuff sticks to it

 

Has anyone taken the fuel door off to mess with everything? Feel like remove/install can't be too difficult

 

It is riveted and nit screwed or bolted. If a person were to have a seized door, it would probably be best to drill the rivets, remove the door, repair, and then bolt it back on.

 

I grabbed two cans of fluid film, treated the hinge, and gave a can to my neighbor. Seems like a good product, looking forward to see how it holds up.

 

Terrible news here I broke my finger nail while opening the door because of the defective design. I’ll be talking to the general manager later today and if that doesn’t work I’ll be talking to Toyota corporate office.

 

I get the jokes, but a seized hinge resulted in a snapped hinge. In the end I was left with a floppy and non functional fuel door that gouged the paint down to the metal on the inside of the door to. This would have been prevented with grease or a design that does not result in seized hinges. Had I had to pay out of pocket for a repair that would have been hard especially considering I spent 40K on a truck and it only had 34,000 on the odometer.

 

PITA...had it happen to me

 

That sucks, what we’re the circumstances? Had you been applying any lube to the hinge?

 

OP here. I pretty much ignored the fuel door after my initial post, just lived with it being a little off. The other day I went to fuel up and the door would not shut, totally out of whack. Gonna look through this thread to see other people’s experiences.

 

If you find any vids or instructions on how to remove this thing let me know!!

 

I do believe you have to pop out the rivets. I have been using the grease suggested and no issues.

 

That door is crazy. I have lubed it. I baby it every time I fill up, and always check position of the gas cap lanyard before closing.

Grabbed gas yesterday and it opened just fine. Went to close it and it was all cocked to the point of not being able to close..

Was able to bend it back into shape so as to close without scratching the paint and it is fairly even. It looks ok.

I am wondering if there is a weld popping loose, or something rather than the hinge issue.

Once I have it closed and all lined up, if I press lightly on the top left, it makes a small popping noise. You know, like those small metal clickers we played with as kids.

I'm not seeing the issue, and a bit worried about playing with it much.

Anyway, I'm not 100% it's a hinge issue, as mine was fine and moved freely when this happened.

 

I have a 2nd Gen, but similar issue...

 

Ya, I test drove a 2nd Gen before buying the 3rd. It had a bent fuel door, and my mechanic said it was common on them,... which is why I have always babied mine.

Kinda nuts that the issue has gone on for so many years without a fix from Toyota. It must be a moneymaker for them in repairs.

 

I have been using the greese suggested early on in the thread since I had the door replaced. I got a lifetime supply off Amazon for just a couple bucks. Every so often, when I am tinkering I just give it a squirt and wipe away the drips.

 

When the fuel door gets a tad sticky, i squirt a little fluid film in the hinges...so far its been fine.

 

I had the same issue as OP since I bought the truck used - bottom weld of the flimsy little hinge popped and the door was sticking out. I ordered an OEM fuel door, painted to match using duplicolor, and reattached it w/ rivnuts and stainless screws & washers.

You need to gently drill through the existing rivets without drilling all the way through the body. I used a 5/16 bit just to thin down the rivet head, then you can pop it off with a little pull.

I primed, and painted with I think 6 coats of color and 4 coats of clear... don't totally remember, but I know it was several of each, which is easy to do on such a small part. I still have a tiny bit of wet sanding to do to remove a bit of orange peel, but otherwise you'd never know it's a replacement door. Now I'm just trying to remember to stay vigilant about lubing the hinge so this doesn't happen again.

 

Man that’s exactly what I need to do. Can you send a link to the OEM door you ordered?? How hard was the install for a semi-handy dude haha?