Fuel door issue!

Just got a new to me '09 Access and the d#*@ fuel door barely opens 1/2 way, and I have to force it to get it even that far open. Question...IS THAT NORMAL?

 

Not normal. Take a look at the hinge, it's probably bent. Also make sure the little plastic lanyard that holds the gas cap to the vehicle isn't coiled up in a weird way.

 

I personally don't think the fuel doors on these trucks were designed with any importance at all. jtweezy makes a good point of checking for any damage that may be affecting the door but you may also need to lubricate it. These fuel doors are notorious for getting hard to move and rusting/cracking paint.

 

Yes. It's intentional to make fueling very difficult and theft even harder. Much cheaper than having an in vehicle fuel door release like most other vehicles since the early 90's.

Of course it's not normal. Examine another Taco fuel doors operation and figure out what's wrong with yours. There's not much too it. It can't be that hard.

 

Thanks for the quick replies. Yeah, that door design and implementation looks pretty cheesy. Although it didn't look bent, the hinge bracket now looks to be a likely candidate. A frustrated person could likely bang it closed and force the bracket inward causing the stamped edge to contact the inner housing. The metal is surprisingly thin. I'll pry it out a little, lube it and see what that does.

 

My gas door and hinge had to be replaced before it was 2 years old. The hinge is very cheap and rusts and binds up. Then the sheet metal bends and and the door doesn't open far at all

 

I had a deer run into the side of my truck years ago. No appearant damage, left behind some snot lol. The fuel door looks straight and flat but binds when opening after that. I just put on xtra wax and lube it good.

 

I overextended mine a bit while fueling with a gas can. I can't even figure out how it's bent, but it's never been the same.

 

White lithium grease.

The hinge on my wife's old Scion tC basically completely bound up on me. A liberal dose of the grease and it was back to almost new.

Start there before you investigate changing/modifying the hinge.

 

Oil it. Then work it, then more oil, work it some more, lots of oil.
Unless something is bent, that should fix it.

The fuel door should swing open/closed with almost ZERO resistance.

 

Like others have said, lubricate it well with a penetrating oil and then maybe some spray grease. But double check to see if the hinge is cracked or broken. I noticed the hinge was cracked and part of it was broken due to rust causing the hinge to stick.