Here’s the scenario: I was kind of in a hurry to be somewhere yesterday and my Jeep is running on fumes. I stop for gas, but my gas cap door won’t unlock. When I push the unlock button under the dash, i can hear the latch disengage but the door isn’t popping open, some spring action is failing. When I release the button the latch re-engages. So I figure I can pry the gas cap door open with the button being held down, but I can’t reach both at the same time.
I briefly consider asking someone to either help push the button or pry the door open for me, but it seems weird to ask a stranger, especially in the middle of a pandemic. So I think, i’m a smart, resourceful guy, and I have tools in the back, I got this!
First I try pushing the button with the handle of a sledgehammer, the longest pole-like thing I had. But it was barely long enough, and I couldn’d Get enough purchase on the button, the end of the hnandle kept slipping off.
So then I tried prying the door with a bungee cord, but the hook on the cord was a micron too large to filt in the gap around the door.
Then, eureka! I remembered my portable fishing rod with line and hook still attached. When I hooked the door, pushed the button and pulled, the line snapped but it was just enough to pull the door away from the latch. Success!
I considered that but I didn’t want to leave it open. I figured next time i’ll just make sure I have a hook rigged on some stronger line, or just get it fixed. A full tank of gas will last me awhile since i’m not driving much, so I have time to plan my next move.
Is the door binding because it needs a little oil or is the spring not working?
If the door is binding DON’T use WD-40. it will eventually gum up and you’re right back where you started… If it’s a spring it’s probably a tang that can be bent back a bit.
Wow, it’s the man himself! Well, the spelling is close. I can’t see what’s causing it to bind up, it’s just a door on a hinge that goes into the body of the Jeep. I assume the spring action occurs on the end of the hinge that I can’t see. So I don’t know how simple it would be to fix myself, i’ll probably have to go a-googling to see.
One of our cars does this every now and then. Just stick a credit card in the slot and it acts as a pry bar/second spring. Don’t lose the card when it drops out!
Haha, actually it’s had like 6 or 7 recalls, far more than any other vehicle I’ve owned. So yeah it’s had its issues. But, it’s gotten me to almost the northernmost part of the US (shores of Lake Superior) to almost the southernmost part (Florida Keys).
And yeah, I meant the lower 48, and I did say ‘almost’ the northernmost. And almost the southernmost too— I got to the keys in my current Jeep but not all the way to Key West, though I’ve been to the southernmost marker in past trips.
