Fuel filler hatch is stuck!

[asutherland]

Ok, I know these diesel trucks are good on fuel (well, moderately depending on how much $&*% you put on them) - but they DO need filling eventually.

My damn fuel filler hatch is stuck on my HDJ81!!!!!!!!

I noticed some time ago the little pin that fires out to stop the hatch from freely opening was... sticky. But now I can't get it open at all.

Any ideas where to pry? I've pulled on the hatch release, and even tried pulling the wire itself with a pair of plyers... no use. I'm now almost on E and running out of patience...

 

[96r50]

Take off the jack access cover and you can see the mechanism inside the rear fender. You can trigger it manually that way, and remove it to clean it up.

 

[asutherland]

Take off the jack access cover and you can see the mechanism inside the rear fender. You can trigger it manually that way, and remove it to clean it up.

Beautiful. Thanks x 1,000,000

 

[80t0ylc]

Could be as simple as the spring that pops the door open is broken or lost. It happened to me and others on this forum, if you search on fuel door. If this is the case, have a helper pull the release latch while you pry the fuel door open. Here's a link that might help. If not, Adam's fix will probably work.

 

[asutherland]

I managed to open the fuel hatch really easily through the cargo panel area. I lubed up the mechanism and the little pin you can see from outside the vehicle now moves easily.

However, when I pull on the lever under the dash, the cable moves about 2 inches... but only moves about 2 cm in the rear. It's like it's stretching the metal cable somehow. Don't know what to do about that. The hatch WILL open, but only after about 5 attempts and me feeling like I'm ripping the dash off.

 

[Bearcat80]

I had a stick cut to the right length to wedge in between the floor and the release lever so that I could open it myself, but finally got around to adjusting the cable enough to make it work right. It's just like a throttle cable, loosen the clamp and slide it one way or the other until it works. I think the clamp was in the body area accessed from the cargo area. (it's been a couple of years)

 

[ToyotaDon]

Make sure the cable housing is clipped into the bracket under the dash. You could be trying to move the whole thing instead of just the cable.

 

[asutherland]

Make sure the cable housing is clipped into the bracket under the dash. You could be trying to move the whole thing instead of just the cable.

Yeah, it is. The housing stays in place, the wire itself moves... but the wire moves 4x more at the front (at the lever) than in the rear where it opens the hatch.