No, the above image isn't some lame commentary on fuel prices. It shows what I had to do to this morning in order to fuel up our 2008 WRX STI long-termer.
The fuel door refused to pop open, so I propped the release lever up thusly. Then I walked around the car and pried the fuel door open with my fingers.
Engineering Editor Jason Kavanagh @ 8,495 miles
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That means the spring on the fuel door is broken.
The exact same thing happed to my mom's 9 year old Camry. But I am surprise this would happen on a car this new.
lazyhater: or stuck.
thats pretty sad that would happen to a brand new car
this happened to my brothers 15 year old Toyota previa recently...now he has to go with someone to get gas or find something to prop it up
"lazyhater: or stuck."
True!
Spring? I think it may be a bowden cable. My 2004 Impreza has never had any problems with the fuel filler door lever. But it has had an issue with the trunk release lever! =Þ It works fine more than 90% of the time in its execution of opening the trunk. It's the automatic return of the lever to the retracted position (perhaps spring-related?) that doesn't work properly.
subytrojan, I also got a 04' Impreza as you probably know. Zero problem with my fuel filler door also. Regarding the trunk release, did you ever adjusted the latch? All 04' Impreza trunk latch was set too low from the factory, making them very difficult to release and latch on. It was one of the 1st thing I had to do on my car, after I adjusted the latch to make it sit higher, it had been flawless for the past 5 years. I don't know if this has anything to do with you lever return issue, but you said your trunk release only works 90% of the time, so I figure I mention it in case you are not aware. My trunk release is 100% since I adjusted it.
I had this problem with my STI -- easy to fix by bending the little metal on the inside of the fuel door that provides the spring action to open the door. 5 second fix.
I'm liking the knowledgeable Subie community on here...seems like you guys really know all the tricks in the book ;)
Totally off topic, but those floor mats look REALLY nice- as if they're woven. That looks like what I'd expect out of the expensive GT-R Floormats
The actually look pretty cheap, the carpet looks like the mouse fur in my CX-7.
subaru needs to stop making cars, if they can't even make a fuel door lever work, what else is broken on this car.
this car is pure junk.
"subaru needs to stop making cars, if they can't even make a fuel door lever work, what else is broken on this car.
this car is pure junk."
Wow. Really?
Thanks for the tip, lazyhater. If you're ever in the LA area and not feeling lazy, you can show me how to adjust it. :o) In the rare instances when the trunk release lever hasn't worked (3-4 times at the most over 97.7k miles), I've just gotten out of the car and opened the trunk with the key (the horror!). :o)
sabastian - I was making an over the top statment, that was sarcastic.
But, if this was a gm/ford/chrysler product, there would be 10+ people saying very similar things.
Just look at the number of people ripping the aura for a plastic button (THAT WORKS!)
same thing happened on my 99 VW NB, a few years ago. I took a flat head screw driver to it....and pried it open.
I'm now parking beside an 08 Impreza every day, so I'll have to talk to the owner and see if this issue has arisen.
PS if this WAS a commentary on fuel prices, that would have been clever.
subytrojan, I am only lazy on things I don't have to do :-)
Let's see if it is really the latch being too tight first. When you pull on the trunk release lever, does it require a lot of force to make it open? Does it feels really tight? Also when you close the trunk, do you have to apply a lot of force to slam it in order for the trunk to latch on? If those are all true, your latch is set too low.
It doesn't require a *lot* of force to open the trunk, just a little more than it did when new. The main "issue" is that the lever doesn't go back down on its own. I need to reset it in the down position every time.
The trunk closes normally. That is, without a lot of force. :o)
subytrojan, it doesn't sounds like the latch need to be adjusted.
I don't know how to fix the lever issue.
I didn't think it was ever the latch. I think it's a lever spring issue. I've looked to see how I could try to repair it at techinfo.subaru.com, but it doesn't appear there's anything in the service manual to repair it. I've also looked at parts diagrams to see if there's anything that would help me figure out how to repair or replace it.
Sorry I don't have anything on top of my head to help you with that, since my lever have been flawless so far.
Had the same problem, used to have to sometimes pull the lever several times to get it to open, same solution as misterscoopman -- bent the tab a little, and it's fine now. And, honestly, that's the only quality-control issue I've had in 7500 miles, so I'm a very happy camper.
Same thing happened to my 08 STi. Quick fix at the dealer.