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fuel flap opening itself


south_bound
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I recently noticed a couple of times now my Mk 4 fuel flap being open when parked in my driveway for a few days without use.  I don't lock the car when it is at home and I'm pretty confident it hasn't been tampered with by anyone.  I do lock it when parking out and about and haven't noticed it happening then.  Could it be a build up of pressure when the sun is out and warm forcing the flap open if it is not locked due to lack of resistance?  The last time I saw this (today) the fuel tank is fairly full, so not a lot of air, not sure if this makes it more susceptible to thermal expansion or not.   I could solve by locking the car at home I suppose.  Anyone else had this issue?  

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The flap doesn't lock when the car is locked anyway.

Are you sure it's not someone messing with you and opening it? Or a cat/wildlife sliding down that part from the roof and popping it open?

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It is parked in a gated driveway with gate locked so would be surprised if anyone climbs in to mess with the fuel flap, but you never know.  I didn't know the flap doesn't lock but never checked tbh.  The flap is not fully open when this happens, just partially ajar but enough to notice.  Should have mentioned, I have had the car nearly three years and it only started happening in the last month so something has changed to allow it to do this! 

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It just sounds to as if the latch is popping open, possibly when the car is directly in the sun. Is the car a dark colour, black or dark blue ?

We don't normally have any heat related problems here in the UK 🤣

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It is the same car as yours in dynamic blue and parked out in the sun so I made the same link with temperature as you especially as it just started happening in the warmer spring weather.  That said this is the third summer I have had it and it didn't happen previous years including over 40 deg C in last year's heatwave.

The flap seems to work normally to open and close manually and nothing obviously loose but I will take another look.

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30 minutes ago, south_bound said:

previous years including over 40 deg C

Bl++dy Hell !!!!!  40oC we couldn't get that hot inside the house with heating on full 🤣

I would guess that the plastic latch is wearing a bit and is becoming less able to hold the flap closed against the spring pressure. Probably we will see more reports of this as the Mk4 ages and if we ever get weather warmer than 22oC

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16 hours ago, unofix said:

Bl++dy Hell !!!!!  40oC we couldn't get that hot inside the house with heating on full

Parts of the UK got close to that during last year's heatwave. Maybe up in the North you escaped it.

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1 minute ago, mjt said:

Maybe up in the North you escaped it.

Trust me we very much "escaped it" here in Durham 🤣

Last year I hardly managed to get out on the motorbike, it was either very wet, very windy, very cold or all of those 🙄

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I was 'out of action' for about 3 months last year due to the excessive heat in EA.  Been dreading the same happening again this year but have got away with it so far...still expecting it any day though!

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Sorry Tom but it's just been reported a heat warning has been issued for temperatures up to 30C this weekend including our region.

We spent many days last year sitting in front of fans, pretty much unable to do anything and, like you, hoping we don't get the same this year. Unfortunately, due to climate change, severe weather events are likely to become more frequent. I've been considering getting a portable air conditioner. The trouble is I don't think they're that 'portable', being bulky and quite heavy and needing to hang a large flexible trunk out of a window.

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12 minutes ago, mjt said:

Sorry Tom but it's just been reported a heat warning has been issued for temperatures up to 30C this weekend including our region.

We spent many days last year sitting in front of fans, pretty much unable to do anything and, like you, hoping we don't get the same this year. Unfortunately, due to climate change, severe weather events are likely to become more frequent. I've been considering getting a portable air conditioner. The trouble is I don't think they're that 'portable', being bulky and quite heavy and needing to hang a large flexible trunk out of a window.

Yeah, just heard that on the radio news. 😟

I bought a portable AC unit a couple of years ago, but it just wasn't useable in a small flat, mainly due to the need for a large exhaust hose as you say.  And partly because it was so loud in a small space, despite being a 'silent' model.  It's now in storage until I can move somewhere larger.

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It depends on what you are used to I suppose.  Here we usually have between 35 and 40 from now until end August, no a/c in the house and was even driving my Focus Mk 2 with the a/c broken for a few years.  Its the nights when it doesn't go below 25 that gets to me.

 

Back on topic, I can confirm the fuel flap doesn't lock with the doors, quite poor imo though I guess the gubbins in the tank filler spout stops anyone syphoning fuel out.  Not sure about the adblue but can't imagine its worth anyone's time or effort to steal that.  I tried levering the flap open with a plastic trim removal tool and it wouldn't open without the risk of breaking something so didn't force it too much.  Opens and closes normally with a push to latch or unlatch.  The mystery deepens...

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