406 HDI Fuel Flap

Is there any method of tensioning or adjusting the cable on a 406 hdi
for the fuel flap? When pulling the lever in the car the flap very
rarely opens, and I can only imagine that it needs tensioned somehow,
or even replaced, but have no idea how to go about it?

TIA

 

You need a new flap. The spring arrangement on the hinge is starting
to break.

 

And it's apparently a pig of a job to fit. Mine's gone so it's a case
of wedge up the lever and open the flap by hand - my plan is to fit a
compression spring to the inside of the flap.

Chris

 

yes it is a sod of a job but when its got to be done its got to be done ...

 

This is from a previous post of mine.

The bit that opens the flap is part of the hinge and is just a piece
of plastic that goes up against the bodywork at the hinge and bends
slightly. Then when the release is pulled it "unbends" and opens the
flap. It breaks if you close the flap too hard. To fix it you need a
new flap, and it comes unpainted. However I have got round this.
Gently tap the long hinge pin upward about an inch so that the smaller
diameter parts of the pin are in-line with the two parts of the hinge.
(you'll see what I mean when you do it!) You'll see a bit of plastic
protruding from the flap just above the pin, which prevents the pin
from working its way upward by itself. Then pull the flap off the pin.
With a sharp knife cut around the join of the painted bit to the rest
of the flap until the two parts come apart. Do the same with the new
flap. Clean up where the two parts meet and super glue the painted bit
to the new flap part carefully so that no glue gets on the painted
bit. Put a weight (book?) on it and leave for 30 mins or so. Then push
it back on the pin and tap the pin down so that it is under the
protruding bit of plastic.
All should now work!

 

I had a problem with mine (a 406SV ) about four years ago soon after I
got it. I forget precisely what happened but I was able to fix it by
gentle surgery on the plastic. In my case, I removed the top (of three)
black flap which is part of the fuel lid assembly and which, with the
other two, consitute the 'spring' which makes the flap want to open.

My recollection is that the lid itself simply pulls off/clicks onto
the hinge pin - I think, in fact, that my problem was some sort of
breakage on the black part which caused it to lever the lid off when
you attempted to close it. As I say, there are three black 'springs'
and the remaining two do the job OK.

I think the essence of Nigel's and my experience is that if you
carefully work our how the lid open/closure works, you may be able to
solve the problem fairly easily - surgery rather than replacement.

I also had a problem with the catch sticking - that is, when you opened
the lid by pulling the trigger to retract the black catch, it stayed
retracted and the lid would not close.

Again I worked out a fix. You could get it to open by tapping around it
and/or by flicking the trigger. I think I sanded the catch a bit,
tidied up around it and applied lashings of graphite powder - the stuff
you use for locks.

Also I adopted the habit, when opening the flap, If letting the trigger
go so it snapped back, rather than lowering it as one tends to do.

Well that problem has not recurred. In both cases the fix has worked
for years (touch wood)