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Gas Tank Door?

60K views 138 replies 62 participants last post by  josh16 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi guys,

It's been cold here and a little snowy (around 20 to degrees to 0) and my gas tanks door was stuck with ice for 4 days. Now don't get me wrong I love everything about my Dart and you can tell the quality of Dodge is so much improved compared to the past. However, the one thing that seems cheap is the gas door they used or the way it fits at least. My car is perfect other then this problem and I wish Dodge could support me on it.

There was a thread a while back on here that mentioned a couple people said their gas door didn't seem flush alighened with the car and also that it had frozen up and couldn't open with the button as well. A while back I had the dealership show me the trunk emergency handle which can open the gas tank from the trunk. The 4 days my tank was frozen the emergency trunk release worked 1 out of the 4 days (when there was ice of course) it always work in normal weather.

Now I look at the top of my gas door and from above there is a huge gap in my door. Snow/Ice has easily gotten in the little compartment inside, but not the actually locked gas tank which has the screw cap on. I started lightly pulling the door saying to the workers see I can almost open the tank by pulling on it. I was immidetely stopped and said that I don't want to make things worse.

It wasn't like I pulled it to begin with to make it like that though. For a brand new car I told them it shouldn't be like that. I was told that I just got ice stuck around the edges of the tank (and the hinge inside) and I just have to clear it away to get it to open. However, how do you clear the ice inside the hinge frozen and the outside when the tank won't even open!?

When I go to get my racetrack lights I'm coming back and going to mention that. I shouldn't have to use a key to peel the ice away from the outside either. Even if I did that the hinge far in my tank (probably because of the gap on top was frozen)

Once again I want to say this is the only quality issue I've came across and if they give me a better gas door or replacement at least I will be happy with everything!

I know other people have had problems as well, so if you want please write a message regarding if you have a frozen door, misaligned door and I will bring your responses to my dealership for them to read. Dodge customer service has also said they haven't got any complaints about it.

Luckily I keep my gas halfway or above. I tried going to the gas station 3 times and it didn't open up. The top of the gas cap where there is the space also looks like it is a little bent as well! The car is amazing, but they kinda cheaped out on the gas door. I want a replacement! So I can actually open my gas door :D
Even when it was starting to be a little warmer it would open then not open.
My car isn't garage kept which would certainly help.. I understand even the best fuel doors in the world might still freeze. However, when you have a gap in your door I just see it as prone to freezing even more! Should the hinges inside the gas tank get a chunk block of ice?

The dealership tried it 3 times and it worked each time. However it was 10 to 15 degrees warmer, inside their garage when being done, and my car sat out in the sun that actually shined the first time in many days. You could tell all the ice had melt away.
 
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#43 ·
View attachment 7555
The latest trick I used to get the door open at -4 degrees.
See the top black lining of your gas door. It looks similar to mine. if you look down there is a huge gap and you can almost see inside it. Also if you move the gas door left and right there is a great deal of wobble. There shouldn't be that much wobble lol
 
#42 ·
I used my aaa card this morning to get mine open. took mins to get gas..some guy thought I was a dumb ass
 
#45 ·
Yeah the snow/ice gets through the gas door gap as mentioned above and it drops right on the spot where the hinge moves. That is the flaw, then the open gap around the whole door is icing to the cake. Dealership told me I just need to clear the ice or have it garage kept. How do you get rid of the ice on in the inside of the hinge when you can't open it. You would have to wait till it gets warmer or pull the death on the emergency trunk release.


Here's the pic guys: See that gap on the top of my tank door? Also I can see the hinge inside where do you think that snow that is sitting there seeps into. The hinge.
Glass Circle Rim Metal
 
#46 ·
Ah man I have to post one more thing.

Now I was getting all excited when I was reading a car new site here is the heading
Chrysler seeking 16 cars in fuel tank recall.

I'm like yes! this must be a problem with the Dart's fuel door or something. But sure enough it's not lol At least we don't have that problem where the car can set on fire so maybe I should be thankful for that it is just the door.

Chrysler seeking 16 cars in fuel tank recall
 
#47 ·
I think I agree with you guys, after looking inside there definitely is ice on the hinge point. I run my car through a touchless car wash once a week , and because of the cool temps up here in Canada , mine is always frozen. The first fill up I did I pounded on the fuel door for five minutes before it opened ! People around me must haven thought I needed anger management classes ! This is a wide spread problem.....surely Dodge will address it with either a seal/rubber fix or just leave it as a Neonesk future problem ... Lol
 
#49 ·
Yeah I have a feeling Dodge will address it eventually. However, it sounds like they need feedback from actual owner's telling them that there is something wrong. I almost want to give the address to this thread so they can check it out.
 
#50 ·
It's finally gotten warm enough where the door dosen't freeze, and opens when I press the button. I felt behind the hinge, and found the spring, that I bent a little to get a little more pressure on the door. Now when I press the button, the door opens faster, and wider.
 
#51 ·
That would have been my suggestion too. Either beef up the spring or see if you can align the hinge better so there's not a gap at the top. Mine sits pretty flush to the rest of the car so I haven't experienced this issue and I've pumped gas at -15 this winter.
 
#61 ·
So the dealership I went to is ordering me a new gas door. They said hopefully it fits better. If it doesn't they'll open a "Star Case" with Chrysler, but that it probably wouldn't be replaced again because of "like similar vehicles."

This makes no sense to me since yes, three out of five on the lot had the same issue, but just because they're similarly broken doesn't mean it's supposed to be that way.
 
#63 ·
I had a recall done on my gas door called, "Hard shut gas door" or something, it looks the same tho
 
#68 · (Edited)
I am thinking the unofficial fix with heat is the only thing thats going to fix this. I am just too scared I think (even using a heat gun) to do it. Ordering parts is going to just get more of the same crap. This would be an excellent Shainin RedX project as some of the cars seem perfect, and some are (obviously) not. Is it cavity to cavity variation in the hinge bracket, filler door, etc (or a stack-up combination of the two), an excellent component swap project. Anyone have Doug Betts' email address so I can offer my help? lol!

Mine didn't start off too bad, but its progressively getting worse as the wind gets behind it and pushes it out even further. I can now get the tip of my pinky finger to fit in the gap quite easily.
 
#70 ·
I had this problem on Saturday, car was covered in snow, I cleaned it off and went to get gas, fuel door would not open. I remembered a trick from the trunk lock cover on my grandfather's 1979 Cadillac. Pour warm water over the frozen area, emphasis on WARM, hot water will cause rapid change in temp and cause cracking, see Tblystone's entry to this thread. Pour the warm water on the top of the door where the rubber seal is and gently press and release the door until it opens. I have called Dodge about several problems I have had, and have gotten the same response "We have not heard of this, would you like us to connect you to your local dealer?" Hell I got more information about the fuel gauge problem on this site than through Dodge or my dealer.
 
#71 ·
Unfortunately it sounds like there's no real fix to this problem as I experienced the same thing tonight on my way home. it's been cold for the past couple of days and fuel door wouldn't open. Had my "assistant" push the button while I used a pencil to open the door. As many people indicated, I saw nice little ice bits all over the inside of the fuel housing. I haven't called the dealer yet, but plan to. would be interesting to see if they repeat what the common response seems to be.
 
#74 ·
I finally got mine fixed. Three trips to the dealer to get it there and I ended up having them replace the whole housing. Now my door sits nice and flush and has no water or ice is getting in. They also have a much stronger spring on the replacement housings too. My door used to only open about an inch when I pressed the button, even in summer, but now it pops fully open.

In my opinion once the gasket gets warped from freezing and your door no long sits flush you have to get the whole thing replaced.
 
#75 ·
That last post about a stronger spring is what I have suggested from day one. I said that because even a dusting of snow or ice will make the door freeze. I get into the truck and use the emergency release a lot since it has been so %^^^& cold and snowy here in Indiana. (Indianapolis set an all-time record for a season today). I have had fuel doors freeze on other cars in the past but never this often or this quickly.
 
#76 ·
the out of alignment is not dodges fault. the cars are all assembled on a roboticized line in a factory. the parts are put on by machines with computerized specs and specifications. some tiimes the part is out of alignment due to this hence why sometimes your bumpers are off by a little and the gas door is off by a little bit. with a little patience your able to loosen and align most these problems yourself.
 
#77 ·
I was at my dealer last week to finally get the new stereo ordered. I briefly mentioned to him how much it sucks to try to find somebody at 2am to push my fuel button. he laughed (which is typical of this guy once he gets to know you) and said they have been replacing the entire housing on everybody's dart that has complained and has had great success so far. He ordered one for my car and will be installing it same time they install the new stereo.
 
#79 · (Edited)
Well, was supposed to bring car in this afternoon at 12:30 to get stereo and gas filler neck assembly installed, but... we had yet another snow storm over night (and another significant storm tonight, and another one Saturday) and ended up working WAY longer than expected. Got to call in the AM and re-schedule. Keep yas posted, once it's installed and let yas know if there's anything noticeable rite off... and by the winter we've been having, it won't take long to test it out in crappy cold weather.

This past storm last night was the 20th significant (10cm (5") or more) storm of the winter... another 15-20cm (6-8") on the way tonight.. lol
 
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