Fuel filler door stuck
 

Hi everybody, Happy Canada Day.

I cannot get the fuel filler door open on my 2003 Elantra VE.

Tried sliding a piece of plastic all around under the lip to see if that would spring the latch. No joy.

Cannot see a release wire inside the trunk, but don't really know where to look.

It's Canada Day, I need to put gas in the car.

Any and all suggestions will be welcome.

Regards - Miles
Enfield, NS

Solved!
 

Well, I got lucky. After posting that last message, I gave the latch mechanism one more tug, and the door popped open.

Joy.

So I used duct tape top isolate the striker so it could not latch, and also made a handle using duct tape to enable me to pull it open, just in case some well-meaning soul pushed it shut.

This morning I stopped by Steele Hyundai's Service Dept and explained what happened. "We'll fix that in a jiffy" said Cameron, the service writer, as he stripped off all my duct tape and bent the striker inwards so the door would not latch.

Then he bent it outwards a bit, and within three attempts the door / latch worked again. It took maybe three minutes.

More joy - no expensive cable to replace, no mechanic's bill.

What must have happened is that I accidentally bent the striker a little further out so that when the latch retracted it would not let go.

Al's well, and we had a lovely day in the Annapolis Valley.

Cheers - Miles