Fuel lid not opening

I went to re-fuel at a garage, which is something I do a couple of times or more a week, and switched the car engine off, jumped out and pressed the fuel lid to pop open but nothing happened. I tried tapping it again a few more times and still no joy. I re-started the car, switched it off again and tried to open the fuel lid but still no luck. Or the several times after that. I also tried opening it with the engine on but no luck.

So, at this garage in rural south of France where I needed to fill the tank to make a 3 hour round trip to an airport, I asked the pump guy/mechanic for a screwdriver and had to force the fuel lid open. The fuel lid is connected to a plastic structure so bits of plastic broke and the petrol cap was also damaged. The fuel lid is now in the boot waiting for Lookers.

My thoughts are that there was either a mechanical problem with the fuel lid (lock?) or an electronic problem (overall system not sending signal to unlock lid) or a combination of both.

Needless to say it's in with Lookers Park Royal next week and I will expect it under warranty. When I look back at 16 months of Evoque ownership this car has been in the garage for central video console not working, battery discharged and new battery and software required, special programmes (off road) issues appearing and keyless locking issue. That's a lot of electronic-related issues. I just wonder how well tested this all is?

Lastly, has anyone else experienced the above issue and if so did you find the cause?

There are other posts about it, but IIRC there are also instructions in the owners manual for emergency opening of the fuel filler

(16-08-2013 03:11pm)XFullFatTim Wrote:  There are other posts about it, but IIRC there are also instructions in the owners manual for emergency opening of the fuel filler

I'm sure the manual doesn't state ...

'jemmy open with big old rusty screwdriver' but I may be wrong.

TOPIx says on the subject...

Fuel flap does not lock/unlock

Fuel flap cable detached from body Check the condition and installation of the fuel flap cable
Fuel flap actuator detached from mounting bracket Check the security of the fuel flap actuator and bracket
Fuel flap actuator disconnected Check the security of the actuator electrical connector
Fuel flap actuator failure Check for DTCs indicating a fuel flap actuator fault. Refer to the DTC index

Actually can't find anything in the on-line manual to say how to open it if it fails - on my BMW there was a plastic toggle in the boot you had to pull - perhaps 'jemmy open' is the preferred method?

I'm nowhere near my car so couldn't look at the manual and couldn't scroll down the page far enough in the online version on my iPad. In my previous Range Rovers there was a pull out piece of trim in the side of the boot and opening it not only allowed access to behind the trim but also to the emergency pull wire for opening the flap

There are no instructions in the manual how to deal with the problem. Have had a look in the boot and there's nothing obvious inside. A real mystery, to which hopefully someone has the answer.

This also happened to me

Luckily I was close to home so drove with a very low fuel tank and managed when I got home to get it open.

My local dealer guy salmon Coventry replaced the flap locking mechanism and all was fixed, it seemed it was Brocken.

12 months later and lots of fuel filling and all is fine.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

I did look, as did my passenger, in the manual to check the instructions. We wanted to make sure we had not done something that was incorrect and also see if there were instructions to open said lid if if wouldn't open as normal. I did what I always do to open the lid so nothing different there. I didn't see any instructions in the manual to open the lid if it wouldn't open. The only tool in the car I'm aware of relating to all of this for the petrol/diesel reset.

Anyhow, the car is in with Lookers Park Royal later this week so I'll get their opinion. I still believe it's either mechanical (broken or faulty) or electrical (relaying a signal) or a mix of both. I'll report back.

Hah! This happened to me this afternoon.

I drove it to the local dealer and a technician prised off the lid, which is a painted plastic moulding held in place by integral clips. This exposed the more substantial hinge/body of the filler lid and he then pushed the retaining bolt/locking pin back with a screwdriver. Apparently this is the first time it's happened and he was surprised because the fuse to the fuel lid solenoid also serves the boot locking mechanism. So usually this fuse goes and neither of them work. In this instance, the boot-lid was not affected.

I'm now driving around without the locking mechanism working, but at least able to access the fuel cap, and left wondering whether it's worth getting it repaired if it's something else to go wrong!

My Evoque went into Lookers Park Royal yesterday and they diagnosed the car. Issue caused by blown fuse not allowing fuel lid to open but, interestingly, didn't affect the boot lid opening as per Ray Parlour's issue noted above. I'm currently driving around with unlockable fuel lid while Lookers await some parts to complete the fix.

As to why the fuse blew in the first place is still anyone's guess. Which doesn't leave me too confident about the next electronics/electrical issue.

Pretty poor design that there isn't a secondary release system, even carrying a spare fuse isn't really the answer because you could end up doing serious expensive damage to the system if the solenoid has an electrical issue. I haven't really worried about it before as have never had the problem but now I'm going to be thinking about it every time I make a drive the length of the UK.......... My previous Rangies have all had some form of emergency release from inside the car, maybe this is one weight saving cut too far?