2019 Ram Fuel Door Seized

[ambler]

I went to gas up my truck last night, and the "push-to-open" fuel door would not open, no matter what. I think the release may be frozen, as its-22C here. I have no heated structure to park it in, so other than waiting for warmer weather, I wonder how a person could open it, without serious damage.

 

[dts828]

I went to gas up my truck last night, and the "push-to-open" fuel door would not open, no matter what. I think the release may be frozen, as its-22C here. I have no heated structure to park it in, so other than waiting for warmer weather, I wonder how a person could open it, without serious damage.

Blow dryer should do the trick if it's frozen.

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[ambler]

Thanks. The actual door is loose enough, but the release mechanism inside is the problem. The way the door is sealed (weatherstripping) makes it hard for warm air to get inside where the problem is. When it warms up a bit, I might be able to get the whole area heated up enough. I really don't care for that fuel set-up.

 

[OldMarine]

good size cup of warm/hot water, pour it along the door edge where the release button is, and no, it wont let water into the tank.

 

[ambler]

good size cup of warm/hot water, pour it along the door edge where the release button is, and no, it wont let water into the tank.

Thanks. As soon as we get past this -20 to -30 weather I'll try that, among other things. I would have to try to get it nice and dry though, or the same thing is likely to happen. Good thing I don't really need the truck any time soon.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

Propane torch. It'll come loose. What could go wrong?

 

[ambler]

Propane torch. It'll come loose. What could go wrong?

View attachment 114971

Awesome! I'll bet the little door would fly open! End of problem.

 

[ambler]

Blow dryer should do the trick if it's frozen.

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An update to the fuel door issue: Yesterday the temperature (for a short while, now it's -20C again!) finally got up to the freezing point. After about 20 minutes of heating the door and surrounding exterior body metal with a blow dryer, I was able to open the door. Water where it shouldn't be caused the problem. When I was done hunting for the year, I had given the truck a thorough cleaning to get rid of all the accumulated mud, etc. I have always cleaned up the fuelling pocket on my vehicles, to get rid of any dust, etc. Big mistake with the new type of door closure, it obviously has to be kept very dry. Once water gets into the latching mechanism, it can’t get out or evaporate easily, and can freeze things up in our climate.



Anyway, using the compressor, I was able to get rid of all the water, including inside the little rubber boot covering the pin on the door itself. I had to use a small diameter nail to hold the fixed “receiver” open while blowing that mechanism dry. There was quite a bit of water inside of it, which I finally got rid of. I don’t know if it’s ok to use a lock de-icer/lube in that gizmo or not. But the mechanism is fairly well protected from the environment. So, my advice to owners of this sort of set-up is: if you must clean up inside the door, use air, not water like I did.

 

[dts828]

An update to the fuel door issue: Yesterday the temperature (for a short while, now it's -20C again!) finally got up to the freezing point. After about 20 minutes of heating the door and surrounding exterior body metal with a blow dryer, I was able to open the door. Water where it shouldn't be caused the problem. When I was done hunting for the year, I had given the truck a thorough cleaning to get rid of all the accumulated mud, etc. I have always cleaned up the fuelling pocket on my vehicles, to get rid of any dust, etc. Big mistake with the new type of door closure, it obviously has to be kept very dry. Once water gets into the latching mechanism, it can’t get out or evaporate easily, and can freeze things up in our climate.



Anyway, using the compressor, I was able to get rid of all the water, including inside the little rubber boot covering the pin on the door itself. I had to use a small diameter nail to hold the fixed “receiver” open while blowing that mechanism dry. There was quite a bit of water inside of it, which I finally got rid of. I don’t know if it’s ok to use a lock de-icer/lube in that gizmo or not. But the mechanism is fairly well protected from the environment. So, my advice to owners of this sort of set-up is: if you must clean up inside the door, use air, not water like I did.

I would try to get some type of grease such as spark plug boot grease into the door catch mechanism. This will help in preventing water from freezing up the mechanism.

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