Help stuck can't open fuel filler
Discussion
TryHarder said:
****UPDATE****
Took the car to the OPC yesterday afternoon, said give me a call when you have the parts, expecting it to be next week, and just received a call saying parts arrived this morning,they are fitting as we speak, come and get it at 12pm. So that's pretty good service.
Good stuff!Took the car to the OPC yesterday afternoon, said give me a call when you have the parts, expecting it to be next week, and just received a call saying parts arrived this morning,they are fitting as we speak, come and get it at 12pm. So that's pretty good service.
Would be really interesting to know how many other 991 cars are affected...
Mine was a June build.
All back and it worked fuel purchased, and then I went for a hoon, oh boy do I love this car ! I rekon the 'S' owners are missing out because if you let the 3.8 rev you're well into lose your licence time and the 3.4 sounds sooooo good when you let it go, my face hurts so much fun.
Just for reference the fuel flap issue can affect the 981 the only other instance the OPC had seen was a new Boxster let's hope it's a rare problem !!
Just for reference the fuel flap issue can affect the 981 the only other instance the OPC had seen was a new Boxster let's hope it's a rare problem !!
Well from what I've learnt it's not the little spring opener, under that there's a rod that comes out about 18mm into a plastic hoop that's what's stuck so your lid is currently just popping the amout of play between the rod and the hoop, so every time you lock the car it fires out and every time you unlock it retracts. So I reckon I have locked and unlocked about 55 times and then it broke.
Mine was locked up solid so the stupid emergency release had no chance !
Mine was locked up solid so the stupid emergency release had no chance !
Edited by TryHarder on Tuesday 1st January 21:41
Got you, that makes sense, thanks for the info. So it's really more to do with how many times the car has been locked and un-locked, no idea on that score I'm afraid. I take it there have been no repeat failures yet?
Those nice Porsche Assist folks will be round in the morning to take it to the mendy man so a good reaction from the OPC who said they'd need it for a couple of days to diagnose, order whatever was necessary and then fit. I'll be interested to see how they get on.
Those nice Porsche Assist folks will be round in the morning to take it to the mendy man so a good reaction from the OPC who said they'd need it for a couple of days to diagnose, order whatever was necessary and then fit. I'll be interested to see how they get on.
martvr said:
Got you, that makes sense, thanks for the info. So it's really more to do with how many times the car has been locked and un-locked, no idea on that score I'm afraid. I take it there have been no repeat failures yet?
Those nice Porsche Assist folks will be round in the morning to take it to the mendy man so a good reaction from the OPC who said they'd need it for a couple of days to diagnose, order whatever was necessary and then fit. I'll be interested to see how they get on.
Yes it's just the servo that is jammed, easy to change for them, front wheel off unscrew the back part of the wheel arch liner, disconnect and remove and replace with new one. Your useless emergency cord is all part of the replacement unit.Those nice Porsche Assist folks will be round in the morning to take it to the mendy man so a good reaction from the OPC who said they'd need it for a couple of days to diagnose, order whatever was necessary and then fit. I'll be interested to see how they get on.
Will it fail again, hmmm I don't know I asked if it looked the same as the failed one and was told yes just the same no noticeable difference, perhaps it wasa bad batch but I can't imagine yours was built the same week as mine so I guess if they keep failing they will get some better solenoids, and send out a recall, as it disables the car and can leave you stranded.
Just fill up with enough to compete the round trip of your journey for a couple of years until the paranoia passes, or get another car you feel won't leave you stranded without warning. Glad it wasn't an expensive quality car or I'd be quite annoyed
The rod that fires through the ring is plastic and doesn't go in very far, its at best tamper proof as opposed to secure deterrent. I'm guessing you could pull the flap open and the rod would simply bend and flick out of the ring. Then you could push it back into the solenoid, lock/ unlock repeatedly with flap open and watch it's movement or lack of.
bobsan said:
The rod that fires through the ring is plastic and doesn't go in very far, its at best tamper proof as opposed to secure deterrent. I'm guessing you could pull the flap open and the rod would simply bend and flick out of the ring. Then you could push it back into the solenoid, lock/ unlock repeatedly with flap open and watch it's movement or lack of.
The first recovery van that was sent out by PA to help me tried all of this to no avail. In the end I told him to stop as I didn't want my paintwork damaged. I had just enough petrol to get to where I wanted and thought I would contact my OPC first thing in the morning.In the event a second recovery van was sent out the following morning with much better equipment and some knowledge of solenoids. Took about 30 mins to remove without removing a wheel.
The solenoid itself was completely jammed, no movement whatsoever. And it was a pretty chunky looking thing.
So that's 3 991 cars so far on PH... I wonder how many more failures have happened. Interesting that Boxsters are also affected, I guess they share so many components!
Slippydiff said:
Wikipedia threw up the following names of ex Porsche AG engineering designers.
Herr Sealscheissen
Hans D Chunk
Klaus I Shaftsfecked
Ivor B Rokencentrelocken
Walter Borepickenuppen
Dr N Everbuiltsuchscheissen
And another found :
Gottlieb Krapsolenoid (worked in conjunction with Karlheinz Scheissendesign apparently)
This made me laugh!!Herr Sealscheissen
Hans D Chunk
Klaus I Shaftsfecked
Ivor B Rokencentrelocken
Walter Borepickenuppen
Dr N Everbuiltsuchscheissen
And another found :
Gottlieb Krapsolenoid (worked in conjunction with Karlheinz Scheissendesign apparently)
So much for Porsche Assist turning up with a low loader. Some bright spark overnight changed that to an RAC man in a normal van who was despatched as their 'technician to fix it for me'. Funnily enough I haven't been provided access to whoever made that change 
.
Spoke to OPC and requested that having fallen flat on their face they should now follow up my earlier suggestion that this wasn't a one off and that I expected that Porsche would know something about it. Hence there was no need to inspect it before ordering the part, just get on and do it and they can then change it in one visit.
Apparently there is loads about it on the Porsche intranet, what they said fits what you guys have been saying and they've now taken the risk of ordering the part sight unseen
with a delivery of tomorrow. They also said that the fix was to replace like for like as there wasn't a modification available yet but the OPC was hopeful that would be resolved soon and hopefully result in a recall. Probably all comfy words, time will tell. They did say (Swindon OPC) that they had had another 991 in just last week with the same problem, was that one of you 2 guys or is that a fourth failure?
Anyway, I'm going to adopt the practice of checking the fuel flap opens when I unlock the car so that at least I'll know when it fails and hopefully can manage the situation a bit better by knowing sooner that I have a problem to deal with. Good job I didn't buy a cheap car
.
.Spoke to OPC and requested that having fallen flat on their face they should now follow up my earlier suggestion that this wasn't a one off and that I expected that Porsche would know something about it. Hence there was no need to inspect it before ordering the part, just get on and do it and they can then change it in one visit.
Apparently there is loads about it on the Porsche intranet, what they said fits what you guys have been saying and they've now taken the risk of ordering the part sight unseen
with a delivery of tomorrow. They also said that the fix was to replace like for like as there wasn't a modification available yet but the OPC was hopeful that would be resolved soon and hopefully result in a recall. Probably all comfy words, time will tell. They did say (Swindon OPC) that they had had another 991 in just last week with the same problem, was that one of you 2 guys or is that a fourth failure?Anyway, I'm going to adopt the practice of checking the fuel flap opens when I unlock the car so that at least I'll know when it fails and hopefully can manage the situation a bit better by knowing sooner that I have a problem to deal with. Good job I didn't buy a cheap car
.bobsan said:
The rod that fires through the ring is plastic and doesn't go in very far, its at best tamper proof as opposed to secure deterrent. I'm guessing you could pull the flap open and the rod would simply bend and flick out of the ring. Then you could push it back into the solenoid, lock/ unlock repeatedly with flap open and watch it's movement or lack of.
Would you mind taking a picture of your 991 or 981 mechanism, because your description does not match what is fitted to my car and so if your setup is different i'd be interested.Thanks.
My 991 Carrera S just did it yesterday (September 2012 model with 18k miles) - really frustrating, not the sort of thing you expect on a £90k car (few other bits played up as well, heating fan stopped working for 24 hours and the exhaust sometimes opens a valve or something so it sounds like a John Deere tractor)
First service on Monday to sort these issues, love the car but never had any of this with my Audi TTRS which never missed a beat (although Leicester Audi are crap, hopefully Porsche Leicester will come up smelling of roses)
First service on Monday to sort these issues, love the car but never had any of this with my Audi TTRS which never missed a beat (although Leicester Audi are crap, hopefully Porsche Leicester will come up smelling of roses)
My 981 Boxster did this a few weeks ago. Porsche Assist (well, the AA) got it opened by removing the front wheel and removing the stuck mechanism. took about 20 mins for him in a freezing Tescos car park at midnight.
Took it into the dealer who confirmed there is a recall for early 981s concerning this part. Fixed in a day.
Suspect the issue may have been triggered by the jet wash it got the day before which may have got moisture into the locking mechanism. Will ask the valeters to be careful around that bit in future.
Took it into the dealer who confirmed there is a recall for early 981s concerning this part. Fixed in a day.
Suspect the issue may have been triggered by the jet wash it got the day before which may have got moisture into the locking mechanism. Will ask the valeters to be careful around that bit in future.
Hi
This happened to me with my Cayenne (2011 Latest Model owned from New )on 22nd Dec 2013 - to be fair the Local OPC had the part with them on Xmas Eve and as they weren't busy had it sorted that morning.
Have to say at this point that the car has been my worst purchase in all my years of Driving and as stated on a previous post I am a long standing Porsche fan and enthusiast (Own and race Several of the Marque)- this is regarding constant faults and problems from Paintwork/Interior Trim to Oil leaks and Mechanical issues - absolute CRAP !
All the best
MF
This happened to me with my Cayenne (2011 Latest Model owned from New )on 22nd Dec 2013 - to be fair the Local OPC had the part with them on Xmas Eve and as they weren't busy had it sorted that morning.
Have to say at this point that the car has been my worst purchase in all my years of Driving and as stated on a previous post I am a long standing Porsche fan and enthusiast (Own and race Several of the Marque)- this is regarding constant faults and problems from Paintwork/Interior Trim to Oil leaks and Mechanical issues - absolute CRAP !
All the best
MF
Yep, my 981 Boxster also had this issue. That special feeling when you're at the BP garage and can't open the fuel filler flap while everyone is having a good old smirk at you :-)
Luckily I literally had just enough fuel (fuel warning light on!) to make it to my local OPC (Silverstone) who couldn't have been more helpful. Left car with them, they have me a lift home and then they delivered the car back the next day all fixed - and they'd filled the tank up for me!
Luckily I literally had just enough fuel (fuel warning light on!) to make it to my local OPC (Silverstone) who couldn't have been more helpful. Left car with them, they have me a lift home and then they delivered the car back the next day all fixed - and they'd filled the tank up for me!
GuillaumeB said:
So that's 3 991 cars so far on PH... I wonder how many more failures have happened. Interesting that Boxsters are also affected, I guess they share so many components!
Just typed in Porsche fuel flap solenoid failure and this thread came up first on Google... 
Just had this issue on my 2014 MY 981 Boxster. Pulled into a Shell garage to fill and couldn't open the flap. Called Porsche assist and they suggested the manual release in the door frame but this wouldn't budge it and the cheap plastic cord just stretched. AA chap tried the same method and it came away in his hands - at least I didn't break it
After a few moments he elected to removed the driver's wheel and the wheel arch liner. He was then able to get his hand in and remove the failed solenoid. It seems to have seized solid which is why the plastic emergency release was never going to release it.
Interesting to read that there was a re-call on this part as I don't think my car has had this done. Will be interesting to see what Porsche say when they replace the busted solenoid and release - under warranty obviously.
oddball1973 said:
My 991 Carrera S just did it yesterday (September 2012 model with 18k miles) - really frustrating, not the sort of thing you expect on a £90k car (few other bits played up as well, heating fan stopped working for 24 hours and the exhaust sometimes opens a valve or something so it sounds like a John Deere tractor)
First service on Monday to sort these issues, love the car but never had any of this with my Audi TTRS which never missed a beat (although Leicester Audi are crap, hopefully Porsche Leicester will come up smelling of roses)
I had the fuel flap issue on my 2014 turbo @ 10k miles, left me stranded and had to have the car recovered. I think it's poor that this fault has been a known problem since 2012 yet it's still not been rectified at source I.e poor quality partsFirst service on Monday to sort these issues, love the car but never had any of this with my Audi TTRS which never missed a beat (although Leicester Audi are crap, hopefully Porsche Leicester will come up smelling of roses)
I also had the heater issue as well
The issue effects 981 / 991 , there was a recall in effect for certain chassis ranges to replace the solinoid and fit a cover over it ( so a slight modification ).
The solinoid seems to jam meaning the emergancy release will not operate , the only access is to remove the rear arch liner trim and twist the solinoid to remove it.
The solinoid seems to jam meaning the emergancy release will not operate , the only access is to remove the rear arch liner trim and twist the solinoid to remove it.
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