Frozen gas flap?

[roscoe]

It's my first winter with my 135i here in southern Ontario, and the weather was okay up until a week or two ago. Damp, then freezing over. And now my gas flap won't open!! The flap will depress, but won't pop up, so I'm not sure if it's frozen or not.

Anyone ever encounter this before, and more importantly, know how to address it? Cheers...

[Lester]

You might try a gentle pry with a credit card, perhaps a little lock de-icer or WD-40 on the hinges.

[larryn]

There's a pin that retracts when the car is unlocked. Either that pin is frozen, or broken, from the sounds of it. I would recommend some hot water from the tap, and pour it on the rear edge of the gas door. You should probably simultaneously lock and unlock with your fob. That will probably free the stuck pin.

Lube it when you get the door open. Maybe even put some wax on it.

[Xyloft]

it's probably small enough you could take a hair drier to it to warm it back up so you could open it, if you don't have a garage readily available.

[roscoe]

WD got it open. Wax is keeping it that way. Thanks for the tips...

[angrybaker]

pee on it

[shawshank772]

Mine froze today. As I pressed it in it jammed. I then locked the car and unlocked it again. That seemed to free it up. There isnt much you can do when you are at the pump to unfreeze it.

[voerman]

You guys do know that you can manually release the fuel filler door? There is a small green handle behind the right taillight cover inside the trunk that you pull to release the door. See "Manually releasing the fuel filler door" in your owner's manual.

Lou

[shawshank772]

yeah but when its frozen around the edges even the manual release wont help you.

[roscoe]

Originally Posted by angrybaker

pee on it

Thanks, but I think I'll stick with AF or WD40 :>)

[roscoe]

Originally Posted by shawshank772

yeah but when its frozen around the edges even the manual release wont help you.

Ditto that. Mine was glued shut, as we had damp wet weather followed by a rapid freeze. Locking and unlocking did nothing for me, but once I applied WD40, then locked and unlocked in quick succession, it popped open after about 3 seconds.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by roscoe

Ditto that. Mine was glued shut, as we had damp wet weather followed by a rapid freeze. Locking and unlocking did nothing for me, but once I applied WD40, then locked and unlocked in quick succession, it popped open after about 3 seconds.

Glad it worked for you. With our unusually cold & snowy weather, the outside door handles on my E46 have been sticking to the extent that my wife was convinced I was trying to lock her out! A couple of squirts with WD-40 easily took care of it.

Tom

[jfranci3]

This thread got me out of a jam today, thanks.

8 deg out, flap wouldn't open. It would move a bit but not open. Used a cc to jimmy... fail. Tried a cup of hot water from coffee maker in gas station... fail. Lock unlock lock unlock. Repeated water.. fail. Bought a can of WD40 from station, hosed it down, and waited a min..flap popped open on its own. Took 25min!

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by jfranci3

This thread got me out of a jam today, thanks.

8 deg out, flap wouldn't open. It would move a bit but not open. Used a cc to jimmy... fail. Tried a cup of hot water from coffee maker in gas station... fail. Lock unlock lock unlock. Repeated water.. fail. Bought a can of WD40 from station, hosed it down, and waited a min..flap popped open on its own. Took 25min!

Thread from the dead! Glad you got it working, this is what forums are all about