I bought the Mazda chrome fuel-filler door for my '99, and it looks great, but the door does not work correctly. When you pull the lever inside the console, the door doesn't 'spring' open like the stock door; you have to manually pry it open, like with your fingernail or something like that.
Does anyone have any tips on making the door work correctly, or is this a common thing and I just have to accept it the way it is?
Thanks, H. '99 Black and Tan
Put some new (and/or longer) stop rubbers under it. Near as I can figure, all Mazdas with the "open it without leaving the seat" lever rely on the two little rubbers under the flap to provide the "oomph" that pops it open. When the flap on my 626 stopped opening when I pulled the lever, I put a couple new rubbers in it, and it worked like new again.
But beware... Trying to put the darn things in was a challenge! Kinda like trying to stuff a half inch rope through a quarter inch hole! I imagine there's a tool built just for doing the deed, or some sort of trick (Maybe coming at it from the other side of the panel? I wonder if that'd be accessible on my 626?) that makes it easier, since I can't see 'em fighting with the darn things for half an hour each when the car was put together at the factory, like I did, but I haven't encountered either tool or trick yet.
Lube it with a little soap.
No thanks -- I've gone with the no-chrome look for my '03. :)
Yup. I believe I read somewhere that it would not have quite fit: the opening is the same size, but the curvature isn't quite the same.
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