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fuel door release - difficult to open

2002 Hyundai Santa Fe. The fuel door release latch needs a lot of upwards pressure in order to open the fuel door. A couple of years ago I experienced the same issue, but it wasn't as difficult to release. I lubricated both the latch inside the car as well as the hinge for the fuel door and all was fine (until now). Today I had to get out of the car and use 2 hands to get it to release.

My questions:

1) is this an easy repair? 2) am I correct in my assumption that there are no electronics involved with the release mechanism? 3) I'm in Chicago. Is it possible the de-icing salt from our shoes corroded the latch/cable/housing inside the car? 4) Can that cable snap? And if so, how would I open the fuel door?

Thanks!

Reply to
devnotes
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  1. Difficulty of repair will depend on the source of the problem.
  2. Your release is cable-operated. There may be an emergency pull-strap in the rear compartment. Try using that one if there and determine if it opens more easily.
  3. It's possible, but I doubt it. I've never seen what looked to be effects from salt tracked into the vehicle, but salt does splash up many places when driving. Perhaps it got into the mechanism by the fuel door.
  4. It can snap (just like anything else that experiences enough wear and force). See response #2 re: the emergency pull strap.
Reply to
hyundaitech

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