Gas Cap Release

[bitsk308]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and thought it might be a good resource. I have a particular problem I'm trying to solve. All of the sudden, my gas cap release lever doesn't work. I discovered this in a little town called Quartzited just on the AZ side of the California/Arizona border. I live in Phoenix a few hours away. Needless to say, it sucked. Does anyone know a way to fix this without bringing it in. I'm fairly handy in general, and can often fix a problem once i've found it, but don't know enough about cars to find the root of this problem. Any insight would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks

_b
1998 Camry LE 4Cil

[Cyorke]

You can try pulling the carpet upo where the lever is in the floorboard and see if the cable is broken. I am assuming you figured out how to get the fuel door open since it sounds like you made it home from your trip. You may want to get a Haynes manual to have it right in front of you when you try it. It is not extremely hard but you will need to pull the carpet up and follow the cable under the rear seat and all. The rear seat is pretty easy to pull up, jsut grab the front of the seat and pull up it will unclip and then slide it forward to release it all theway. Have you determined if it is actually the cable, sometimes the spring that forces the door out when you pull the lever will wear out and not force the door open.

[99camryLE]

A lot of times it is the spring that comes off. A similar thing happened to me. Try having two people open the gas cap. Have one person hold the lever up while the other uses a screwdriver (or something of that sort) to open the cap. If that works, then I think the cable should be fine and it is the spring that is missing or faulty.

Here is a pic of the gas cap without the spring:


Here is a pic of the gas cap with the spring:

[bitsk308]

Thank you both very much for your replies. Fortunately, it does seem to be the spring that's crapped out. When I prop the release lever up with my phone charger i can easily open the thing up with my keys. A little piece of plastic flaked off when I fingered over what used to be the spring. Is this a part that I can easily replace from the dealer, or do I need to jerry rig something. Thanks again.

_b

[rapsux2000]

Just run down to a Toyota Dealership and buy the spring. They have them on hand and they only cost about $3-$4. They'll know exactly what your talking about also. It's an easy fix, so you'll be set in no time.

[elhsgrad04]

on my 03 camry the little cap that holds the release unscrewed go behind the carpet in the trunk and tighten it... simple...

[92_Gen3_5SFE_LE]

The release pin isnt the problem, because if the pin was broken or out of place his gas lid would stay open.

Both things have happened to me and this definitely sounds like the spring not the release mechanism.