RE: Manual Fuel Filler Release Cable for 1991 164 (or lack thereo f)

[Jonathan Wolff <jon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Carl Prochilo wrote:

> My owner's manual says that in the event of failure for the 
> remote fuel
> filler door release mechanism, to simply pull the cable visible in the
> trunk.  Well guess what?  I needed to use this because the door was
> frozen shut, and to my dismay, there was no cable in the trunk.  I
> forced the trunk liner to the side to see if it somehow got 
> hidden, but
> I could find no evidence of said cable.

Well, I can't comment on whether or not this is a common thing or not,
but when I got my '94 Cloverleaf one of the first things I did was try
out the manual release.  There was a piece of red cord with a loop tied
in the end protruding through the boot trim.  I pulled, and it came off
in my hand with no resistance.  It's conceivable that they regularly
come off and go missing.

It amuses me to imagine the following.  Five years ago, Johnny Executive
gets his brand spanking new top-of-the-range company car.  Very proud of
it, he is - big, black, fast, luxurious, every conceivable feature - and
so much nicer than a BMW or Mercedes.  First thing he does is fiddle
with all the buttons in the cabin -  electric seats, seat warmers,
climate control, boot release, filler cap release, suspension
adjustment.  Hey cool!  The vanity mirror has a light!  Then he looks
around the rest of the car, and finds an enticing piece of red cord in
the boot.  He pulls on it, but nothing happens.  He pulls harder, and
he's left with a bit of string hanging from his finger.  What in god's
name is that for?  He pushes the string back through the hole and hopes
he hasn't broken anything.  Some time later he spots that the filler
door is open, but assumes that he forgot to shut it after using the
release button.  He never works out what that little cord is for, but
nothing seems to have fallen off the car, so he leaves it where it is
and doesn't worry about it, but every time he opens the boot he can't
help wondering...

I pulled the boot trim back and found that on the latch side of the
filler cap cavity there is a (body colour) metal bar which is moved
outwards by a solenoid to release the flap.  The end of this bar is bent
over in an L shape with a hole in it.  Assuming that '91 cars are the
same as '94 cars (and why wouldn't they be?), just find a nice length of
soft, red, shiny cord, make a loop in one end, put the other end through
the hole, tie a nice big tight knot, and thread the loop through the
hole in the trim.  It'll be as good as new.

Jonathan.

- -- 
Jonathan Wolff <jon@domain.elided>
Programmer
Argonaut Software Ltd.

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