LJD51
10-31-2008, 07:29 PM
After reading a thread about a fuel door actuator going kaput, mine did the same thing the next day. :mad:…so I picked up a new one from my local dealer and installed it last night.
I removed the wheel, fender liner and brake cooling duct. After 68k miles of blissful driving I had picked up a little extra weight in the form of sand, pebbles, the odd leaf or two and something I wasn’t sure what it was.
When I moved the fender liner at the point where the brake duct and liner are attached to each other, this is what fell out:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/RockerPanelDirt.jpg
This is looking at the rear of the fender liner where it attaches to the lower rear valance under the back up light.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/LinerDebris-Dirt.jpg
And this is looking at the lower rear valance…:eek:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/RearValanceDebris-Dirt.jpg
After getting everything back together, I decided to do an autopsy on the broken unit to see what caused it‘s demise even though I suspected it was a broken spring somewhere. I started at the back of the main control assembly and after unclipping the main cable from the front and the manual release cable from the back of the main control unit, when I looked at it, I was surprised to see there was no spring.
As you can see in the following pictures, the main control unit has a cavity behind which I believe is a magnet that is activated when the button inside the car is pushed. The magnet retracts a bullet-shaped cylinder which is connected to the main cable that goes through the fender above the liner to the fuel door thereby retracting the nub that holds the fuel door closed.
Main Control Assembly minus Cylinder:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/MainAssembly.jpg
Bullet-Shaped Cylinder:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/BulletCylinder.jpg
Main Control Assembly with Cylinder:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/BC-MA.jpg
Not finding a spring in the main control unit, I looked at the opposite end of the cable. The rubber boot comes off easily and by releasing the two small clips that are exposed at this point, the plunger is separated from the main cable.
Although it is a bit greasy (I had sprayed some WD-40 on it thinking it was just binding up), when I removed the plunger, out comes what was left of a spring whose wire diameter looks to be about two strands of hair thick.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/ActuatorPieces.jpg
All in all, I think I got my money’s worth out of the original part; 68k miles divided by $58 for the part seems to be a good value. I did miss the World Series :toetap: but I learned more about how to fix my own car…:thumbs:
I removed the wheel, fender liner and brake cooling duct. After 68k miles of blissful driving I had picked up a little extra weight in the form of sand, pebbles, the odd leaf or two and something I wasn’t sure what it was.
When I moved the fender liner at the point where the brake duct and liner are attached to each other, this is what fell out:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/RockerPanelDirt.jpg
This is looking at the rear of the fender liner where it attaches to the lower rear valance under the back up light.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/LinerDebris-Dirt.jpg
And this is looking at the lower rear valance…:eek:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/RearValanceDebris-Dirt.jpg
After getting everything back together, I decided to do an autopsy on the broken unit to see what caused it‘s demise even though I suspected it was a broken spring somewhere. I started at the back of the main control assembly and after unclipping the main cable from the front and the manual release cable from the back of the main control unit, when I looked at it, I was surprised to see there was no spring.
As you can see in the following pictures, the main control unit has a cavity behind which I believe is a magnet that is activated when the button inside the car is pushed. The magnet retracts a bullet-shaped cylinder which is connected to the main cable that goes through the fender above the liner to the fuel door thereby retracting the nub that holds the fuel door closed.
Main Control Assembly minus Cylinder:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/MainAssembly.jpg
Bullet-Shaped Cylinder:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/BulletCylinder.jpg
Main Control Assembly with Cylinder:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/BC-MA.jpg
Not finding a spring in the main control unit, I looked at the opposite end of the cable. The rubber boot comes off easily and by releasing the two small clips that are exposed at this point, the plunger is separated from the main cable.
Although it is a bit greasy (I had sprayed some WD-40 on it thinking it was just binding up), when I removed the plunger, out comes what was left of a spring whose wire diameter looks to be about two strands of hair thick.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z308/ljd51/My%20Corvette/Fuel%20Door%20Actuator%20Fix/ActuatorPieces.jpg
All in all, I think I got my money’s worth out of the original part; 68k miles divided by $58 for the part seems to be a good value. I did miss the World Series :toetap: but I learned more about how to fix my own car…:thumbs: