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LOCKING FUEL DOOR HOWTO [Was: RE: Mud flaps and cargo net]
- Subject: LOCKING FUEL DOOR HOWTO [Was: RE: Mud flaps and cargo net]
- From: "Khan M. Klatt" <kmk@pacificrim.net>
- Date: Sun, 4 Jan 1998 12:53:56 -0800
On 1/2/98, Patrick Sherman wrote:
>Jeff,
>
> You did the locking fuel door? Shit.. Tell me how.. We have the
>same car.. Maybe when we meet up you can tell me..
Here is some info I sent to a list member, and an article I wrote for the
list recently:
- ---
>
>Someone from the list sent me a copy of the instructions you put together
>but the
>diagrams were all messed up. The procedure didn't sound too difficult but
>I'm not
>sure I like the 'fire' part. How difficult is it to get a good seal
>between the
>tubing and nozzle? Did you try a glue or is melting the only option?
There is no good way to get a good seal between the tubing and the nozzle.
We didn't try a glue because we didn't want to obstruct the tubing with a
misplaced gob of glue. Really, it was quite simple to have one person hold
a match, and the other to rotate the tubing under the flame.
Once the tubing is nice and soft and supple, you can just slide it right
over the tip.
The picture of the tubing and the tip of the nozzle looks something like this:
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|"hose" |
+-------+
_____
( )
/ \
/_ _\
/_ _\
| nozzle |
| tip |
| |
Fitting that hose over the nozzle's tip is quite the pain in the ass unless you
get the plastic (marked "hose", above) nice and soft. The best way to do this
is with a match. If you feel uncomfortable doing this, just have some water
sitting
nearby to douse anything. If you're careful, and don't get epileptic
seizures (a
steady hand helps! :-) then it's really no big thing.
>If you wouldn't mind, could you send me a copy of the procedure. I'd like to
>check out the pictures.
See below.
>I called my dealer and they quoted me $200 CAN taxes included. I'd like
>to avoid
>this as well.
Yeah, the cost is a little high. I'm in Bellingham WA, and there are
wrecking yards at least here in WA state (As close as 60 miles south of
White Rock, B.C.) that have the parts I used (which cost me under $20 US).
Here is the article:
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 00:03:04 -0700
From: "Khan M. Klatt" <kmk@pacificrim.net>
Subject: MOD HOWTO: Installing locking gas door on 97 VW's.
I have recently modified my 1997 GLX to have a locking gas door, and
thought the rest of you would appreciate some info on how to do it to your
new Jetta. If you're not interested, or have an older Jetta, this may not
apply to you. If, however, you have a new Jetta, and want to have a locking
gas door, and avoid the hassle of a locking gas cap, read on. In fact, I
recommend you read through the instructions a couple times before
attempting installation.
CAVEAT: I take no responsibility for the damage you may cause to your car
if you cannot understand the instructions, or perform the installation
haphazardly. Be careful, as you will work with a sharp knife and FIRE (Yes,
fire!). I did all of this, and had no injury or damage to my car or myself,
but as with everything, your mileage may vary. Don't come crying back to me
if you screw something up.
That said, let's get on with business:
THE WAY THINGS WERE: Pre-1997 Jetta's (and Corrados and GTIs, going back a
few years) had the ability to have the gas door locked by the same system
that locks the two doors on the GTI & Corrado, and the four doors on the
Jettas and GLXes. The way that the system would work is that if you did a
"double turn" on the key, that the system would unlock not only the drivers
door, but all of the passenger doors, the trunk lock, and the gas door.
THE WAY THINGS ARE: 1997 Jettas (and probably GTIs) no longer have the
locking gas pin in them, due to customer complaints. Apparently some VW
owners couldn't figure out that you had to have all of the doors unlocked
and the trunk unlocked to get access to the fueld door. As a result, VW
started shipping cars without locking gas doors. What the new models are
missing from older models is the valve and pin that lock the door, the
vacuum tubing that leads from the valve to the vacuum tubing system in the
car, and the three-nozzle adaptor/t-connector. (The '97 Jettas come with
the same three-nozzle adaptor, but the end that runs to the valve is melted
shut-- My friend Rob Heckel suggests drilling a hole in this T-connector,
but you can avoid that process if you get the right parts from a wrecking
yard)
With the info I received from Greg Pearson, Don Rosenfield, and Rob Heckel
(from the GLX and/or GTI mailing lists) I came up with the following
methodology to install the locking gas door pin into your 97 Jetta. While
I'm thanking people, thanks to Richard Huff who helped me with the install.
(This is more fun with a friend)
PREPARATION:
Tools necessary to do the installation:
A sharp knife.
A lighter or some matches.
Parts necessary to do the installation: (from Rob Heckel)
1 Valve (comes w/2 mounting screws) 1H0862160A ~$32
1 3-way Adaptor (vacuum tubing connector) 1HM862190AC ~$1.50
"arms length" vacuum tubing
GETTING A HOLD OF THE PARTS:
Instead of ordering the parts, you can do what I did and go to a VW
wrecking yard (or any wrecking yard that has a 95 or 96 Jetta, GTI or
Corrado). If you can find a Jetta's valve and tubing, use it. I saw a
Corrado's valve, and while they look similar, I don't know if they will
mount easily inside a Jetta, so find a Jetta if you can.
While you're at the wrecking yard, and before you go taking the stuff out
of the wrecked car, pay close attention to the way that the valve is set up
inside your car. If you want, you can pull off the carpeting out of your
Jetta (process described below) to see what you DON'T have, and what the
older models DO have, so you know what to pull out of the wrecked cars.
For $16.50, I got the Valve, vacuum tubing, and adaptor. To remove it out
of the wrecked '96 Jetta, we cut the vacuum tubing from around the 3-way
adaptor (little white T-connector that all the tubing connects to). We
unscrewed the phillips screws of the valve, and pulled it out of the Jetta
(conveniently, the carpeting was detached from the side of the car). NOTE:
We did *NOT* cut the tubing from the valve to the adaptor! Leave this
intact!!!
The assembly we removed looked something (as close to something that ASCII
art can render) like this:
valve
| two mounting screws in their brackets
v /
/
|--| L
| |o //
-------------[ | ^
| |o | |
|--|=============================={ |
| |
v
\\
^ ^ ^
| | |
locking pin vacuum tubing plastic, three
way adaptor with
a little bit of
vacuum tubing on the
nozzles that we had to
cut to get the adaptor
and valve off.
PREPARING FOR INSTALL:
First we need to prepare the parts you will be installing into your car.
Using the knife, cut off the stubs of tubing off the two ends of the
adaptor. Be careful not to damage the tubing between the valve and the
t-connector, and the t-connector (adaptor) itself. You'll now have the
following:
valve
| two mounting screws in their brackets
v /
/
|--| L
| |o
-------------[ | ^
| |o | |
|--|=============================={ |
| |
v
^ ^ ^
| | |
locking pin vacuum tubing T-connector without tubing
We're done with the preparation. Put this assembly aside for later use.
GETTING YOUR HANDS DIRTY
Actually, you stay pretty clean during the install, but this is where it
gets involved. Your car will have three black plugs that hold the carpeting
to the body of the car right near the gas door. Gently ease these out. I
tried unscrewing them, but had to pop them out with a little bit of
pressure instead.
When you peel back the carpeting, you'll see a three way adaptor with one
end (the end that goes to the missing locking gas door) melted shut. This
should look similar to the T-connector adaptor that you got from the
wrecking yard.
Detach the adaptor by pulling on it (it splits into two pieces). At this
point, you'll have one of the existing tubes in the car connected to one
end, and the other tube existing in the car connected to the other end that
has the melted shut connector on it.
The inside of your car will look something like this:
//
// <-- tubing
//
^
|_| 1/2 the T-connector
__
melted end of --> [ | <-- other half of
connector | | T-connector
v
\\
\\ <-- tubing
\\
Remove the "melted half" of the t-connector by cutting the tubing as close
as you can get it to the connector. Put the melted half of the T-connector
aside, you won't be needing it again. When you're done, you should have the
following:
//
// <-- tubing
//
^
|_| 1/2 the T-connector
\\
\\ <-- tubing
\\
Now, we're ready to put in the assembly we got from the wrecking yard and
prepared for installation. Split the assembly's T-connector into two pieces
like you did inside the car. Put aside the half of the T-connector that
only has ONE tubing nozzle. You won't be needing it.
Now, you should be able to slide the pin inside the car, and use the
phillips screwdriver to fasten the valve to the inside of your Jetta.
You'll now have something that looks like this:
__________________ //
/ ^
|--|\ | | <-- 1/2 the T-connector
| |o> [BODY OF THE CAR] _ (connected)
-------------[ |<
| |o\ __
|--|==============================={ |
| | | <-- 1/2 the T-connector
| [BODY OF THE CAR] v (unconnected)
^ ^ |______
| | \\
locking pin valve, screwed to body of car \\ <-- tubing
\\
Affix the "new" half of the T-connector you got from the wrecking yard to
the half that was already in the car. Now you should have a three way
adaptor, with two vacuum tubes taking up two of the nozzles. It would look
something like this:
__________________ //
/ //
|--|\ //
| |o> [BODY OF THE CAR] //
-------------[ |< ^
| |o\ | |
|--|==============================={ | <-- T-connector
| | |
| [BODY OF THE CAR] v <-- 3rd nozzle
|_______ (unconnected)
^ ^
| | \\
locking pin valve, screwed to body of car \\ <-- tubing
\\
Now the challenge is to get the last tube connected to the third nozzle on
the T-connector. This is where the lighter or the matches come in. You must
CAREFULLY heat the tubing so that it is pliable and easily attached to the
3rd nozzle. BE VERY CAREFUL not to burn your car, melt the tubing beyond
recognition, or to burn yourself! When you have sufficiently softened the
tubing in the car, firmly attach it to the remaining nozzle on the
T-connector.
At this point, you're 99% there! You should have the following:
__________________ //
/ //
|--|\ //
| |o> [BODY OF THE CAR] //
-------------[ |< ^
| |o\ | |
|--|==============================={ | <-- T-connector
| | |
| [BODY OF THE CAR] v <-- 3rd nozzle
|_______ \\
\\
| | \\
locking pin valve, screwed to body of car \\ <-- tubing
\\
TESTING IT ALL OUT
Now give it a try! Open the gas door, so you can watch the pin retract and
extend. Go to the passenger door, and turn the key once to lock, and twice
to unlock. You should see the pin extend and retract. For those of you with
keyless entry, that should work too. Now close your gas door (once you have
verified the pin is properly working) and lock the doors. Check to see that
the gas door does not open. Unlock the doors. (REMEMBER: You must have ALL
doors unlocked to access the gas door-- the driver's door isn't enough!)
Check to see that the gas door is open.
If it's working, GREAT! You've done it properly, now it's time to put the
carpeting back. Gently ease the plugs and the carpet back onto the body.
You're done! All of this takes about ten minutes, and about $15-$30 in parts.
Compare this to the $180 that my dealer offered to install it, and it's
worth your while.
Hopefully my ASCII drawings came out correctly, and you were able to make
sense of them. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
- - -Khan