Hi Guys and Gals,
My fuel door was not releasing even though you could hear the solenoid operating. I tried lubing it to no avail. I removed the unit which was very easy. First, remove the driver's side trunk liner which exposes the unit. The unit is removed by 1/4 turn of the 20mm plastic retaining nut surrounding the release pin inside the fuel door and simply pushes out. The electrical supply is a simple 2 pin connector.
The problem with my unit, from a 2002 XKR, was the pin was not releasing fully under power although the manual operation was normal. I bench tested the unit at both 2 and 10 amps and noticed the solenoid was straining. I replaced the large return spring with one of less tension (I have a large stash of hardware from 40+ years of accumulation) and this resolved the issue.
Maybe my unit has excessive resistance as the root cause but changing the spring fixed the problem.

 

Iwz3,

Good zero dollar fix. Thanks for letting us know.

I too have boxes of bits which I've accumulated..... but I have to admit only a small fraction of things get re-used. When something large is about to be trashed, I always see what bits might be recovered and useful later, from plugs, fuses, connectors, nuts & bolts, hinges, clasps, springs, bulbs and so on. The trouble is trying to find something years later, and you just know you have it. I even have a heavy duty spoon tool to help "stir" the boxes as I dig in. LOL

 

I too have several buckets and tins of bolts and such. I remember working with my dad when I was little and he would lay down a piece of cardboard and dump out a bucket of bolts and such and we would help look for, and then put back all the stuff. Good memories ❤️

 

I am a big recycler. If something becomes non repairable I take it apart and keep any bits that I think may be useful in the future and recycle the remainder. As a result, much hardware and electrical parts have been accumulated over the years.
Fortunately I have the space to store all this stuff and keep it well organized. But, David, your are right in that probably 95+% of these parts will never be used (at least by me, maybe by my heirs).
The good part is I don’t have to spend a lot of TIME and aggravation running back and forth getting what I need as well as the $. The bad- you eventually get to the point of 10 lbs but only a 5 lb bag to put it in. I am about at this point.

 

Same here - more than 40 years worth of various nuts, bolts, screws, fasteners, washers, and miscellaneous bits and pieces stashed mostly in a small-compartment storage stack that sits on one of my garage shelves. There are enough small pull-out bins in that storage stack for me to keep things fairly well organized over the decades so I can usually find what I need fairly quickly. I have always appreciated the fact that this storage stack often keeps me from having to make a trip to the hardware store to buy something I need when working on a household project or one of the vehicles....

 

Hooray for hoarders like me! Of course, my wife has a completely different opinion.

 

I too keep like parts in cigar boxes and have been able to help many a Triumph or MG owner over the years in the local and even shipped across country a small part no one can find.
The surprise is the boxes are getting where they contain less, so between myself and others, we are thankful for the hoarders.
This doesn't mean you still don't have to go to the store after a long search, knowing you have it somewhere. LOL

 

So, I have a shelf full of glass baby food jars, each containing (hopefully) similar small parts, screws, bolts, washers. The consumer of the baby food is now 45 years old. I imagine that the executor of my will won't have any idea what to do with these jars when the time comes.

 

Hopefully your genes for mechanical aptitude have been passed along and an offspring will benefit from your collection.

 

Baby food jars indeed sounds like a great small-parts storage idea. I hope I can remember that if I live long enough to have to start eating baby food again....

 

+1 to cjd777

Many years back I was restoring a 1970 Triumph GT6 in Ireland. Of course I struggled for bits, and met a local farmer in the pub/bar, who had a garage hoard. His supply of imperial nuts and bolts became invaluable as I worked.
He even had some of the old style sealed bulbs which still worked, and a gas cap that fitted.

So indeed hooray to the hoarders!

 

lwz3....

It appears that you have learned a lot about collecting old parts and how to store them! But back to the Gas Tank door...We were given a great Idea about 2 weeks ago that will solve the problem.....A Magnet glued on the inside seems to work every time….

Billy Clyde