The fuel cap on my 03 XK8 will not stay attached to the magnet in the fuel filler door. The magnet is there but does not seem strong enough to hold the cap securely. Does anyone have a fix for that?

 

Been the same on every Jaguar I've had.

I always just let the plastic cap lie against the bodywork. Never had a scratch or mark on the paint from doing this.

Graham

 

Thanks. Nice to know I haven't been singled out.

 

+1
Same here

 

Had the same problem until the plastic retaining strap broke. Now the magnet holds just fine. Go figure.

 

See if you can get hold of a duff computer hard drive (a desktop type is best), take it to bits and take the magnet out (it's the strongest you'll ever find). Put that in the recess and it will hold anything! But don't get your credit card against it or it will wipe the data!

Look on Youtube for HDD magnet removal. I use one positioned on the vertical side of the fuel recess to hold the filler flap closed after some lowlife prised the flap open to siphon out my fuel and broke the latch.

The pic shows the magnet stuck to the side of my XK8,

 

Thanks for the responses. Has anyone removed the magnet from the filler door? I'm guessing that the plastic surround holding the magnet is glued and I'm concerned about breaking it when trying to remove it. Magnets of a similar size are readily available EG A 13mm X 2.5mm neodynium disc can hold 2.2kg and costs $AU1.75.

 

And now it works just fine, issue was the plastic tether had become too stiff.

 

+1

Also, rare earth magnet works very well to re-magnetize small magnets. these can be found in hobby shops.

 

Thanks Rob and Mike. I thought the tether might be contributing but even when I held the cap and door together the cap only seemed to grip on one side. Relatively minor issue and only annoys me when refuelling.

 

By straightening a slight kink in the tether and carefully positioning the tether on the cap I was able to find a position where the cap would actually stay attached to the magnet. I'd still like to install a stronger magnet sometime if I can remove the old one.

 

I have the same experience, I try and straighten the tether during fill ups and can get the cap to remain in place but the magnet is barely up to the job.

 

Interesting. My cap has no tether, but stays stuck just fine with the magnet. I didn't even realize that it is missing a tether until right now. It makes sense since most caps have one, but I figured with the magnet right there, Jaguar assumed one wasn't needed. Now I want to run out and look, to see where it would go.

 

hahaha - I'm with Keith - no tether and didn't know otherwise until now

 

Curiosity got the best of me so I took a look tonight. Mine doesn't really hold anymore either.

The magnet and its holder just snap in. If you look at the pictures you will see four sets of tabs on the mounting frame that line up with four cutouts on the fuel filler door. Push in the tabs and you can work it free. Upon reassembly, make sure the pictogram is oriented correctly. I could only get it to go back in once this was done.

Didn't try to pull the magnet. My guess is you could put a second magnet on the back (there is room for a slim one to fit) and fit it back in. Will not double the magnetic strength, but might be enough to hold for some of you.

 

seems the tether is a problem on other cars too, my Acura Integra used to get it stuck in the opening when screwing the cap back on ,this set off the check engine light my Cherokee sport did the same , cut both off will probably do the same to my XK8

 

Thanks Mike. You've given me the confidence to try to remove the magnet. It looks like a turn and pull to remove but from your description that is not the case if the tabs align with the cutouts.