Toyota Tech or local mechanic?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(momstoys @ Dec 28 2006, 06:27 PM) [snapback]367851[/snapback]</div>

I don't know about the linkage, but be sure you didn't damage the gas cap itself; from what I've read the Prius is *extremely* sensitive to any problems with this part. I'd strongly consider replacing it!

 

It seems like you'd have to pay the local mechanic to fix this problem for you or have it fixed free of charge at the Toyota dealership (since it should still be under warranty). Or did you happen to damage the fuel door so much with the screw driver that they are going to cry foul and make you pay for the repairs anyway? Hope that's not the case.

 

Since you are still covered under the bumper-bumper warranty, why pay someone else to fix it?
Either the cable is sticking/broken, or the latch on the fuel door is bent out of shape.

We assume you are talking about the fuel door, and not the gas cap. The cap is the thing you turn to remove, so that the part where the filler nozzle goes into is exposed. The cap needs to seal the tank to prevent fuel vapors from escaping.

 

Warranty or not, this is the sort of thing I would mention when I got my car serviced. It should be fixed under warranty. And I'd want a record of every time I complained about it so that if the problem continued after it was out of warranty there would be a record that it was a chronic problem before the warranty expired.

My vote is the Toyota Service dept.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(momstoys @ Dec 28 2006, 09:43 PM) [snapback]367978[/snapback]</div>

Ahhh... the distance to the dealership is your concern, I understand now. I would also like to hear the consensus on this: eventhough this should be a simple mechanical problem (not at all involving the Prius' computers), would a regular mechanic be comfortable enough with a hybrid in this day and age to do the job properly and not mess anything else up?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(momstoys @ Dec 28 2006, 09:43 PM) [snapback]367978[/snapback]</div>

Does the locking pin of the fuel door retract when you pull up the release lever? If so, the problem may lie in the spring that pushes the door open when the pin is pulled in from the latch. It is easy to fix.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Dec 29 2006, 09:10 PM) [snapback]368443[/snapback]</div>

I had a problem with my gas cap door not opening. Turns out the spring had fallen out. It was replaced by the dealership under warranty. Maybe the spring could be sent to you so you don't have to make such a long trip to the dealership.

Dana

 

that's a normal cable-operated system. should be perfectly repairable by a non-dealer tech.