Charge Port door not opening

[Jto]

I pick my car up at the weekend and it was on charge when I got there, latter that night was going to do a charge over night. When I tried to open the door would not open, checked that the car was unlock and it was. When I pushed on the the grill would push in, so I opened the bonnet to see if I could get some how to the back of it but could not. I tried the door with the bonnet was open the the door popped open, tried open and close a few times, and tried it tonight and still working.
I think the door was pushed too hard to close it and got stuck, I will give the locking mechanism a spray with some WD 40 silicone spray.

 

[siteguru]

Do you have an MG5? If yes then you'd be better off asking in the MG5 board.

(This is the MG4 board, and the charge port for it is on the rear left not the front).

 

[Ian Key]

@Jto from your avatar it looks like you have an MG ZS EV so you might be better asking on that forum instead of the MG4 forum.

 

[Jto]

@Jto from your avatar it looks like you have an MG ZS EV so you might be better asking on that forum instead of the MG4 forum.

Thanks its working fine now just posted my experience of a suck door which had been pushed in too hard.

 

[salty]

Thanks its working fine now just posted my experience of a suck door which had been pushed in too hard.

Good job we know this is from a car forum. And you are talking about cars. ? ??

 

[Koops]

I found a few threads about charging port cover / flap not closing reliably. I’ve got the opposite issue where it takes several taps on the cover before it opens and I’m concerned that before long it will refuse to open. Initially I thought due to cold weather but if anything it's worse now, temperatures have increased to around 5-10°C in South UK. My SE LR is going for its first service in a couple of weeks and I’ve asked that this is investigated. Has anyone experienced similar problem / had it fixed?

UPDATE
I have found that if I push the middle of the outboard end of the flap (location circled green) it opens much more reliably than pushing the upper outboard end if the flap (location circled red), which is how I have been trying to open it recently. Need to change my habit!

 

[MG Clive]

I wondered if it was a safety feature that you have to push it twice to open it, it doesn't open on the first push just in case it's done by accident. But if you have to push it several times you may have a problem.

 

[jockeydoc]

I found a few threads about charging port cover / flap not closing reliably. I’ve got the opposite issue where it takes several taps on the cover before it opens and I’m concerned that before long it will refuse to open. Initially I thought due to cold weather but if anything it's worse now, temperatures have increased to around 5-10°C in South UK. My SE LR is going for its first service in a couple of weeks and I’ve asked that this is investigated. Has anyone experienced similar problem / had it fixed?

See my previous posts, but I'm glad to report after copious amounts for WD40 and WD40 contact cleaner my "Sticky Port Door" is back to normal.

Mine is the MG 5 LR.....Since above post ITS NOW STUCK SHUT

 

[Coulomb]

UPDATE
I have found that if I push the middle of the outboard end of the flap (location circled green) it opens much more reliably than pushing the upper outboard end if the flap (location circled red), which is how I have been trying to open it recently.

Yes, I noticed that too, and have programmed my fingers to press near the green spot on your photo.

 

[EvTek23]

You are correct, the green circle in the photo is the lock for the flap. Pushing on the circled red part on the outside of the flap I wouldn't guarantee it would unlatch the lock to to the plastic flexing.
The lock mechanism is similar to that of a retractable pen, so you have to push it in to unlock it, same goes for locking it, the flap has to be pushed in and then released and it should lock.

The projecting rectangle below the locking pin on the flap I believe to be a magnet for the sensor in the corresponding cut out in the charging port. and is responsible for the "Charging door open" alarm on the drivers display.
FYI. the little cut out in the charging port tends to fill up with water if you charge in the wet or during cold spells the melted water collects in there and freezes the projecting rectangle in place, and was the reason my charging flap freezing shut during the colder months. Just check and remove any collected water especially if it's likely to be freezing overnight.

 

[RaspberryMan]

One of my earliest impressions of the car was opening and closing the charging door and thinking..."Oh, that's flimsy, let's see how long that lasts."

 

[slmorgan42]

One of my earliest impressions of the car was opening and closing the charging door and thinking..."Oh, that's flimsy, let's see how long that lasts."

After having an MG5 it did seems flimsy but then I realised I needed to push it open in the middle of the side rather than the top or bottom then seemed more solid.

 

[RaspberryMan]

Time wlll tell...I am very careful when using it, minimum pressure and only in exactly the right place. I still think it will break within a couple of years.

 

[siteguru]

Mine is 2 years 4 months (in my ownership, 2 years 7 months since build) and is perfectly fine.

 

[RaspberryMan]

That's reassuring actually, as long as it lasts three years (lease time) I'll be happy...

...still feels fragile as hell though.

 

[Tuareg]

Just a gentle push with 1 finger is all that's needed. It's only fragile for the ham fisted.

 

[RaspberryMan]

That's the thing though, a gentle push with one finger doesn't engage the lock, it needs a gentle push followed by considerable extra pressure to get the 'click' into place. Maybe it's just mine, but I can assure you I am anything but "ham-fisted".

 

[Ian Key]

Perhaps some silicone spray in the locking mechanism will reduce the amount of pressure needed.

 

[Bronwen]

hi - I've just had the same problem but I don't think the issue is that the flap is physically stuck, I think it's a software problem. The flap won't allow you to open it if the car is running, so when you stop the car and turn it off the mechanism allows the flap to open. On mine this didn't work, so I turned the car on and off with my fob a number of times, waited 15 minutes, then turned the car off and on with the fob while pushing the flap and it opened easily. Fingers crossed it works next charging event!

 

[siteguru]

It may have been that the software got itself into an inverse state ... releasing the flap lock when the car was locked rather than unlocked. A few lock/unlock cycles seems to have rectified it.

#theory_not_fact