Charging Flap / Door not opening

[GaryMG4]

They'd need access to the car first, to get to the screen and click on Start Discharging.

Forgot about that, been a while since I tried mine.

 

[T1 Terry]

I seem to have jinked myself saying the 51 has been problem free ..... can't open the charger flap now and we are 1600km from the dealer we bought it from ..... so I guess it's a phone around on Monday to try and find a dealer who can at least rip the outer skin off and give us an get out of jail free card to say it was a warranty problem.
I'm guessing rain and dirt has got into the solenoid and locking assemble because it is outside when charging as well as when we use the V2L, so I guess I'll have to track down some sort of rain/dust cover to protect it when the charge flap is open .....

T1 Terry

 

[Martinonline]

I bought a cover from Amazon. It has a magnet loop inside one end seam and a tie at the other. In an emergency (and it's not windy) cling film will do.

I read somewhere that unlocking whilst attempting to open the flap can work after a few goes.

 

[Jamesrr]

I seem to have jinked myself saying the 51 has been problem free ..... can't open the charger flap now and we are 1600km from the dealer we bought it from ..... so I guess it's a phone around on Monday to try and find a dealer who can at least rip the outer skin off and give us an get out of jail free card to say it was a warranty problem.

Just checking. You don't know about the "manual" emergency method to open the flap? If not...

There's a small opening in the left sidewall of the boot which is covered with a plug that you need to pull off.

In the tube thus exposed there's a "draw cable".
Prise it out and then pull it.

The charger flap will open.

(Update) No it won't!

That's how you unlock a stuck charger!

Idiot Stimpy

 

[MG Clive]

Just checking. You don't know about the "manual" emergency method to open the flap? If not...

There's a small opening at the left of the boot sidewall which is covered with a plug that you need to pull off.

In the tube thus exposed there's a "draw cable".
Prise it out and then pull it.

The charger flap will open.

Isn't this just to release the charging plug?

 

[Jamesrr]

Isn't this just to release the charging plug?

Ahhh... Yes. Soz. That's right.

Damn !

 

[Joules]

Sounds like the spring loaded locking pin isn't moving when its released so unfortunately it looks like a trip to the dealers.

It might be an idea for those of us who haven't had this problem to spray the mechanism with silicone.

Yes I had this problem predictably in the winter when it iced up along with all the door locks, when it thawed out I sprayed the lock on the flap with silicone spray as well as all the rubber seals. That seemed to do the trick.

 

[BeamingJim]

I've had the same problem, and temperatures here rarely drop below 6°C, so it seems like a possible common fault. Like others have said, I've found pressing on the flap in random places while simultaneously locking and unlocking the car multiple times with the remote will eventually free it up.

 

[T1 Terry]

In frustration, I wedged the PO box key under the rear top corners and kept flicking between the locked and unlocked on the key fob .... no help, got my fingers under the white cap and applied a bit more pressure, still flicking between lock and unlock ..... and the door skin separated from the black inside door ..... and that opened with a simple push the same way the whole door normally opens.

The inside of the door skin has 4 tabs that appear to lock into the inner black plastic door ...... The skin is on the centre consul at the moment and the 51 is charging, tomorrow I'll look at it again and see what causes it to stick shut, ways to solve the problem, and how to put this door skin back on

T1 Terry

 

[Rolfe]

Keep us posted!

 

[Anon70]

When you think about it a fuelling flap, which is what we are talking about, might have been used once a week or even once a month in an ICE car. For an EV you could be using the flap 3 or 4 times a day for a longer journey. However, very few, if any of the manufacturers seem to have redesigned the basic mechanism to account for this increased amount of use.

 

[DixieTGS]

There are a couple of other threads with details and pictures about this somewhere, one from @Bricktop X PWR I think.

But from memory, the outer skin is normally released from the black cover when it is open by levering a tab on the lower part of the black cover out with a penknife or small screw driver, and then sliding the painted cover in the direction away from the car to separate.

Refitting is just the reverse until the tab clicks back.

If it is jammed and the cover has been forced off while closed, you will see a large Torx bolt which can be rotated to release the inner cover.

 

[Ian Key]

Just a thought. If the outer skin became slightly unseated from its mounting on the black cover could it prevent the whole assembly being pushed in enough to release the catch?

 

[pjmmk]

As a first step, you could try relieving the pressure on the lock by pushing the flap in (gently) while locking/unlocking the car. And once you get it open, give the mechanism a squirt of a silicone based lubricant.

 

[T1 Terry]

When you think about it a fuelling flap, which is what we are talking about, might have been used once a week or even once a month in an ICE car. For an EV you could be using the flap 3 or 4 times a day for a longer journey. However, very few, if any of the manufacturers seem to have redesigned the basic mechanism to account for this increased amount of use.

The more times the flap is opened, the more worn the locking mechanism would get ...... it wouldn't be getting stuck closed but rather not staying closes if the problem was accelerated wear and tear

Just a thought. If the outer skin became slightly unseated from its mounting on the black cover could it prevent the whole assembly being pushed in enough to release the catch?

The inner black door is the actual operating part, the cover is just decorative. If some of the tabs became unseated, the outer cover would not close to remain flush with the body ..... so I think we can rule that one out as well

As a first step, you could try relieving the pressure on the lock by pushing the flap in (gently) while locking/unlocking the car. And once you get it open, give the mechanism a squirt of a silicone based lubricant.

Tried this for 15 mins, applying lite pressure closed on every edge/corner, the only win was applying pressure to the top rear most corner, where the flap actually opens ..... this gradually resulted in the cover coming off, then the inner black door opened easily, a light press and it popped open.

Tomorrow I'll look at the possibility it's dirt collecting between the outer cover and the rubber seal, not allowing the inner black door to move inward to release the clatch on the locking mechanism so it can spring open .....

T1 Terry

 

[Werrex]

Just registered here on the forums to give my two cents on the matter as well.

Got my Trophy ER this spring, and a few days ago the flap would no longer bounce out or back in when pushed. With a few gentle punches and cycling the central locking I was able to get the flap to pop out on its own.

It seems that the receiving end of the pin, i.e. the mechanism inside the charge port has come loose or unscrewed from its mount. I could feel the whole mechanism move inside the housing when pronging it from the outside.

I'm lucky to have a pretty great dealer, so they'll take it in on Friday to inspect whether the pin has just come undone from its mount or whether they'll need to order a replacement part, within warranty of course. For that they'll need to take off the boot liner and covers, so shouldn't be an impossible task even if done by someone themselves.

 

[MG Clive]

Thanks for that info @Werrex, and welcome to MGEVs.

 

[Joules]

Good morning and welcome Werrex, when you get it back give it a squirt of silicone spray on both bits, that will keep any moisture out in the future and help with the engaging of the pin and mechanism. A stitch in time so to speak

 

[Werrex]

Just registered here on the forums to give my two cents on the matter as well.

Got my Trophy ER this spring, and a few days ago the flap would no longer bounce out or back in when pushed. With a few gentle punches and cycling the central locking I was able to get the flap to pop out on its own.

It seems that the receiving end of the pin, i.e. the mechanism inside the charge port has come loose or unscrewed from its mount. I could feel the whole mechanism move inside the housing when pronging it from the outside.

I'm lucky to have a pretty great dealer, so they'll take it in on Friday to inspect whether the pin has just come undone from its mount or whether they'll need to order a replacement part, within warranty of course. For that they'll need to take off the boot liner and covers, so shouldn't be an impossible task even if done by someone themselves.

Update on this, got to my dealer and they are again champs. They had the charge port disassembled in like 10 minutes and the source of the issue determined - a pretty obvious material defect visible on the photo that allowed the push pin assembly to rock freely inside.

Apparently MG doesn't offer the broken clip/push pin individually and the whole charge port assembly (outer rim, drip tray/tubes and flap arm) needs to be switched out, and can't be repaired and then refitted as removing it in the first place requires breaking off mounting pins/brackets, seemingly intentionally.

I was a bit fearful at first, as my dealer told me prior to starting that the spare would have been around 150€ if MG decided to void the warranty claim, probably by claiming mechanical damage (there was none). If it had come to that I would've argued strongly that a charge port that lasts mere 3500km and only a dozen charge sessions is a clear product defect. I also made it clear to my dealer that there are other MG owners out there with similar issues.

Luckily they had a spare charge port assembly at hand that they were able to switch to my car, detatch my original charge port flap from the defective part and onto the new assembly, and I'm good again. And didn't cost me a penny (or an Euro cent).

The only worrying thing is that how long will the spares last... Can't treat this kind of a quality issue with silicone alone.

 

[NLMGSAN]

It is worrying that a company actually has the balls to discuss warranty claims in your case. But we know MG. That is why the car is cheap in the first place....