Charging port door not staying closed

[3sheds]

The door covering my charger port on mg5 2020 is not staying closed.

The car is parked on the street outside my house, When I went to the car last night, after not using it for three days, the charger door was open. I couldn't make it stay closed. As far as I remember I hadn't left the door open.

I tried to close it but it's wouldnt stay closed and kept springing back open. The catch didn't seem to hold it.

There is a circular catch pictured above which rotates when pushed in and is supposed to engage the door and keep it closed. The catch goes in and stays in when I push it with my finger. But it won't stay in when pushed by the door. I wonder if something has fallen off it that stops it being sufficiently pushed in by the door in order to catch?

Had anyone experienced this before? Any suggestions to fix?

 

[5teep]

The plastic under the catch seems to have taken a hit recently and is cracked, that might be the reason it's not staying shut for the door. Maybe some "wag" kicked it in the night?

 

[3sheds]

Yeah I saw that crack. I wondered if someone might have reversed into it but couldn't see any other marks on the plastic "grill"area. Maybe you're right it was vandalism. Any tips for fixing it?

 

[Jomarkh]

Mine did some similar after I hit a bird. Unlocked and locked a few times and it latched again ok.

 

[3sheds]

Thanks so much to you both for your help.

I tried locking and unlocking a few times but didn't help.

I found if I hold the charging door closed and then lock the doors it will stay closed while doors are locked. But as soon as I open the doors to get in the car the charging door springs open again. So there is no way of keeping it closed while I am driving and I have to keep it closed with parcel tape.

Can anyone please send me an up close photo of your door catch so I can just check whether anything has fallen off mine?

 

[5teep]

When you push the pin in by hand does the locking bar rotate 90 degrees? If it does then the issue is probably on the flap itself. If it's not rotating then maybe try spraying wd40 liberally in it.
The aperture in the flap should be rectangular and a little but bigger than the cross bar / locking bar.

There's a couple of pics here showing the rotation but I don't have one of the flap just now.

Emergency charge port release

To get the true reading of the battery you would need to do this when the car is off. When the car is on it is sending charge to the battery to charge it. This will give a false reading. Right okay, that makes sense. So updates, in case anyone's interested in my battle with the charging flap...

www.mgevs.com

 

[3sheds]

Thanks so much for your photos. I think I see what the problem is now. It looks like there is an adhesive patch on the tip of the catch which you have on yours but must have fallen off mine. (Maybe due to charging in the rain). Because my catch is slightly shorter now it doesn't get fully pushed in when I close the door and so the spindle doesn't rotate to catch hold of the door.

Any idea where I might get a replacement adhesive patch or best go to the dealer?

 

[5teep]

Patch? don't think there's anything like that. Have you got a photo to compare them?

 

[3sheds]

Your catch is in the top photo. Mine in the bottom photo. The "bobble" in the middle of the catch looks slightly wider on yours than mine. Also there's some white residue around the "bobble" on mine suggesting there was some kind of patch on top of the bobble which has fallen off leaving a glue residue... I don't think I'm imagining it

 

[5teep]

No sticker i think but your one doesn't look quite right to me, seems to be missing some of the surrounding plastic inside the cross piece.

 

[Tommy]

There's no adhesive patch element to the mechanism. It works by inserting the "pin + cross-piece" into the "flap hole" and rotating 90° when it it is pushed in, locking in the "in-position" using a simple ratchet mechanism, presumably.

In the attached video you can see the same issue where the pin fails to lock in the "in" (rotated position), so simply comes straight out again.

When locked there must be some additional mechanism holding the pin in the "in" position which when you unlock then releases the pin because of the failed ratchet.

Your's does look damaged to me, a crack in the charge-port housing and a crack on the wider pin barrel itself.

 

[3sheds]

There's no adhesive patch element to the mechanism. It works by inserting the "pin + cross-piece" into the "flap hole" and rotating 90° when it it is pushed in, locking in the "in-position" using a simple ratchet mechanism, presumably.

In the attached video you can see the same issue where the pin fails to lock in the "in" (rotated position), so simply comes straight out again.

When locked there must be some additional mechanism holding the pin in the "in" position which when you unlock then releases the pin because of the failed ratchet.

Your's does look damaged to me, a crack in the charge-port housing and a crack on the wider pin barrel itself.

Thanks for the video. It's helpful to see. The fault on my car charger port door is actually slightly different. The catch will go in and stay in when pushed by my finger. It also rotates so it could potentially still hold in the door. The problem is it won't stay in when pushed by the door.

 

[3sheds]

No sticker i think but your one doesn't look quite right to me, seems to be missing some of the surrounding plastic inside the cross piece.

Yes that's what I meant. Maybe sticker is not the right word, but it's some kind of self adhesive cover over the "bobble" in the middle of the cross piece.

 

[cgwhite]

Mine broke last winter in the frost and had to be replaced by my dealer under warranty. Bad design. The plastic port covers are not too good either. They are attached by rubber strings to a peg pushed into the bodywork. That peg is now falling out. Year old mg5 LR

 

[3sheds]

Went to the dealer. They said they think front of the catch has been pushed in ( nothing fallen off). They saying probably whole of the front grill including the charging port door will need to be replaced. Not under warranty (its 3 years old). They going to call me back with a price.

 

[slmorgan42]

Went to the dealer. They said they think front of the catch has been pushed in ( nothing fallen off). They saying probably whole of the front grill including the charging port door will need to be replaced. Not under warranty (its 3 years old). They going to call me back with a price.

Wow that sucks and will be costly.
On my FL it cost me 300+ to get the flap replaced as they had to pull the front bumper off. Part was like 30 and the rest was labour.

 

[3sheds]

Thanks for the cost comparison. Maybe I'll try magnets or some other improvised solution and try to save some money.

 

[Knuttt]

Just catching up on this as my port has similar issues. What I’m doing at the moment is pulling the catch back out as it’s definitely not springing out fully on its own (I have tried spraying it with silicone spray etc).
When I pull it out it slightly rotates as well then always engages with the flap properly.

Hopefully this will continue to work for me!

Andy

 

[Gomev]

Went to the dealer. They said they think front of the catch has been pushed in ( nothing fallen off). They saying probably whole of the front grill including the charging port door will need to be replaced. Not under warranty (its 3 years old). They going to call me back with a price.

Wow that sucks and will be costly.
On my FL it cost me 300+ to get the flap replaced as they had to pull the front bumper off. Part was like 30 and the rest was labour.

Courtesy of @Ian MG5 when he installed fog lights, how to take the front off with clear easy pics. Looks fairly easy just bolts/screws. Find a part and replace it DIY.

💡💡How to fit Fog Lights and NOW WIRED UP !!! 💡💡

Hi all It’s been a few weeks since my Roewe i5 fog lights arrived from Ali express I finally got around to fitting them today😃 Not as simple as I first thought 😂 Here’s how I did it 1 remove MG badge with four screws This is so I could zip tie it up so it didn’t keep opening later on 2 remove...

www.mgevs.com

 

[3sheds]

Just catching up on this as my port has similar issues. What I’m doing at the moment is pulling the catch back out as it’s definitely not springing out fully on its own (I have tried spraying it with silicone spray etc).
When I pull it out it slightly rotates as well then always engages with the flap properly.

Hopefully this will continue to work for me!

Andy

Thanks I'll have a look at that again. I did try lubricating it but I think problem for me is not that it's not being be pushed in far enough, I think it is coming out enough.

Courtesy of @Ian MG5 when he installed fog lights, how to take the front off with clear easy pics. Looks fairly easy just bolts/screws. Find a part and replace it DIY.

💡💡How to fit Fog Lights and NOW WIRED UP !!! 💡💡

Hi all It’s been a few weeks since my Roewe i5 fog lights arrived from Ali express I finally got around to fitting them today😃 Not as simple as I first thought 😂 Here’s how I did it 1 remove MG badge with four screws This is so I could zip tie it up so it didn’t keep opening later on 2 remove...

www.mgevs.com

Thank you. Sounds a bit daunting with my DIY skills but it's good to have as an option. I think a general problem with EVs at the moment is that the smaller local garages don't fix them because they don't have the equipment or training. So the larger dealers that you go to only quote for expensive replacements when things go wrong and aren't willing to try more improvised cheaper solutions.