Postby Tech » Thu May 19, 2011 10:01 pm
access from the back is difficult because the panels are rigid. If you can get to it....pull out on the 1/4 grey "stick" - thats the actual locking rod. and presto!
If you go from the outside, use tape to protect the paint. Use a nylon/ plastic wedge to open the gap on the right side of the fuel door. (maybe 1/4 max - be gentle) If you peer in, you can see the metal tab with the square reciever hole on the door itself and the grey pintle on the actuator. If you do a combo of pushing the tab to the left and the pintle to the right, it'll open. Try to avoid prying against the body. You can bend the tab back later, but also try to avoid bending the door hinge.
Once you get it open, you can give the odd shaped "nut" holding the actuator into the body a 1/2 turn and remove the actuator (from the interior side). Getting it in/out is a pain. You can disconnect the electrical portion once you push the pintle back into the unlock position and leave it like that or alternately - snap of the pintle and leave it unlockable. The hole the actuator goes through goes into the interior. So be sure to seal it off it you remove.