Scirocco Central

Hi has anyone replaced their fuel flap actuator? Wondering how easy/footery it is. Thanks in advance

I'll answer this myself Doesnt take long to fit and the part was only £20 from VW. Remove screw inside flap near where flap locks. Pull flap out, can be a bit stiff (watch the paintwork), remove inside carpet trim, unplug actuator, poke out the grommet, pull old actuator cable through from the outside. New actuator comes with new grommet. Insert actuator cable/plug through the hole fron the outside (obv), place grommet in its hole, plug in the actuator and rebuild. Job done. Better doing this job than waiting on it packing up altogether me thinks cos it sounds a pain in the ar*e of a job to open the flap from underneath

The fuel flap actuator is acting up on me lately. I will be doing the actuator replacement myself because the local VW service centre would take 1 to 2 days to do the job. I cannot afford vehicle down time during weekdays.

With photos, your description of the actuator replacement process would be perfect. Your text description does give me a rough idea of the work involved in the replacement. You mentioned .... pull flap out.... Does this mean removing the painted round fuel flap from the vehicle? Only the actuator needs to be replace. Removing fuel flap sounds like an operation that could damage the hinge if not done carefully.

Jack car up. Take wheel off. Undo the 10 screws that hold the wheel arch liner on. Remove liner. There is no need to take out anything from boot. Unscrew the screw inside the petrol flap next to the prong that locks the flap. Up inside the wheel arch push the fuel filler housing outwards. This should allow you to release the old actuator. Pull out the old grommet. The difficult bit here is getting the loom connector to free up as it is (for some reason) fixed inside a body cavity by a holding clip. With a bit of juggling this comes free. Disconnect the old unit & chuck. Plug in the new unit, refit the grommet, push the fuel filler housing out again & fit new unit into the bodywork slots. Push the filler housing back home. Refit the screw. Refit the wheel arch liner. Put the wheel back on. Lower car to the ground. I would allow an hour to do this it is not difficult just a bit of messing about.

Changed mine today without any problems. To get to the electrical connector I removed the piece of plastic trim in the boot, drivers side, 3 M20 torx screws one hidden by a cover, this gave easy access.

It seems I've got the same problem with my actuator as the fuel flap won't open. I've managed to release the flap by jacking the car up and loosening the wheel arch lining and pushing the switch from behind, but guess I need a new actuator now.

Does anyone have any info on the actual part I need or better still a part number?

Ta pals

Item 40
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Many thanks Cuprabob

Just to update this, I managed to fit the new actuator today. Part number is the one Cuprabob linked to above, was £26 from vw. Only took about 30 mins. Wheel didn't need to come off as others have said, just jack it up to get easier access through the wheel arch lining. The interior plastic panel in the boot on the drivers side needs to be removed (3xT20 screws - one hidden behind the plastic hook) to gain access to the wiring loom (the old actuator just unplugs and plug the new actuator in after feeding the wire through the grommet from the outside (through wheel arch).

Thanks logit, for info regarding access to wiring. My 2009 'roc GT has had intermittent failure of actuator. usually 4 - 6 months it would fail to open (it also failed to lock in some instances, but this didn't cause any grief). Always fixed by maually unlocking via wheel arch. After 3 fails in 2 weeks, I decided to manually push the actuator up to unlock and then disconnected from the wiring loom. I will get around to replacing the actuator when I have more time, but in the meantime I hope to have solved the worry of empty tank, best clothes on, pouring with rain and seized fuel flap - LOL.

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