Please Help Locked Fuel cap

[s_philp]

I have a 99 1.4 16v polo and my girlfriend brought it back yesterday with the central locking not working. Does anyone have any suggestions to why this has happened or what she could of done to make this happen. She tells me when she tried to get out, the drivers door had locked and said she had not done it so when she pulled it open then attempted to lock the door behind her with the key it only locked the drivers door. To be honest i am not that worried that the central locking has packed in, but any advise is welcome. However my biggest concern is that i now can not open the fuel cap as it is atomatically locked by the central locking. Is there any easy way in which this can be relesaed.
Thankyou for any help!!

I am getting desperate!

Simon

[inder]

Check all the fuses to do with central locking / windows using the fuse card, one may have blown - replace as required

Check the central locking pump in the boot, has the big air pipe going into the central locking pump become disconnected? Does it make air noise / whining when you try the central locking?

Might be dead or need replacing. Sometimes water leaks in and so it could just need drying out.

I recon its a fuse though, something similar happened to me. Do the window controls still work?

[david burton]

definitely check the connections of the hoses to the c/l pump in the boot.

they do pack in sometimes - you will need to investigate asap

[stuart_hatch]

i think if u read the manual there is instructions how to open the fuel cap if the c/l dosnt work

[s_philp]

Thanks i will look into it. there is no noise at all. i have checked the fuse and it seems ok and windows work fine. I will look in at the pump but guess it is not that as i would hear a noise from it.

so would you guess i need a new pump?

Thanks for the advise

Simon

[s_philp]

Thankyou. I have now managed to open the fuel cap manually. Sensible idea reading the manual, who would of thought of that!! So panic over i can now look into the problem at a later date.

Simon

[inder]

Glad the flap is sorted, lets see how long you can live without central locking though hehe, its going to annoy you into fixing it sooner than you might think hehe

Perhaps try a friends pump in your car? To eliminate it as the problem?

[david burton]

how did you open the cap without the c/l then?

apparently the pumps often fail due to a dodgy solder inside - it's an easy fix (I've heard) so worth taking the pump out and having a gander inside it.

that's what was wrong with mine when I got it - and it was a 10 minute fix.

[s_philp]

I had to remove open the first aid compartment take out the medi box, then the cl pump then the foam inlay after which i could reach round and manually pull the pin back.

Cheers

Simon

[Robdeforma]

I had the same problem myself and I had just had remote central locking fitted too. The circuit board for the central locking had got wet and wasn't working at all or making any noise.

If this happends, find the air pump ( polo central locking works on air pressure popping the pins up) and locate a small blue tube going into the air pump.

Pull the blue tube off of the pump and get a football pump and connect it to the end of the blue tube. Pump the football pump gently at first and increase the pressure until the door pins pop up and it will unlock the whole of the car including the fuel cap! Becareful you don't over do it with the football pump because it can damage the system!!!

[martin9aj]

If it is the Central locking pump then dont worry it is a common fault, its located in the boot and is prone to getting damp/wet. I once saw one that was FULL of water lol.

We sell loads of `em where i work, gonna cost about £100.
And you can easily put it in yourself.

[inder]

where do you work martin? vw garage?

£100 is a rip-off price

much cheaper 2nd hand / new off ebay

[dragon_green]

when my filler cap locked i took the air pipe off and blew down it. got a few funny looks at the pumps