How to Open a Frozen Gas Door? (5 Easy Steps)
By
Vroomouk
In countries which suffer from extreme cold conditions such as snowfall, there are chances that the gas door gets frozen and doesn’t open. Therefore, in those countries, people should know how to counter the problem of freezing metal parts such as the gas tank door.
The gas tank in most vehicles is made of metal; hence as the temperature increases or decreases, the properties of metals change. For example, in summers, if the temperatures are extremely high, then due to thermal stresses, the metal tends to expand. Conversely, while in colder temperatures, the metals behave differently, and they shrink. Thus, with the changes in the property of the metals, the operation of the metal component is also affected.
However, the metal parts get frozen in extreme weather conditions, such as the countries where the temperatures go below the sub-zero levels. The freezing of metal parts mainly occurs due to the snow which settles upon them.
There are mainly two metal components in a fuel door: the lid and the hinge. As the snowfall starts, the snow starts to settle on the hinge through the gap between the fuel door and car body. As the snow accumulation increases, the temperature of the metal surface decreases and soon, it reaches the state where the operation gets frozen. Moreover, the snow not only gets settled on the hinge, but the settling of snow on the fuel door lid can also affect the working of the fuel door hinge.
Therefore, in such a case where the fuel door hinge gets frozen, you need to deice the surface of the fuel door first. Then you need to make sure that the freezing of the surface doesn’t happen in the future.
How to open My gas tank door, which is frozen?
The procedure to open the gas tank is as follows:-
- Remove the ice from the exhaust and radiator, and then start the vehicle.
- Wipe the ice around the fuel door.
- Use a plastic scraper to remove sturdy ice.
- Apply de-icing spray to remove the ice completely.
- Apply oil spray on the surface to prevent icing again.
Procedure to deice the surface of the fuel door.
One of the measures you can take to prevent freezing the ice on the fuel door is to have the gas tank filled to the top with fuel. Keeping a fuel tank full prevents the door from freezing and prevents the icing in the vehicle’s fuel line. In addition, because the fuel line gets frozen, it can damage the vehicle’s fuel pump. However, if you face the freezing of the gas door, you must have certain equipment ready to tackle the situation.
- The first step for deicing the surface of the fuel door is to begin by cleaning the exhaust pipe and radiator grille with a brush and ice scraper. Once you have cleaned the radiator grille and exhaust pipe, you need to start the vehicle and turn the defroster on.
- After turning on the defroster, you need to turn on the vehicle’s headlights. Turning on the headlights will not only increase the temperature of the headlight glass, but it will also increase the overall temperature of the vehicle, thus aiding in deicing.
- Once the surfaces are heated up around the fuel door, it is time to wipe out the snow.
- Once you remove the easily removable snow from the surface of the fuel door, use a plastic scraper to remove the sturdy snow. The plastic scraper will easily break the snow away.
- To completely remove the ice from the surface of the fuel door, you need to apply the deicing spray on the hinge and the perimeter around the door. Once the spray is applied, leave it on the surface for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, scrape the ice again.
- Once the ice is removed, apply oil spray on the surface so that the ice cannot settle on the surface of the fuel tank in the future.
Conclusion
In this article, we have explained how the properties of the metal gas door change with temperature, which leads to freezing of the gas door. Moreover, we have also explained how to prevent the future formation of ice on the fuel door’s surface so that it doesn’t get jammed in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): My gas tank door won’t open frozen
Why won’t the gas door open?
One of the main reasons behind the gas door not opening is the faulty hinge of the fuel door. Moreover, another reason behind the faulty fuel door can be the broken release cable.
Can the gas tank freeze?
If the gas tank is not filled to the top, then there are chances that the gas tank might get frozen. However, if the gas tank is filled with fuel, it won’t freeze until -40 degrees celsius.
What causes the fuel line to freeze up?
One of the main causes of the freezing up of the fuel line is the presence of water vapour in the fuel line. The vapour present in the fuel freezes once the temperature decreases.
How long does it take for antifreeze to work?
After applying the antifreeze on the surface, it takes around 15 to 20 minutes to completely get rid of the ice present on the surface of the fuel door.
