[Huskylord]

After years and years of driving my 2008 Tribeca, the fuel tank door lever/latch has become extremely difficult to pull up/down. I can't seem to find anything in the manual in terms of how to remove the plastic housing to access the lever and clean/grease it. Has anyone else gone through this and managed to get better access?

Thank you

 

[Huskylord]

Managed to get the plastic housing off with only one part snap off (reminder to wear safety goggles next time).
Was only then able to see how rusted and grimy everything was. Vacumned and got the penetrator spray in there real goood. Working much better now. At least this won't be the part that breaks the camel's back!

 

[avk]

I actually had that trim cover pop off accidentally. It looks somewhat unusual that the lever would be so rusty, although it of course depends on how the car is used. Make sure water is not getting under the carpet.

 

[Turtles_ride]

Mine's really tight too, I would like to spray penetrant into the cable but I'm not sure how to get access to the end of it (inside the car at the handle). What plastic did you remove, how did you remove it, and what did you break (so I can hopefully avoid breaking the same thing... Thanx J

 

[Huskylord]

If you clean the top (behind the fuel symbol towards the drivers seat),you should see the outline of a small rectangular tab. I snapped that prying it with a small flat screwdriver. Under is a screw that was reall rusted. Had to drill it out. After that, I had to bang the whole of the plastic housing to relase it from floor mat (lots of built up salt and rust). Once you take that off, you can easily apply the penetrant and/or grease.

Before that, I contacted my local dealership. He mentioned the metal was cheap, but don't damage the plastic housing...said that was expensive to replace.

Mine is much better now. Good luck and let m know if you have any questions.

 

[tdelker]

I've found some inexpensive plastic parts for the tribeca on quirkparts