[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

 

[Turtles_ride]

I got tired of how hard my lever was to open so decided to fix it and thought I’d share some details. The repair takes only 10 minutes and I went from the lever being almost totally seized, to freely springing back better than it has in the 6 years I’ve owned the vehicle. Start by pulling the plastic lever handle off by simply sliding it forward towards the front of the vehicle. Use a small screwdriver in the little hole on the top of the plastic cover and pull the little rectangular tab up, it is hinged on the outside edge(towards the drivers door). Apply some rust penetrant to the exposed screw and unscrew it, it is only threaded into the car frame not an actual nut. With the screw out, the plastic housing can be slid forward and then slid upwards at a 45 towards the front of the vehicle. Removing the housing reveals how rusty everything is, especially if you drive in colder areas where they use salt on the roads in the winter. Spray all this rusty metal with penetrant and let it soak in a few minutes. You can slide the plastic handle back on the lever and try to lift it as if you were going to open the gas tank. With the lever up you’ll be able to spray more penetrant underneath the lever and onto the spring that makes it pop back. This is where I found the problem was. With the lever up you can also see where the cable connects underneath, the cable is so far back that I can’t see how the cable itself could get rusty, but you can spray penetrant on the cable as well. I also sprayed some actual lubricant on everything before I put it all back together, works like a charm now! Hope this helps someone else, ask questions if you have any.