This is a late post; wanted to share in case anyone would have the same problem in the future. Hopefully not.
On October 13th, (yeah, Friday the 13th!) our '16 Pilot EX-L was running low on fuel (Fuel Light came on). Estimated fuel range displayed on the dashboard was 21 miles but it's alright since our favorite Top Tier gas station is just 7 miles away. Arrived at that station fine. But when I pressed the Fuel Door button and got out, I noticed that the door is still closed. So I pressed it again, then it dawned on me that the fuel door won't budge. Gingerly tried to pry it but it's shut tight. Then I gradually increased my strength in trying to get it to open but it wouldn't. That's when I started to become worried. It's 10pm and my dealer is obviously closed by then.
Called Honda Roadside Assistance. After a few minutes of being put on hold, I was able to speak with a Support Staff and I told him my situation. After being put on hold for another few minutes he came back to say that Honda Roadside Assistance won't be able to help me because it's not any of the following:
* Battery problems;
* Door Unlock help;
* Out of fuel; or
* Tire problems
Wasn't offered any help at all. I can still make the trip back home but I'm worried I'll be adding more problems to what I currently have, so I said "to heck with it", and pried the door hard. It opened and after that I thoroughly checked it if I broke something else in the process like the door latch itself. Looked fine so I was relieved I could put gas and go my way. In hindsight, I first thought that maybe because of the low fuel in the tank it created a 'vacuum' that sucked in the door. As soon as I got home, I pressed the button again to test my hypothesis. It failed. The door won't open again. Clearly there must be something that broke from the time I last opened it when it was working fine.
Had to make the un-scheduled trip to my dealer the next day and explained (and apologized) to them that since this to me is classified under an emergency situation I had to bring my Pilot in. They were proactive with it and since it was on a Saturday afternoon they offered me a loaner instead while they'll go ahead and fix it Monday.
Monday came and got a call from our dealer to let me know that the fuel door has been fixed. They informed me that the problem was what Honda called a "fuel cable grommet" which is actually a plastic part that holds the cable taut. Since that thing broke, no matter how the button is pressed the tension (?) was gone so the door wouldn't open. Long story short it was fixed under warranty and our Pilot is well again.
Just putting this out for those who would encounter the same nerve-wracking issue and would like to do a research in this helpful community.
Additional tag: Fuel Door Won't Open; Fuel Door Latch
On October 13th, (yeah, Friday the 13th!) our '16 Pilot EX-L was running low on fuel (Fuel Light came on). Estimated fuel range displayed on the dashboard was 21 miles but it's alright since our favorite Top Tier gas station is just 7 miles away. Arrived at that station fine. But when I pressed the Fuel Door button and got out, I noticed that the door is still closed. So I pressed it again, then it dawned on me that the fuel door won't budge. Gingerly tried to pry it but it's shut tight. Then I gradually increased my strength in trying to get it to open but it wouldn't. That's when I started to become worried. It's 10pm and my dealer is obviously closed by then.
Called Honda Roadside Assistance. After a few minutes of being put on hold, I was able to speak with a Support Staff and I told him my situation. After being put on hold for another few minutes he came back to say that Honda Roadside Assistance won't be able to help me because it's not any of the following:
* Battery problems;
* Door Unlock help;
* Out of fuel; or
* Tire problems
Wasn't offered any help at all. I can still make the trip back home but I'm worried I'll be adding more problems to what I currently have, so I said "to heck with it", and pried the door hard. It opened and after that I thoroughly checked it if I broke something else in the process like the door latch itself. Looked fine so I was relieved I could put gas and go my way. In hindsight, I first thought that maybe because of the low fuel in the tank it created a 'vacuum' that sucked in the door. As soon as I got home, I pressed the button again to test my hypothesis. It failed. The door won't open again. Clearly there must be something that broke from the time I last opened it when it was working fine.
Had to make the un-scheduled trip to my dealer the next day and explained (and apologized) to them that since this to me is classified under an emergency situation I had to bring my Pilot in. They were proactive with it and since it was on a Saturday afternoon they offered me a loaner instead while they'll go ahead and fix it Monday.
Monday came and got a call from our dealer to let me know that the fuel door has been fixed. They informed me that the problem was what Honda called a "fuel cable grommet" which is actually a plastic part that holds the cable taut. Since that thing broke, no matter how the button is pressed the tension (?) was gone so the door wouldn't open. Long story short it was fixed under warranty and our Pilot is well again.
Just putting this out for those who would encounter the same nerve-wracking issue and would like to do a research in this helpful community.
Additional tag: Fuel Door Won't Open; Fuel Door Latch
