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2021 K5 EX, love the car! However over the last few weeks, I will stop for fuel and the door won’t open to get to the gas cap. Anyone else have this issue? Is there a secondary access?
Fuel door won’t open
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Hi, there is a TSB that addresses this, but not easy to open. Make sure your car is unlocked, when you're trying to open the fuel door, it locks with the doors.
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I saw that on some optima’s.. that didn’t help. I opened and closed the door repeatedly, no luck.
I had this issue as well, once. My doors were unlocked but might have something to do with keeping it in accessory vs off when you’re fueling. I had to open the driver door for the fuel door to open.
The next time I got gas, I didn’t have this problem. I turned off the car (went into accessory mode) and unlocked the doors and all went well. So it’s really confusing.
When you unlock your door from the handle button, it will unlock the gas door simultaneously.
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Still happening sporadically. Kia dealer tells me the K5 is the only model without a manual override. They have to take off the rear quarter panel to open the fuel door. Pathetic!
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Just had the same issue EX K5 . Just dropped it off to the dealer 5 mins ago .
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Me. My car is currently in the dealership for repair. I also asked them to check on recalls.
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Mine was there 5days now. They don’t have the parts available plus the service dept. is not very helpful on updating me.
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Yes! I've had this problem 3 times now. I did make sure the doors were unlocked and it opened... I don't remember how I got them to open the 2nd and 1st time. Uuugh...maybe that's the issue ...make sure the doors are unlocked and the child safety door lock is not on.
???
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Hey there, my door stopped opening so I popped it open at a gas station with a strip of polyester cloth from a t-shirt. If anyone finds this post, this may be useful in an emergency.
Right this moment the fuel door actuator is being replaced at the dealership for this exact issue. It was sporadic at first but became permanently shut eventually.
If you decide to follow this advice be warned that I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to your beautiful K5!
How to open fuel door in an emergency (danger! this could damage your fuel door, use only in emergencies):
Here's a low quality screen grab I have of the process, note the cloth behind the door:
![1236]()
Right this moment the fuel door actuator is being replaced at the dealership for this exact issue. It was sporadic at first but became permanently shut eventually.
If you decide to follow this advice be warned that I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to your beautiful K5!
How to open fuel door in an emergency (danger! this could damage your fuel door, use only in emergencies):
1. Use a strip of cloth about 1" wide
2. Gently slide the cloth behind the fuel door from the right side until about midway or the cloth stops near the middle.
3. Use both ends of the cloth together to pull (don't yank) the door open with gradually increasing force
4. Take a break if it doesn't work and reposition the cloth vertically if it comes to an angle
5. The door will wobble up and down a bit, this didn't seem to cause any damage f
Here's a low quality screen grab I have of the process, note the cloth behind the door:
Damn, that's a nice hack to know in case of emergencies like that! I've already mentioned the issue in the Kia Engineers survey they sent out a few weeks ago so hopefully they get to the bottom of this issue if they haven't already.
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So glad to see this isn’t just happening to me. Super frustrating especially when low on gas ! Brought my car back to dealer yesterday - they had it for an hour and a half . Said it was likely the debris in there and I was all set. Left and went home… stopped to gas and lo ans behold … same issues! Called them pretty irate about this and was worried because my fuel light was on. After 20 min of trying everything Someone was coming to meet me because I didn’t have enough gas to get home. When I went to move my car to a parking spot I hopped out and tried again… and it opened !
It I can’t go through this every time I need gas so they are ordering me a part to fix it but man after reading these other posts I’m nervous those parts won’t be available or it won’t fix the issue.
It I can’t go through this every time I need gas so they are ordering me a part to fix it but man after reading these other posts I’m nervous those parts won’t be available or it won’t fix the issue.
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14 Posts
Sorry about that. Mine is still a mess right now. i wanted to sue my dealership because they f**** up real and now have dents below the gas door my 4th time bringing my car back. They fixed the open and close but it won’t close perfectly and still lifted. They ordered the same door and changed it and viola. Now with dents and still not fixed. Corporate got involved but to just file complaint. That’s it. I’m too frustrated and stress worrying about it. It’s heartbreaking 💔
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110 Posts
What is the cause of this? Is it a door latch misalignment or the release actuator is just not releasing when the button is pressed?
Seems a bit mind blowing to screw up fuel door access. The old optima's had a cable pull inside the trunk in case the powered option failed. That appears missing in the K5... Brilliant engineering.
Also, this idea of having to press on the door to open [email protected]# What about in the winter when it's filthy dirty with road salt?
Seems a bit mind blowing to screw up fuel door access. The old optima's had a cable pull inside the trunk in case the powered option failed. That appears missing in the K5... Brilliant engineering.
Also, this idea of having to press on the door to open [email protected]# What about in the winter when it's filthy dirty with road salt?
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It’s definitely poorly designed . And to have no emergency release is careless and ridiculous. Sad, because otherwise I love the car! I just hope this isn’t the first of any other issues I discover.
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110 Posts
^^I wish you luck. In 2011 I bought an optima sx. Car was in the shop countless times for inability to steer/track straight. Required constant corrections. Toe bolts, alignments, different tires, tire rotations, etc did nothing. It was a design feature of the car. Traded it in on a g37s 6mt at a loss, but was the right thing to do. I had hoped a decade later kia/hyundai products have improved.
To screw up fuel door access is just negligent. I still have interest in the k5 gt but probably a year or two from now. I'm sold on the engine/trans, but the rest of these issues are unacceptable.
To screw up fuel door access is just negligent. I still have interest in the k5 gt but probably a year or two from now. I'm sold on the engine/trans, but the rest of these issues are unacceptable.
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