Charger door issues

Kia Soul EV Forum

Help Support Kia Soul EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

gday

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 25, 2019
Messages
75
2020 Limited - Canada - owned for over 2yrs

I recently started having difficulty opening the charger door. It went from being a bit tricky to make sure I hit the raised arrow, to having to use many attempts to unlock the car or even manually moving a lever that seems to not work.

When I unlock the car I can see that a short lever (the one attached to the emergency release cable) moves to the lower position. However when I lock the car it does not return to the upper position. To further complicate the issue, although it is in the unlock position the charger door cannot be opened. Each time I do get it open it is only after all sorts of locking/unlocking etc - there seems to be no consistent way.

I have reported it to the dealership but the part I apparently need is "back ordered" which means maybe a month or more before I get a real solution (if that does it!).

Questions:
a) anyone else had the same situation,
b) how was it resolved, and
c) did you manage to find a consistent way of opening the door while you waited for the repair?

Or maybe mine is in isolated case?
 
I don't know if my experience on a 2017 SoulEV is relevant to you, but I had a similar problem with my charging door. I sprayed the release mechanism and hinges with aerosol grease, and then sprayed with WD40. The WD40 contains a solvent which dissolves the grease, and makes the resulting fluid flow into all the nooks and crannies. After a few attempts, the door did release, and I then exercised it about 30 times to ensure good penetration. It has been fine now for over a year.
 
Thanks IanL.

I am hesitant to try lubricating it in case when they get a replacement part they "blame" me in some way!

However I have found a crude way to get it open till the replacement part arrives. I stand near the charger door and use the key fob to open the car then repeatedly press open again and quickly check each time till it finally releases. It has worked every time up to now.
 
Back
Top