Gas tank lid won't open

If you can hear the motor trying to open it, but it won't, then it's the cable. A new cable is pretty cheap. It's a little bit of a pain to DIY, but definitely doable. Just takes an hour or so.

Also, there's an emergency release in the trunk, behind the panel. You should be using that to release the lid. Sounds like you're pulling on the lid trying to get it to open. Good chance of breaking it that way. Try the emergency cable until you can get the actual lid release cable replaced.

When I bought my 99 NB last Fall, the gas lid wouldn't even stay closed. It had to be held closed with velro to look flush with the body. I got sick of that so I went behind the panel in the trunk, per some instructions on this site. I played around with the cable a little bit and got it to work somewhat. It still doesn't open with the key fob or the button inside the car but it closes all the way, and I can open it by prying it up with my finger, AFTER pushing the button inside the car. I probably didn't do a comlete fix but I didn't want to spend the $, so I was happy with this semi fix, for now. Playing with the cable will probably be helpful for you since your cable works some time.

Some adjusting

may be in order, if your release motor seems to be working, perhaps a minor tweaking of the latch piece on the door will solve the issue. Possibly, just a gentle nudge towards the hinge side of the tab that engages the locking cable will do the trick. Seems like too far will cause the door to not latch at all, and as it sits now, the cable doesn't pull the latch pin far enough to allow the door to open. Also a bit of lube never hurts much.

I know on my 98, in the last few years of ownership I had to pull the release button twice in rapid succession to get the thing to open. That didn't always work, but it worked most of the time.

w3dee said:

Just bought a 2003 Red Turbo and her gas tank lid won't always open. You can hear it release but the lid won't pop up so its quite a challenge putting gas in when you're by yourself. I'm afraid I'm going to end up bending or worse breaking the lid (although it's only 90.00 to replace it).

HELP

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I just started having this problem on my 2001 VW New Beetle GLS 2.0, and sometimes if you have someone push the button and you knock down on the gas door it will open, the little thing that opens the door is probably broken

Where is the release cable , I cannot find it

Inside round cover you will see electrical wire and a black cable that goes through a grommet into the fender that is the cable you need to pull. It moves the whole assembly back far enough to unlatch. Hope that helps.