Petrol cap

[WildWayz]

Hi all,
Thanks for all the help in the last thread - gonna look at my car this weekend
Anyway, the main reason for this post is that i noticed that my petrol cap/flap doesnt lock. Is it meant to? If not, can I just buy a lockable petrol cap and put it on?
(M reg Citroen Xantia LX 1.8)
Thanks
James

[ZXturbo_Aura]

as far as im aware the petrol cap should lock along with the doors via the central locking?
Dan

[JohnD]

On Xantias there's a little locking bar that should pin the door closed - working with the central locking. The usual fault with it is that it won't unlock. Yes! you can get a locking cap. Halfraud's do one.

[John F]

Hi, there is a solenoid operated shot bolt that locks the flap shut when the remote locking is turned on. Found that if I applied pencil lead to the shot bolt it cured the sticking problem as it lubricated the shot bolt and the sides of the hole into which it engages.
I have a slightly different problem in that the plastic "springs" that hold the flap open or closed have perished and snapped off. I wrote to Citroen and complained that 4 years was no life for a properly specified plastic but all I got was a letter that was the eqivalent of a Gallic "shrug"; from my experience about par for the course as far as Citroen customer relations are concerned.
Took myself off to several vehicle breakers and discovered that all 10 Xantias I found had the same fault. Has anybody a fix for this that doesn't involve elastic bands? The reason I ask is because you have to buy the whole assembly with flap to obtain the "spring".

[Stempy]

Mine plastic springs went the same on all three Xantias I've had. They usually go in winter when the cold makes them brittle. I've been lucky enough to find good replacements at the breakers so far, but it does take some looking as most of them are broken too. What I've done is to boil them up in water to soften the plastic before refitting them, this helps to put the spring back and reduce the brittleness. then use some plastics grease to lube them up. Don't use normal grease as this can degrade the plastic even quicker.

[allmond]

They went on both my Xantias. I can't remember what they cost for the hinges (not including the flap) but I know it was a (relatively) pleasant surprise, and I just bought the genuine Citroen bit both times.
Jamie