This morning went to put some petrol in the exige, filled up and went to take the petrol nozzle out. It would not budge at all, it was stuck!
I very carefully wriggled the nozzle and eventually it became loose and I returned the nozzle back to the pump.
However on attaching the petrol cap cover onto the car, I noticed that the small hinged metal cover that seals the entrance to the petrol tank was missing!!
Looks like the nozzle had obviously opened the metal cover when first inserted but had become stuck when I had finished.
Even though I took great care to gently prise the nozzle out of the car, the small metal cover has broken off! It was nowhere to be seen.
Does anyone know if this metal cover could actually have fallen into the petol tank? Is there a filter into the petrol tank or do the pipes narrow so the metal cover would be lodged instead?
Should I be worried if it is in the petrol tank?
Car is still under warranty but I guess draining the petrol tank would be an expensive job if not covered under warranty.
If anyone can offer any advice, it would be very much appreciated.
Found this as an explantion to how the petrol system works on the exige:
So it looks like if the small metal cover has found its way into the fuel tank, the strainer sock would certainly stop it from entering the fuel system even before it got to the internal fuel filter located inside the petrol tank.
Strainer will stop it causing getting somewhere it shouldn’t. It’s an annoying little thing but not worth dropping the tank for… It’ll just slosh around happily with the petrol.
If you ever do drop the tank, it’ll be worth trying to get it out, but until then I’d not sweat it
Had a good look at the engine bay and done some searching with regard to the petrol system.
Looks like part 13 is the one that has broken, the fuel filler neck. The metal flap has come off this part and no doubt found its way down to the petrol tank via the fuel filler hose.
Probably a weak spot on the part fitted to my car!
I may contact Lotus and inform them what has happened, a new one must be covered under the warranty surely? It must have been a very weak fitting indeed, as I have not come across anyone else having this problem.
I could replace the part if the metal flap is needed or get Lotus to under the warranty?
Hopefully the locked petrol filler cap will do the job as a seal in the meantime.
I’m not too happy with the metal flap in the tank. I was thinking of disconnecting the fuel filler hose at the tank connection and using a magnet to try and locate the metal flap inside the tank. But access does not look easy at all.
I’ll see what Lotus have to say in the meantime as I strongly think that that the part was defective.
I’ve contacted Lotus and I am waiting to hear from them.
Would someone be kind enough to post a photo of the fuel filler neck with the petrol cap removed for me please?
Also if you could post a description on how the metal flap works, how it is attached etc. As you can guess mine is just an empty void when you take off the petrol cap.
