Charge flap actuator repair

[Thruster763]

I know there have been other threads on the charge flap actuator failing, but none on a cure. Mine failed shortly after I purchased the 2016 MY GX4H.
The "lid" of the gearbox had become partially detached anf the worm gear had fallen out. Fortunatly the gear was still sitting just below the actuator.
It loks like a a threades ros about 5mm diamenter and 25mm long. Mine was greay coloured. This just slips bck on the shft of the motor inside the gearbox. You might have to lift the shaft end slightly. Ther is no grubscrew or clip holding it on. The whole thing is held together by the lid of the plastic gearbox case. This is an "oily" plastic possibly delrin. Originally it apears to have been ultrasonically welded but on mine the weld line cracked allowing the lid ot open and gear to drop out. These plastics are hard to glue. First time around I used an insustrial toughened acrylic adhesive and it held for over a year. Last week the flap was stuck locked - the actuator had failed agin with the adhesive bond failing. This time I repaired it using several tiny, 1.5mm self tapping screws ment for plastic insreted into the flange sround the outside of the lid. Firast I held the lid in place and carefully drilled 1mm through the lid and base flange. I then removed the lid and drilled the holes in it out to 1.5mm clearance. I did put a couple of larger screws where there was more aea available. Makesure yo don't drill into the gearbox cavity, just the outsde flanges.
Suitable screws can bought from model shops or ebay /amazon etc. look for M1.5 self tapping screw.

 

[EssexBoy]

My charge flap wouldn't unlock yesterday so encouraged by Thruster's solution I decided to investigate and in the spirit of taking any opportunity to deny Mitsi main stealers my business, try to repair. 45 minutes later with no new parts I was done.

If you are not the sort who calls an electrician to change a light bulb and you own a small screw driver this job is probably well within your ability. The online manual is of no use and even incorrectly identifies the flap lock actuator as the courtesy light switch. This is what I did...

1. Opening the panel in the boot behind the charging port the actuator is the visible. Prodding it a couple of times the cover fell off and some components fell out into my waiting hand. As Thruster warned you would not want to lose these bits into the bowels of your internal bodywork where they would be unrecoverable. I had a worm-gear, two small shims and a cover.


2. Unplugging the electrical connection on the component body is achieved by pinching the retaining clip behind the plug and gently easing the plug off the body with the aid of your screw driver. With the plug detached the motor and electrical contacts will easily fall away from the body.

The body of the actuator is removed from the car with a gentle twist to detach it from the bodywork.

3. The shaft of the motor has a flat side so the worm-gear slides on when correctly oriented and will then be driven by the motor.

4. The motor and worm-gear can be placed back into the body of the actuator, guiding the electrical contacts into the electrical socket housing carefully. In the next image the motor is replaced and the worm-gear meshed with a quadrant gear. The quadrant in the image is in the locked position, with the black actuator bar fully to the left. On operation the quadrant is driven clockwise by the worm-gear until the black actuator bar locks in the open position. When the car is locked the spring loaded black actuator bar is released. I surmise that this relative shock eventually causes the actuator cover to become detached sufficiently for the component to no longer operate.

5. The 2 small shims fit into 'T' shaped recesses as in the next image. They act as end stops to the geared quadrant's correct movement. The second shim fits in the recess pointed to by the screwdriver.



6. With everything back in place the cover can be replaced. This is where I went a bit Heath-Robinson. In order to test my actuator I decided to just lash the cover on with a length of non-stretch cordage tied around the body intending to fix with screws as Thruster suggests once I had checked it was working. In truth I will probably leave as is - thanks to Baden-Powell and others my knots are pretty good. Refitting into the body is a simple twist and re-plugging the electrical socket. (see last image).

 

[msmatt]

Nice job! I hope I never need it, but glad to have the information if I do.

 

[NoAcars]

My charge flap wouldn't unlock yesterday so encouraged by Thruster's solution I decided to investigate and in the spirit of taking any opportunity to deny Mitsi main stealers my business, try to repair. 45 minutes later with no new parts I was done.

If you are not the sort who calls an electrician to change a light bulb and you own a small screw driver this job is probably well within your ability. The online manual is of no use and even incorrectly identifies the flap lock actuator as the courtesy light switch. This is what I did...

1. Opening the panel in the boot behind the charging port the actuator is the visible. Prodding it a couple of times the cover fell off and some components fell out into my waiting hand. As Thruster warned you would not want to lose these bits into the bowels of your internal bodywork where they would be unrecoverable. I had a worm-gear, two small shims and a cover.
View attachment 888

2. Unplugging the electrical connection on the component body is achieved by pinching the retaining clip behind the plug and gently easing the plug off the body with the aid of your screw driver. With the plug detached the motor and electrical contacts will easily fall away from the body.

The body of the actuator is removed from the car with a gentle twist to detach it from the bodywork.

3. The shaft of the motor has a flat side so the worm-gear slides on when correctly oriented and will then be driven by the motor.

4. The motor and worm-gear can be placed back into the body of the actuator, guiding the electrical contacts into the electrical socket housing carefully. In the next image the motor is replaced and the worm-gear meshed with a quadrant gear. The quadrant in the image is in the locked position, with the black actuator bar fully to the left. On operation the quadrant is driven clockwise by the worm-gear until the black actuator bar locks in the open position. When the car is locked the spring loaded black actuator bar is released. I surmise that this relative shock eventually causes the actuator cover to become detached sufficiently for the component to no longer operate.

5. The 2 small shims fit into 'T' shaped recesses as in the next image. They act as end stops to the geared quadrant's correct movement. The second shim fits in the recess pointed to by the screwdriver.

View attachment 889

6. With everything back in place the cover can be replaced. This is where I went a bit Heath-Robinson. In order to test my actuator I decided to just lash the cover on with a length of non-stretch cordage tied around the body intending to fix with screws as Thruster suggests once I had checked it was working. In truth I will probably leave as is - thanks to Baden-Powell and others my knots are pretty good. Refitting into the body is a simple twist and re-plugging the electrical socket. (see last image).

View attachment 890

This is very satisfying. Thank you so much. My lid would not open today and when I wanted to release it manually, I found the lid in the boor together with one shim. On touch feeling I found the blue worm gear in the panel between clothing and chassis. When I deplugged the motorcasing the second shim fell on the floor. Not knowing what to do, I googled it and found this perfect guide. I will ducttape it for now and then go for the solution with the screws.

 

[jpetro]

Thank you, I am going to screen print this and save if it in the event I ever need it. I have a 2023 PHEV and assume it is similar. Just found out this week my local car dealership who I dealt with for the past 25 years is no longer a Mitsubishi dealer. My nearest authorized dealership is 145 miles away. I guess I will have to become a backoffice mechanic. Tips like this will be useful. Wrote an email to Mits..Car America and voiced my concern.