Need to adjust charging port hatch

Recently I parked outside the garage a bit too close and when I opened the garage door it brushed against the open charge port hatch. Fortunately it didn't cause any damage, except for throwing it out of alignment. The top of the charge port hatch is now touching the hood and rubs against it when opening or closing it. Needless to say I need to get it adjusted. While I'm sure I could visit the dealer and have it repaired, I'd like to avoid spending several hours in a service department waiting room. Besides, this seems like something that I may be able to adjust easily. Any advice?

If it's now just misaligned on the hinges, there are four bolts that hold the whole hatch it in place - loosen them off and you should be able to adjust it with ease.

However, if it's only the cover on the hatch rather than the entire hatch (ie: the cover and the backing bit that bolts it to the hinges), that is held with four screws and some double sided tape - a bit more tricky, but still doable.....look for the thread that talks about replacing the cover with perspex for license plate mounting. That will give you more detail and some pictures.

Tried adjusting the four bolts. Loosening the bolts made it easy to move the hatch around, but it was already at just about its lowest position. I think I gained a slight amount though. But it seems something is still wrong. It still opens with a noticeable clunk, and I don't think it used to do that. Tell me, when the hatch is closed most of the way, does it move downwards when you press it to lock it in?

johnr said:

Tried adjusting the four bolts. Loosening the bolts made it easy to move the hatch around, but it was already at just about its lowest position. I think I gained a slight amount though. But it seems something is still wrong. It still opens with a noticeable clunk, and I don't think it used to do that. Tell me, when the hatch is closed most of the way, does it move downwards when you press it to lock it in?

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Not downwards, no. Just "inwards"?

Yeah, I didn't think it was supposed to move downward when closing. I couldn't find anything else I could adjust, so maybe there's some problem with the hinges. When I have some spare time I'll drop by the service center and have them take a look.

johnr said:

Yeah, I didn't think it was supposed to move downward when closing. I couldn't find anything else I could adjust, so maybe there's some problem with the hinges. When I have some spare time I'll drop by the service center and have them take a look.

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The other possibility is that you might have tweaked the latching mechanism itself.

If you loosen those nuts be careful that spacers underneath don't come lose and fall out.

See these U shaped black things in this picture?:


They are spacer/shims that may be between hinge and the cover plate. If you loosen then move the cover plate they may fall out.