There I stood at the gas station, daydreaming in the general direction of our 2011 Honda Odyssey. This is what I was seeing. From nowhere an idea snuck into my head. Hey, what would happen if I opened the sliding door right now?
I took precautions to control this experiment as much as possible. Primarily, I returned the nozzle back to the pump. This would at least limit the property damage. Then I yanked the sliding door handle.
Nothing happened. I confirmed it was unlocked and tried again. Nothing. I used the remote and pressed the button inside the cabin, both with the same result. I closed the fuel door and all methods to open the sliding door worked as designed. Open the fuel door again. No slider.
Just when I thought I'd outsmarted Honda, somebody beat me to it. Well, it's nice to know the car has this feature.
Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager @ 20,640 miles
the_big_al says:
03:22 AM, 02/10/12
This is issue was addressed a LONG time ago back when Chrysler debuted the dual sliding doors. They devised a way to keep the door from opening while fueling. Since then I am sure this has been a standard safety feature of every make and model that has had dual sliders and a gas door such as this.
machplane says:
04:50 AM, 02/10/12
My 2003 Odyssey actually locks that sliding door when the fuel door latch is pulled, so you will have to remember to unlock when you are done filling up. This is pretty cool that they improve upon that.
bullfrog34 says:
05:07 AM, 02/10/12
+1 on Big Al - My parents had a 1996 T&C (without power sliding doors - that didn't come until a bit later). It was configured so that you couldn't open the driver side sliding door when the fuel door was open.
blueguydotcom says:
05:41 AM, 02/10/12
Hm... why not just have the fuel filler in the back corner bumper and maybe that way the doors and trunk can still be opened or the front? Maybe it wouldn't work but it's still kinda odd to me to have a door not be operable during fueling.
billt9 says:
06:16 AM, 02/10/12
blueguydotcom,
I don't think your design would pass crash testing. KABOOM!
foxtrot685 says:
06:31 AM, 02/10/12
Plus, does it really take that long to refuel? Is the whole 5-7 minutes of not being able to open 1 out of 4 doors really worth a whole lot of money being poured into R&D to move a fuel filler neck?
bankerdanny says:
06:43 AM, 02/10/12
Foxtrot: I am going to guess you don't have kids. The risk of an adult opening the door is not the primary reason for this safety feature. As far as the filler goes, there is a lot going on in the back of a minivan, folding seats, storage compartments, various motors. Moving a fuel filler neck might actually be quite expensive.
blueguydotcom says:
07:05 AM, 02/10/12
@billt - um... so putting it on the front fender is dangerous? Or in the back? Since when?
It's not cars with fuel fillers in the rear or front are unheard of...
festiboi1 says:
07:27 AM, 02/10/12
My ex-boyfriend's 1990 Nissan Axxess had dual sliding doors (six years ahead of Chrysler) and it had a lever under the fuel door that had to be pulled to expose the gas cap. That lever would lock the sliding door. Maybe a little low-tech, but it worked and was fool proof. Nissan thought of everything 22 years ago
DLu says:
08:05 AM, 02/10/12
"I am going to guess you don't have kids." Not just kids my friend -- my mother-in-law was able to open the sliding door in this scenario in our Sienna. It did hit the fuel door/gas nozzle and retracted.
foxtrot685 says:
09:01 AM, 02/10/12
bankerdanny - reread my post. Someone before me asked if the fuel filler neck could be moved so that all doors could be opened while refueling. t is not worth it as refueling doesnt take that long and there are 3 other doors that can be utilized in that 5-7 minutes it takes to get gas. Also, as I stated, the research and development (R&D as I used in my response) it would take would make it expensive for the manufacture, which is not worth it. It appears we agree with each other.
baggs32 says:
09:07 AM, 02/10/12
I'm guessing there is a sensor attached to the fuel door somewhere right? Is said sensor impervious to the inevitable gas splashes that go on in that area? I would think splashing gas on an unprotected sensor would corrode it and cause it to fail over time so I hope they thought of that too.
woochifer says:
09:10 AM, 02/10/12
Yep, our Mazda5 has a similar lockup feature connected to the fuel filler door. The sliding door will open, but it will not slide all the way down the track until the fuel filler door is closed. Smart design because we have tried opening the door a couple of times at the pump without thinking about it. Could have done some damage to both the door and the pump if the slide stopper hadn't been in place.
gslippy says:
10:43 AM, 02/10/12
As others have said, this has been a standard feature on minivans since the 90s.
These Captain Obvious posts are like the ones that say "look how much stuff this minivan can hold!". Umm, yeah.
bimmerjay says:
11:07 AM, 02/10/12
Yeah the Chrysler vans had this since 1996 but they also failed frequently. I have a relative with kids that has owned a couple Grand Caravans since then and I think they've had to replace the fuel door at least 5 times. It's been a running joke in our family that Costco should stock 10 packs of Chrysler minivan fuel doors. I also remember reading back in 1999 or so that one of their top warranty problems was failed protection mechanisms and broken fuel doors.
Hopefully Honda built a better mousetrap.
pontiaksolsice says:
12:54 PM, 02/10/12
2003 Pontiac Montana did this as well, although the door could open to a point and then it would abruptly stop.
I think this was a slightly better solution because the door could still be used, just not to its full potential. The downfall? Eventually whatever mechanism that kept the door from fully opening while the fuel door was open eventually would stick and the door would randomly not open all the way. A very minor thing in my mind.
pontiaksolsice says:
12:54 PM, 02/10/12
2003 Pontiac Montana and related GM minivans did this as well, although the door could open to a point and then it would abruptly stop.
I think this was a slightly better solution because the door could still be used, just not to its full potential. The downfall? Eventually whatever mechanism that kept the door from fully opening while the fuel door was open eventually would stick and the door would randomly not open all the way. A very minor thing in my mind.
blueprint1 says:
06:37 AM, 02/11/12
My 2003 Honda Mousetrap still works very well, and besides us parents have the child locks active all the time.
church123 says:
04:58 PM, 02/11/12
@baggs32 - gas is not generally corrosive to most automotive materials. In fact, while it is a solvent for other petroleum products, gas is generally a pretty good preservative.