Cause
Faulty fuel filler door actuator
The actuator locking and releasing the fuel filler door, faulty so it does not open on demand. It is a convenience item until it strands somebody at a filling station, which is exactly when it matters and exactly when it is discovered.
Most vehicles have a manual override — a release cable or a plug behind a trim panel in the boot — and knowing that is more immediately useful than any diagnosis. The module reports the circuit rather than the mechanism, so an open or shorted actuator winding is what the code names.
Water and salt are the mechanism. The actuator sits at the edge of the body where road spray and washing reach it, so a corroded connector or a seized plunger accounts for most failures. Check whether the door is jammed rather than the actuator dead — a stiff hinge or a build-up of dirt in the aperture stops a healthy actuator, and both are visible.
Typically a moderate job.
Codes this can cause (2)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
Information, not instruction
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