Quick whining noise when shutting down car? (Sometimes when unlocking doors)

Augustus

Resurrecting an old thread here, but thought I might help...

11K miles on my 2011. For the past couple of months, I've also had this occasional 1-second "brrrpt" whiney noise from the right-rear when I shutdown the car. Seems like it's become more frequent as the weather cools off. Before really investigating, I felt it was the fuel pump or evap system doing some kind of purge too. But I get the door lock/unlock thing too sometimes, so that doesn't make sense. While detailing my Z last weekend, I figured it out.

It's the fuel-filler door locking mechanism.

If you get this noise, open your fuel-filler door (just the door, not the cap), then cycle through lock & unlock with your key fob. Car doesn't need to be running. Observe the fuel-filler door locking mechanism. It's plainly obvious on mine that it's this mechanism when retracting/unlocking that's making the noise. If I grab hold of the latch, I can feel it vibrate. I can even change the pitch of the noise if I put pressure on the plastic hook part (making the solenoid struggle or whatever it is).

It also makes sense why it would show up in other Nissan's, as I'd bet they have a locking fuel door too that probably uses the same part.

I tried fiddling with it a little bit. I hit it with some silicone lube & tried to work it down the cylinder, but it didn't seem to help. I was thinking of hitting it with a little 3-in-1 oil, but haven't yet.

I plan on having the dealership take a look at it on the next oil change, but since I know it's not the fuel pump and just this latching mechanism, I'm far less concerned about it. Though I suppose if it failed completely, it could refuse to unlock the fuel door, which would kind of suck.

Hope this helps someone.