Stuck Gas Cap!

[hyperpasta]

Went to fill my ride last night and the #&*#@$! gas cap spins like a top and won't unscrew! So I'm stuck here until I can get the car towed To the dealer!

I wouldn't mind driving down to the local parts house and picking up a locking cap, but I just can get this POS off of the filler neck! It seems to be a problem that I've read others on the boards have had, but no one mentioned the fix.

Anyone have any advice or tips short of a hammer to coax this POS off?
Should I Dremel the top off? It's soft plastic....08.5 GT

[icspots]

Went to fill my ride last night and the #&*#@$! gas cap spins like a top and won't unscrew! So I'm stuck here until I can get the car towed To the dealer!

I wouldn't mind driving down to the local parts house and picking up a locking cap, but I just can get this POS off of the filler neck! It seems to be a problem that I've read others on the boards have had, but no one mentioned the fix.

Anyone have any advice or tips short of a hammer to coax this POS off?
Should I Dremel the top off? It's soft plastic....08.5 GT

If you're already having the car towed to the dealer I would just let them worry about breaking the thing off of their and get a new one under warranty. If you go chopping it to pieces then they're not going to replace it for free.

[hyperpasta]

Thanks Icspots...

The cost of the cap isn't an issue for me....is hooking the car up to be towed and then off loaded by some tow monkey. (shocked) Then having a dealer wrench who is playing beat the clock to remove the cap. (shocked)

All for a simple plastic gas cap.....

Since the cap is toast I was thinking of drilling a small hole part way into the outer part of the cap and then inserting a small metal rod to pin the upper and lower pieces together, to allow me to spin the cap off.

I just hate doing this stuff blind. I was hoping someone had gone through this fire drill before me.

[Listers]

ran in to this problem once. the cap cocked on the way out so i just reseated it closed and tried again. im sure you tried reseating it before you called for help though so might not be your problem

[hyperpasta]

Hi Listers,

I did just as you mentioned and then some. I tried to push downwards on the cap while turning to get it to bite and even tried to lift the cap while twisting it.

I'm pretty sure there are some plastic dogs under the cap that have sheared.
I just turned a 1000 miles on the odo so I'm pretty sure I haven't wore the cap out! LOL

I love the car and have been getting the bug to do some mods. I have an AEM CIA sitting here next to me and am on my third week waiting for PG to ship me a BPV. I'm thinking a Mid Pipe (second cat delete) for flow and a Hallman manual boost controller to smooth things out PSI boost wise. This should make things more efficient without going over kill. I hope. Hell maybe a turbo inlet pipe... that stocker just looks so bad.....

[chief_wiggum]

i had the same problem on my second fill-up -- sitting at the gas station looking like an idiot trying to get the cap off. I was finally able to get it off, though I'm not sure how. I filled it up and then put it back on and it twisted right off. I've read of similar problems in the Mazda5 forums. If it does it again, I'll take it to the dealer for replacement.

[saranya]

i had the same problem on my second fill-up -- sitting at the gas station looking like an idiot trying to get the cap off. I was finally able to get it off, though I'm not sure how. I filled it up and then put it back on and it twisted right off.

haha, same thing with me when filling my first tank the other day. it was a little different than I was used to with my old mazda 3.

[GoFast]

be careful if you decide to drill/dremel. there is metal under there and all it takes is one spark on that filler neck and BOOOM!! id let the dealer deal with it personally.

[hyperpasta]

Hi All,

Thanks for your tips and advice.
I now have a new cap on my baby!

Seems the aftermarket guys have nothing available for the general public, Locking or Standard. They have part numbers but everything is NA! So before I decided to take a blow torch to the cap, I headed down to a local dealer and scored a cap. The price wasn't pretty! Although he did give me good information that I thought I share will you all.

I hit the local parts guys and found nothing available for an 07-08. While at the dealer the parts pro told me that the caps from 04-08 are all the same! So if your looking for a cheap cap hit up an older aftermarket version. My loss is your gain in knowledge.

Lastly removing the cap....

After holding the new unit in my hand I saw just how cheaply it was made. All plastic with the exception of a metal spring way down below. Matter of fact it was so weak I took a set of vice grips to the handle of the cap and yanked the top half of the cap off. That left the white plastic part in the filler neck. I then used a set of Channel locks to twist out the inner part of the cap.

Sure enough the plastic part that was supposed to hold the inner part locked during rotation was buggered.

The nice thing was nothing fell into the tank at all as I have all the pieces.

Zoom Zoom!

[pointysticks]

they didnt replace the cap under warranty?

[Chaz243]

I had the same problem on my 08 MS3... I ended up ripping the damn thing apart at the pump... The top of the cap popped right off and I threw it in the trash... I now have a cute little naked white gas cap... It has a detent that you can feel when you screw it on and works just fine... Eventually I will get a new one, but I am in no hurry..

[Chris08MS3]

My 1st 2 fillups I had to break the gas cap off in order to get it off. Both times someone at the dealer had but the cap on and both times it was covered under warranty. I'm really careful when I put the cap back on now and only one time is has given me trouble but I just pushed really hard and twisted and it re-seated itself and came off.

Its a VERY poor design but the dealership claims I'm the only one that has had the problem that they know of.

[hyperpasta]

they didnt replace the cap under warranty?

I'm sure they would have.....but I just hate going to the stealerships!

[SwampAss]

My gas cap broke a year ago. I just use a rag.

[iluvstrats]

I've been having the same problem lately. I have to really fool with the damn thing to get it off. Don't know how it finally comes off but it does.

[AjaxUSA]

had the same problem, i snapped mine off and broke it. I used the cap with out the top "clicker" cap till I got my new one. I demanded a warranty cap, which I got.

[speed3demon]

had this problem today as a matter of fact! at the gas station and it was stuck. i twisted the black part right off the dam thing!!the small white plastic part was stuck inside. went to the stealership and grabed a new one(had just enough gas to get there)... he also mentioned if its stuck push on it and it should re set itself...i was unaware of that when i was at the gas station. oh well. def wish there was a better aftermarket cap we could get! only have 1300 miles on my speed also!!!! guess i should make sure i have some pliers to get that white plastic piece out incase it happens again.

[derspi]

So how many Mazda 24/7 forum members does it take to unscrew a gas cap anyway? Sorry, couldn't resist...

[dhois]

Had this happen, too. It started getting tight, then (when the wife took a long trip away from home) stuck for good. AAA man came to her rescue by breaking it off so she could get gas in the car and get home. Under warranty...dealer replaced it when it was in for a new air compressor at under 11,000 miles.

[Chaz243]

So how many Mazda 24/7 forum members does it take to unscrew a gas cap anyway?

None... We just rip the F'r off...

[Chaz243]

I wonder how many of us are driving around with little white gas caps...LOL

I can tell you what is causing them to do this... If you are one of us who ripped the black part of the cap off, I am sure you looked inside it... There are some white plastic parts inside the cap that act like little rachets... They are the "clicky" things you hear when you tighten the cap... They are designed to keep you from overtightening the cap... The problem is that if you get the cap even the slightest bit cross threaded you wont know it until you try to remove it... The threads do not want to back out so what do you do? You twist a little harder... The plastic peices inside give up the ghost pretty easily and now the cap simply spins... There is no "re-setting" it after this happens; its friggin broken...

[hyperpasta]

Stant caps for our Speed3

Regular cap PN# 10853

Locking Cap PN# 10521

I say just upgrade.....(2thumbs)

http://stant.com/part_locator/index.cfm

[Graf Orlok]

I wonder how many of us are driving around with little white gas caps...LOL

Count me in the club. I was seriously in the middle of nowhere when I couldn't get the gas cap off. I was like 'get er done' and twisted the shit out of it til the black part snapped off. Then I could see how cock-eyed the thing was and put a little pressure to straighten it up and it spinned right off. When I got back to town I let the responsible gas station know they effed up my cap (in oregon you're not allowed to pump your own gas). Tomorrow I think I'll tell them this is a fairly common problem so they don't chew up the poor attendant too bad (even though he did cross-thread it). What a POS design this cap is.

[Hank3]

I wonder how many of us are driving around with little white gas caps...LOL

I can tell you what is causing them to do this... If you are one of us who ripped the black part of the cap off, I am sure you looked inside it... There are some white plastic parts inside the cap that act like little rachets... They are the "clicky" things you hear when you tighten the cap... They are designed to keep you from overtightening the cap... The problem is that if you get the cap even the slightest bit cross threaded you wont know it until you try to remove it... The threads do not want to back out so what do you do? You twist a little harder... The plastic peices inside give up the ghost pretty easily and now the cap simply spins... There is no "re-setting" it after this happens; its friggin broken...

Do you think tightening the cap until you just hear one click or two would maybe lessen the chance of the cap getting stripped? I haven't had issues with my cap (yet), but will keep my fingers crossed every time I go fill up now. I know certain cars specify that after hearing one click suffices - or to not overtighten. I just want to be sure I tighten it enough where the gas cap CEL doesn't come on, but not overdoing it where my caps becomes all jacked up.

[us4562]

The gas cap on my 2 month old Mazda 3 has got stuck twice, both times it took 10 minutes to undo. Not good. Does anyone know if Mazda are looking to redesign the cap. I'll go get a new one from the dealer, but I don't have any confidence that the same thing won't happen again.

[J-Villa]

The gas cap isn't even threaded really. there are 2 indentions on each side and they slide about a 1/4 turn to lock in. The clicker designed caps is a patented design by some small company (i remeber reading an article on it somewhere). GM and the other big 1 and a half have used them for a while. As long as your gentle with it (see - not taking it on and off as fast as you can, and only turning ti'll it clicks once) then it will last alot longer. It's cheap plastic... be gentle and you won't be stuck @ the gas station trying to look like he-man on a piece of plastic.

[PyrotekNX]

The gas cap on my 2 month old Mazda 3 has got stuck twice, both times it took 10 minutes to undo. Not good. Does anyone know if Mazda are looking to redesign the cap. I'll go get a new one from the dealer, but I don't have any confidence that the same thing won't happen again.

Mazda acted quick on this one. They recalled all of the old caps and shipped out newly designed ones. Mine broke recently, and they replaced with with one of the resdesigned caps. The dealer told me that I shouldn't be surprised if there is a vehicle recall coming for the cap since it is apparently a very widespread issue.

[us4562]

Can you tell what is different about the new design caps? I got a replacement on Sept. 29 and it looks exactly the same as the old one.

[1BAD5DR]

Just got back from service..>Shitty black part on my gas cap broke off the top white piece of my gas cap to. Dealer gave me a new one. It looks like this one is soon to fail as well...

[hiker11823]

good look guys. I'm on my 3rd cap and going in for a 4th tomorrow. They don't stick every time, but high altitude or very hot weather seems to make it happen???? I use the hammer gentle tap method (like a stuck on jar lid) but doesn't always work.

[pointysticks]

good look guys. I'm on my 3rd cap and going in for a 4th tomorrow. They don't stick every time, but high altitude or very hot weather seems to make it happen???? I use the hammer gentle tap method (like a stuck on jar lid) but doesn't always work.

your kidding me? i am on my second cap. jeez...we must look brilliant tapping our caps off. if it breaks again, i am going with a condom wrapped over the end :D

[us4562]

According to the Mazda guy at my local dealer, the new design gas cap will be out in a couple of months. Until then we're 'stuck' with the old design.

[fernell69]

Add me to the club. Its some embarrassing sh t looking like a p ssy who can't get his gas cap off. The dealer better replace it under warranty.

[340CID]

My gas cap didn't open for me easily the last time I filled up my tank. So when I was in the dealership the other day for its first oil change, I asked them to slam a new one on (which they did).

[BillTheCat]

Just happened to my 09 MS3 this weekend. It eventually came off, but it was a real ordeal. I honestly thought I was going to break it.

[specvspeedfreak]

they replaced mine a while ago. Now I cant remember If i had it prior and never noticed but now i have this pump thingy. If its tuff to open i screw it back tight and pump it then open... and it works! lol... but i dont know, it can be in my head that it really works

[fernell69]

dealer replaced mine without any issues, he knew it was a common issue. they say i got the new design, we'll see how it goes.

[Invictus]

I almost had this issue. I had a couple friends in the car filling up, and I thought I looked like an idiot fiddling with it for nearly a minute. I'll probably give the dealership a call about it tomorrow, see if they'll replace it.

[jland67]

Dealer replaced my gas cap last week under warranty.


Jeremy

[pointysticks]

stupid gas cap!!!

my second gas cap just bit the dust. left me at the station this morning. had to go home to get the subaru. POS!

i guess the warranty piece isnt much better.

[alpoosky]

I had the same thing happen around my 3rd or 4th fill-up. Now here is the amazing part when I went to the dealership to have some work done they actually replaced it with a new one!!!!

[BillTheCat]

I've had this happen 3 times now in 7k miles on my 09 MS3. Each time, my solution was to tighten, loosen, tighten, loosen, until it came off. Worked every time, even if I had to repeat 5-6 times. I have an appointment for service tomorrow, and I think I'll ask them about the gas cap & see what they say.

[BillTheCat]

I was at the dealer for an oil change (full synth) & tire rotation this morning (oddly, the dealer is cheaper for that than most garages in town- wtf?) and I mentioned my repeated minor issues with the gas cap. When the Service Advisor returned, I expected to have a completed oil change & a new gas cap. Nope. He said the filler neck itself had a small abnormality in its threads that was likely binding up the cap on removal, so they needed an extra hour or two to replace the filler neck.

They also offered to put me in a loaner if I had errands to run, etc., so kudos to Ferman Mazda of Brandon (Tampa) for that. I had nowhere to go & plenty of video podcasts stored on my Zune, so I waited.

Of course, I won't be certain that the problem is fixed until I have filled up at least 8-10 times, but for those having cap removal trouble, you may want to specifically ask the dealer to check the threading on the filler neck.