car just about out of gas..cant get the damn gas cap off!

P

pointysticks

Member
grrrr. nothing screams "quality automobile" more than trying to twist off a gas cap at a super crowded gas station. it simply wont budge. it will still click twisting in the tighten direction, but it hits a very hard wall trying to take it off. i couldnt drive it at all this weekend. i was pissed.

could be worse. i could be on a road trip in the middle of nowhere. it is going in for the second bit of warranty work tomorrow morning. is there a cheap aftermarket cap available?
 
The first I've seen mention of this. Only thing I've seen is the check engine light for a bad gas cap that doesn't seal properly??
 
actually this is making me nervous as i have read of this problem already. OP, where are you located? could it be weather related?
 
Many of the gas caps on some new Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 are breaking just as you described. It is covered under warranty, and your dealer should have it in stock. Use your Mazda roadside assitance to get to the dealer and have it covered under warranty with no $$ out of your pocket.

The replacement gas cap should not have any more problems.
 
yea, a quick search indicates that i am not alone.

i am in the bay area, but my car only has 4600 miles on it. what, that is something like 15 fill ups if i average out 300 miles per tankfull? this is definately not weather related. it is very lame.
 
Either the gas caps are POS, or you're closing the hell out of your gas cap with ultimate guerilla strength and torqing the crap to a million ft lbs...
 
Happened to me last week when I inadvertently ran down to 5% capacity (per Dashhawk). I think it was a case of vapor lock. I ket at it & eventually, it came off. I basically got my fingers behind edges of the cap for better leverage. This is not entirely unusual when you run a gas tank down to fumes, but it seems like it shouldn't happen in the age of hydrogen fuel cells & Hubble telescopes.
 
happened to me when the dealership filled it with gas upon delivery. whoever filled it up, cross-threaded it when they put it on.
 
I have noticed you need to press on it when turning that should solve it. Kindof like opening a prescription medicine bottle.
 
no. the cap was toast. the dealership had to destroy it to get it off. no vaporlock. i think the cap is vented, and vaporlock is a heat issue with the fuel delivery anyways.

i got a new cap that (i think) looks different. the shaft portion is now white. smooth cap rotating action...
 
I have had this happen several times, but I retightened, and loosened again, this time wiggling a bit and it comes right off. crappy design.
 
Cheap POS gas caps

That happened to me, I was so irate. Was there for fifteen minutes wrenching on that damned thing before it came loose, it was about my 6th fill up and hasn't happened since. I have about 2900 miles now...
 
the dealership called me friday evening to follow up. (crazy, i know) anyways, he said the new cap is an updated model, and i shouldnt expect anymore trouble from it. tell you the truth, i cant remember what my old one looked like. i thought it was all black.

they had to put a wrench on the broken one to snap it off. if this happened on a road trip at some off the beaten path station, i would have been hosed.
 
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