Hi, I went to fill the bike with petrol this morning and the filler cap won't open. The key goes in, turns, but the cap doesn't open. Has any body come across this before? I tried unbolting the whole cap, but you need the cap open to remove it. Any ideas? TIA
Are you pressing down as you turn the key?
Mine has always needed a bit of pressure on the front of the cap to get the key to turn the full 90 degrees, other wise the pressure from the seal lifting the cap jams the retaining bit of the lock out.
Yeh I tried that. The key turns a full 90 degrees but it still won't open
Ahh bugger then!
I'd think you'd need to unscrew the whole thing as you've tried before & force it up from the back, I don't know another way to get into them. But then I've never had a problem with mine to need to try.
Geez! that'd be very inconvenient, especially so if you were away touring.
Kiwicol, do you mean, unscrew the whole cap and force it out? Normally the cap has to be unlocked and open to remove the whole cap
It may be worth spraying some WD40/Plusgas into the lock and working the key for a while, spray a bit more and leave over night and hope for the best. What ever you do dont damage the tank as they are getting up towards the £1000 mark new now :thumbs_down:
Sounds like the internals of the lock are not aligning correctly with the turn of the key. If the WD40 combined with a fiddle with the key trick doesn`t work why not try a lock pick? Thinking outside of the box, if I were you i`d call a professional locksmith and get an opinion - desperate measures and all that.....
I think Hooli was referring to go from under the tank. remove the fuel pump etc and you should be able to get to the underside of the cap and use a long screw driver to perhaps push the lock tabs back into the housing which will then let you lift up the cap. Hope that makes sense.
OK silly question.....have you tried your spare key?
Remove pump as said, turn your key 90° put downward pressure on the cap and push the front tab of the cap in. The rear one is fixed and does not move.
Failing that you may be able to get those two screws out.
Warning....there is some tiny shit inside that cap, ball bearing, spring....stuff
(mine is much lighter after loosing them)
Quote from: Kiwifruit on Friday, 19 March 2021, 08:06 AM
OK silly question.....have you tried your spare key?
You may be able to drop those two screws out if you take the pump out.
Spare key is a very good call
Be careful as you go with these screws, they look like cheap JIS screw heads which will round off easily with a standard pozi screwdriver
ZHeF1aoKQKo
I got it sorted. Thanks for all the replies. The key was turning and unlocking, but the cap was still catching on something that was stopping it from opening. I took the screws out around the cap. Once the screws are out you can wiggle the cap out.Once it was out I couldn't see any corrosion or any other reason why it could of stuck. I covered the whole thing in wd40 and put it back in. Working no problem now.👍
Easy fixes are the best ones.
Quote from: grog on Friday, 19 March 2021, 10:30 AM
ZHeF1aoKQKo
Good find Grog, I wonder how many of us will be cleaning fuel tank caps this weekend :cheers:
I had the issue that the flap covering the key access was stuck down. There's a little ball bearing on a spring acting as a detent sitting under the flap. This had gotten stuck due to galvanic corrosion.
I had to slowly wiggle the cover up and down until it released, it ended up breaking the alu casting holding the ball in, so now the cover flap doesn't get held in place when closed, but still works fine and visually looks fine
That reminds me of smashing my pillion pegs up & down with a big hammer until the ball bearing moved enough to let them be used. Same cause too.
Can you buy replacement filler caps that don't require a key?
I'm new to the world of bikes so please forgive me if this is common knowledge. Wouldn't mind replacing mine as I'm scared this'll happen or my key will snap
Baring really old 1970s & before stuff I can't think of a bike without a key slot in the petrol cap, so probably not.
Funnily enough i`ve always found Suzuki locks & keys to be a bit dodgy. To make me feel better (!) I apply a single drop of 3in1 light oil into my lock every now and again, rightly or wrongly, and it seems to help.
Quote from: J16SDA on Wednesday, 31 March 2021, 04:20 AM
Can you buy replacement filler caps that don't require a key?
I'm new to the world of bikes so please forgive me if this is common knowledge. Wouldn't mind replacing mine as I'm scared this'll happen or my key will snap
I bought this Oberon cap - great quality but pricy :)
@J16SDA
They look good Notty. Around $200 posted here. I would worry someone can open without key. I find my cap a PIA, wont stay folded back when open. Just how it is i guess. Bad design.
@DP1400 You'd be better off using a graphite based pub on your locks as oil turns into a past that can actually wear them out faster .
Good to know seth, cheers :onya: