Gas Cap won't unock!!!

1981 XJ650.
Gas cap will not unlock, had to switch to reserve on the ride home from work tonight. Cap is original.
I tried 'gentle' persuasion, no luck.
A chisel and a hammer are bad for the paint job. :x

How do I remedy this so I can ride to work tomorrow AM?
('tis the season, don't cha know)

 

Did you spray WD40 down the lock hole yet?

 

No WD40 - but I did try Aero Kroil.

The key will not turn, the tumbler wiggles a bit with a turning motion of the key.

But wait, I think it might be something else . . .

 

I don't remember having a slotted key before . . .

 

This is bad . . .
The spline in the middle that remains is worn to a taper and then (as you can see) is missing.
I will ass-u-me that the middle section has snapped off inside of the gas cap tumbler.

Locksmith?
Is there a way to get this off with out wreaking havoc?

 

That sux! Do you have a spare key? Before I went to a locksmith, maybe I'd try to get that broken part out of there. Maybe you can drain the tank and invert it, then try shaking, picking with a fine wire, vacuuming, whatever. Maybe intense vibration or tapping while upside down will make it fall out.

 

That's hysterical. I'm so sorry.

What a bizarre problem?

 

Or maybe compressed air? Just throwing ideas out....

 

No extra key. :-(
Will bring some picks home from work and see if I can get at it - otherwise I think I might be supporting my local locksmith . . . .

 

Shoot some WD 40 in there & try to fish it out with a real small needlenose pliers, tweezers or hemostat.

 

Magnet on a stick. Add that to lubricant and inverting the tank and maybe you'll get lucky. As far as a new key, take the original (with the key code printed in it) to your local Yamaha dealership and they'll make you a brand new one, cut from the code and not just in a duplicator machine.

 

Break a coping saw blade in half and use the broken end to stick down the slot to fish it out. I have done this numerous times to remove broken keys. Works like a charm.

 

Fintip - you better sit down for this one.

Late last night I roll the bike out of the garage on to the drive way. I have a group of dental picks and a coping saw blade on hand. Headlight donned and start peering and probing trying to find the elusive piece.

Nothing is coming out, try doing a blind scrapping in hopes of dislodging the piece and pulling it up. All of a sudden the whole tumbler barrel comes popping out of the gas cap (I was only using dental picks and not that much force) - AND only two beers into this.

I stand there gap jawed looking at the cap and didn't notice where the tumbler launched off to. . . . I can not find the tumbler assembly - anywhere! There is a rose bush and a very large clematis plant that are in the area of the most likely trajectory. Flashlight, headlight searching, searching , searching - shaking plants, looking high and low - even looked in areas that it may have went to if it cleared the garage roof . . . nothing!

Now there is no tumbler in the gas cap, and gentle proding and turning with a screw driver is still not releasing the cap! I am cautious as to not use excessive force. I have a call out to a local locksmith and am awaiting his reply.

All that kept going through my head is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance as I struggled to not freakout over this whole experience . . . but darn it! - I wanna ride!

 

damn...

you may be able to source a new set of tumblers for your ignition/gas cap/helmet lock, or you could just deal with having two keys?

I hate it when shit springs all over the place. i had the same thing happen when i took apart my seat latch/lock. theres still a spring SOMEWHERE in my living room, even thogh i looked literally for hours with no avail.

with the lock core out, i would imagine that its only having to find the right place to poke for the latch to release.

good luck!

 

I poked and poked, twisted and turned.
Talked to a locksmith that told me I should be able to 'slide' it to move the locking latch.
Can't slide it.

I need to find the tumbler so I can better understand what goes where and what should happen when the key is twisted. SO last night directly after work in good sunlight I start the search for the flying tumbler. Clematis plants grow like weeds and the ones with any type of age to them have a very thick undergrowth. Suspecting that the tumbler was lodged in this plant I start shaking and sticking my head in the plant peering for anything shiny (the neighbors are going to be talking about me for awhile . . .) All the while removing several years of dead undergrowth.

Nothing.

Clean the stuff up carefully sifting through it before sending it to the compost pile - nothing. Frustrated, I went inside grabbed a beer and my tobacco pipe. Paced around in the back yard thinking that the tumbler may have launched on to the grass in the back yard if it had enough umph to clear the garage - nothing. Walked back out on to the driveway and just stood there, completely pissed but unable to appropriately vent my rage. So I start thinking; "If I was a tumbler, Where would I go?" I took a side step and felt something under my foot - really, I can't make this stuff up. There it is!

 

All of the little springs and sliding tumbler parts are gone except for 1.
The bottom is stressed and fractured (picture in previous post).

I still tried to re-assemble the lock and make the cap open and now have managed to bugger it up also!!!

Heading to a locksmith to check my options - gonna order a replacement from Chacal.

 

Oh - foregot to mention.
I pried the chrome cover off of the cap AND removed the spring pin on the back - NOTHING.

Nothing is moving AND I have managed to scratch the paint pretty good around the gass cap.!!!! :twisted: :evil:

 

Finally got it fixed and am back on the road. A huge thanks goes out to Dodge County Cycle and Sport Rick and Josh there are really honest people and very helpful. Plus Rick has a MASSIVE collection of old parts for all kinds of bikes.

 

It might be too late, but for future reference, it's pretty easy to do a primitive "re-keying" of these locks. I replaced the broken gas cap on my bike way back, (with a "screw-drivered" lock) and of course the new one had a differenct lock from my key.

I took out the tumbler barrel and slid my key in. It was very clear which tumber didn't lie down flush. (There may be more than one, just depends how close your key is) Then I just removed that one, you could file it down if you are worried about security. But I just got rid of one there and one on my helmet lock(which I couldn't use when I got the bike) and poof! My ignition key fits all locks on the bike. You do obviously have a lock that is less secure, if you just toss some tumblers, but really, who's picking these locks?

I figured this out because I found locksmiths to be useless. At least in my area, anything more than making a copy of a key seems to be beyond them. I said "hey, can you re-key my bike or make a key from the locks that are on it?" They were all like "uh...maybe you can find a different lock to put on there..."

 

HOLY CRAP, what a story!!!


It's a near toss-up between this story and Mapikinea's Carb Cleaning can be dangerous!

Glad you finally got it straightened out.....I've got some coffee to clean off the monitor!


jeff

 

hahaha thanks for sharing this thread with me... i myself had my key brake off but in half i can still use the half key to open it i had to remove the damn ignition to have a key made but still waiting for the blank to come in the mail atm since there isnt one in like 100 miles

 

Damn.... Dude! What a story!

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... erous.html (Carb cleaning can be dangerous)

 

Yup, a good locksmith can do it----I have a wrecked bike that came with no key. I cut the chain mount off so I could carry the chain in for key.

At first, they wouldn't do anything without proof of ownership, but after lots of talking, showing pictures of trophies, restorations, some of my stuff Here on this site...... They agreed to make a key---- would take a couple days to code it ---$42.00.

Well I had the do it. I live 25 min from them----- 10 min after I left, I got a call....." We have a key for you".

Here's what happened--- the guy at the desk said they'd have to use their fancy diagnostic equipment to reverse-engineer the lock, or drill/grind/etc the post til it's small enough to remove, then make the key. After I left, a young fellow from the back came out and and said to let home see it a moment---- he proceeded to pick it and code it in about a minute----LOL

COST was only $35.00

End of story is that the bike already had multiple keys, so that key only works for the chain....back to them again with the tank soon.

The quicker way for a tank, though, is to simply drill it and re-core it.

 

The bike I am working on was stored poorly ... I could not open the XJ650 Maxim fuel cap either, and soaked and jiggled for days to no avail. BUT finally I got it to open ... after carefully prying the chrome cover away (from hinge side), removed the chrome key hole cover and carefully removed the plastic dust guard (with its two tiny springs).
The key still unlocked for a small arc, so I added an angeled screwdriver into the keyhole with the key and with the extra lever power turning to the right the cap unlocked itself and opened, ...now jammed open.... Then I could carefully disassemble and sand smooth and clean the bolting mechanism, and now the cap works smoothly as intended. The culprit was the cast alloy body and its two levers were covered in and jammed by gritty oxide grains which simply jammed the mechanism to nearly immovable. ... A word of warning, you must be as desperate as me and willing to sacrifice the cap to do so, as the srewdriver could bend the softer metal in the lock and the force could damage the locking mechanism...however I was lucky and could make the cap work normally after cleaning.

 

Good video of rebuilding the cap.

 

Your Gas Cap and You