Gas cap ignition barrel removal

Hello All,
Has anyone removed the ignition barrel from a 81 xj750 gas cap?
I have it all disassembled. There is a small pin hole that a bearing sits on top off which I thought would release the barrel once the key was in and turned.
No luck.

Thanks,
Steve

 

Mine's an 85 XJ700N and I dont know if they are the same.

Well if this helps, the man who cut my keys for my bike had my tumbler out as I had keyed parts from 3 different bikes and to make them the same he ground the pins to the same length with one key in it.

I didnt see him take it apart but I watched him push it back in and the key worked.

This whole key thing on an older bike takes a keysmith, or at least the smith can do it easier than me.

Good Luck

 

You will need to displace a spring loaded tab located at the bottom of the barrel. Remove the bottom assembly of the fuel cap and it will be visible. Typically, this tab is covered by dried up grease so you might wish to clean up a little bit before you poke around in there. A mechanic's scribe with a jewelers screwdriver ended up the tools of choice when I did this (6 times with no complaints). Good luck!

 

Weird, I was just trying to do this over the weekend..

Robert, when you say 'displace' do you mean push it in toward the center? I tried this, but its a really tight squeeze getting tools in there.

Any help is appreciated.
Dan

 

You are correct Dan, I'm sorry for not mentioning it. You are also right about it being a tight squeeze, it is! Thus the use of a very thin bladed jeweler's screwdriver is highly recommended. And clean the heck out of the cylinder to remove any contaminates that might gum up the tab and keep it from sliding easily. Shoot it out with WD-40.

 

Thanks. I'll give it a try tonight.

Dan

 

Also, once you get that lower retaining tab pushed in, and thus release the cylinder, just be VERY careful as you withdraw the cylinder out of the gas cap housing, as there are 5 of those little SPRING-LOADED tabs (actually, the key tumbler followers) and as you withdraw the cylinder from the housing, they will try to pop-out of the cylinder and get lost forever.....as will the tiny TINY springs that provided their spring loading. If just one pin tumbler falls out, no big deal; if two or more do, then which one goes back into which position? You won't know, and thus your original key won't operate it anymore.

Moral of the story: withdraw the assembly REALLY slowly, and in some type of area that can "capture" any enthusiastic tumblers/tiny springs if they feel so inclined to escape......

 

Thanks for the warning, Chacal, I'll be extra careful.

Dan

 

That tab Robert mentioned is essentially and extra tumbler, it can fly too.

I recently had to do some work on my seat lock. I found that inserting the key before pulling the cylinder kept the tumblers in place. I did need to pull the key out just a hair as when it was all the way in it seemed to block that end tab from releasing.

 

I had to pull the key out just a bit also, which meant that the key needed to stay in the locked and upright position (don't turn the key). WD-40 and a straight dental pick did the trick for me.

 

Thanks for the input Robert. Are you a machine? I think every question I've had has been answered by you!
Is there anything you haven't done to your bikes?
Yamaha should put you on the payroll...
Thanks again...
Steve

 

yeah, definitely have the key in the lock, it will hold on to the tumbler followers and keep them from going airborne.

 

Sir,
Nay, I am flesh and blood.
As far as the bike, I have not ever had to tear open the rear differential nor have I painted my frame.
I would love to take a position at Yamaha, purveyor of NOS parts!!!