Stuck 2002 lemans locking gas cap will not unlock

[OGGUZZI]

Corroded lock cylinder

[docc]

Try pressing the cap firmly into the tank, then turning the key.

Otherwise, insert the tube of your favorite spray lubricant into the key slot and "fill 'er up." Work the key back and forth gradually increasing force. Perhaps even let it sit overnight and repeat . . .

Good luck with the "new-to-you" Le Mans! You're in the right place to get it sorted!

[gstallons]

Make sure this key will work on the helmet lock and seat unlock before you get real !

[p6x]

What is the thinking behind needing to lock the gas cap on a vehicle?

None of my cars have it;

Is this to prevent cheeky fellows to baptize your fuel? in the old days, you could siphon gas from the tank, but they installed a filter that prevent reaching the tank with a hose.

Why then?

[GuzziMoto]

1 hour ago, p6x said:

What is the thinking behind needing to lock the gas cap on a vehicle?

None of my cars have it;

Is this to prevent cheeky fellows to baptize your fuel? in the old days, you could siphon gas from the tank, but they installed a filter that prevent reaching the tank with a hose.

Why then?

No doubt for some people a locking gas cap is useful. It would prevent both people stealing gas from your tank and also prevent people from putting foreign objects / substances into your tank. I don't live or frequent places where a locking gas cap is overly useful to me. I really don't need one. That said, the V11 Sport came with a locking gas cap and the OP is having and issue where that locking mechanism is stuck. To be fair, it could be stuck even if it wasn't a locking gas cap. Unless your gas cap is screw on, most all gas caps have some sort of mechanism to secure it to the gas tank. Whether that mechanism uses a key or just a knob doesn't really enter into it, unless you think a gas cap that secures with a knob you twist would be less likely to seize up then the stock mechanism operated with a key. That could be true, but either way the OP needs to free up his current presumably key operated mechanism now.

gstallons suggestion to make sure the key being used operates the seat lock and / or steering lock before you get too crazy with it. It is always possible that it is not the right key. I don't know about others here, but I have tried to use the wrong key on a motorcycle.

[gstallons]

That is why I got an Oberon fuel cap for the red frame and stuck the old cap in the box and put it above the doorway . Problem : it has been up there so long the part # has faded away and I can't remember the application to get the right one ?

[Lucky Phil]

9 hours ago, p6x said:

What is the thinking behind needing to lock the gas cap on a vehicle?

None of my cars have it;

Is this to prevent cheeky fellows to baptize your fuel? in the old days, you could siphon gas from the tank, but they installed a filter that prevent reaching the tank with a hose.

Why then?

Modern cars have anti syphon components built into the fuel filler tube. Motorcycles don't as that would be impractical on a motorcycle and adversely affect the tank capacity so they use a locking cap instead. 

Phil

Edited May 15 by Lucky Phil

[p6x]

On 5/15/2025 at 6:32 PM, Lucky Phil said:

Modern cars have anti syphon components built into the fuel filler tube. Motorcycles don't as that would be impractical on a motorcycle and adversely affect the tank capacity so they use a locking cap instead. 

Phil

I don't think I have ever heard about someone's motorcycle tank being siphoned. Now, in the late 60's, when I started my two wheels adventure with a moped, I did hear some revenge stories of sugar cubes being dropped in gas tanks.

But I would agree to rather safe than sorry.

This goes into the same order of idea, to install D-ring locks on motorcycles, so you would not need to carry it around with you. I got my helmet stolen once, for not using that lock. But that was then, the 70's and France.

Here in Texas, since I started riding in 2021, my helmet stays on my bikes, the ignition key in the ignition.

So far, so good... maybe time will prove me wrong, but I like to not always think that I am surrounded by a hostile environment. Insofar, I have nothing but good stories to remember. Including people stopping because I am on the side of the road, thinking I needed help.

Edited May 17 by p6x

[audiomick]

35 minutes ago, p6x said:

... I like to not always think that I am surrounded by a hostile environment.

Yes, I try and cultivate that attitude. Most people are good.

Unfortunately, one must indeed be a little cautious here in Leipzig. Petty crime is present, and I wouldn't leave helmet or tank-bag or keys on the bike unsupervised.

I have had someone tamper with the V11 Le Mans here. It was parked outside the opera whilst I was at work, i.e. in the city centre until about 11:30 p.m. .

The bike was where the green marker is. The red marker is where the police station is, only 90 m. away.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=fossgis_osrm_foot&route=51.341318%2C12.380776%3B51.341499%2C12.379438#map=19/51.341405/12.380149

I don't know if it was an attempt to steal the bike or just wanton vandalism, but someone broke off the back of the ignition lock.

A similar senseless act was someone breaking off the battery powered LED tail-light on my bicycle outside the theatre in Heilbron whilst I was at work there. The light was fixed into the mount, and would not have been able to be mounted on its mount after being broken out, even if the thief had the right mount for it.

 

So yes, most people are good, but there are some idiots out there. The theft or damage is all the more annoying when it is senseless.

Edited May 17 by audiomick

[p6x]

1 hour ago, audiomick said:

Yes, I try and cultivate that attitude. Most people are good.

Unfortunately, one must indeed be a little cautious here in Leipzig. Petty crime is present, and I wouldn't leave helmet or tank-bag or keys on the bike unsupervised.

I have had someone tamper with the V11 Le Mans here. It was parked outside the opera whilst I was at work, i.e. in the city centre until about 11:30 p.m. .

The bike was where the green marker is. The red marker is where the police station is, only 90 m. away.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=fossgis_osrm_foot&route=51.341318%2C12.380776%3B51.341499%2C12.379438#map=19/51.341405/12.380149

I don't know if it was an attempt to steal the bike or just wanton vandalism, but someone broke off the back of the ignition lock.

A similar senseless act was someone breaking off the battery powered LED tail-light on my bicycle outside the theatre in Heilbron whilst I was at work there. The light was fixed into the mount, and would not have been able to be mounted on its mount after being broken out, even if the thief had the right mount for it.

 

So yes, most people are good, but there are some idiots out there. The theft or damage is all the more annoying when it is senseless.

Unfortunately, Europe has become a very different place from that of my infancy memory.

During the 60's, France needed man power to get the manufacturing going, and there wasn't enough available to go around. Bringing people with many differences, including social level, educational level, introduced inequality.

Furthermore, I have lived in places where your apparent difference automatically makes you a target. It feels weird to me that it now happens in Paris, where there have been multiple attempts to kidnap cryptocurrencies management individuals or their family in broad daylight, the last one only a few days ago... this could never happen here! the kidnappers would not survive the attempt....

I appreciate that here, in Texas, I am not confronted with the same problems which I had to affront in other places. I am not saying that everything is perfect here, far from it, but I appreciate that I can park my bikes anywhere, and not worry about finding them again after.

 

Edited May 17 by p6x

[gstallons]

On 5/14/2025 at 7:00 AM, OGGUZZI said:

Corroded lock cylinder

Did you get the cap unlocked ?

[docc]

@OGGUZZI, I have been thinking that it may not be the lock cylinder, but the two "catches" that hold the cap to the underside of the filler neck.

In that case, I wonder if pressing down on the cap and working the cylinder repeatedly might break it loose. Or, perhaps, give the cap a gentle, but abrupt, *rap* with a rubber mallet or plastic cased deadfall hammer.

[gstallons]

Push it down and get the pressure off the lock and turn it to loosen it.