Petrol cap disaster

[sully]

On the way back home from cranleigh classic car show today on the M25 there was a big bang from the back of the car, i looked in the mirror and saw my petol cap (which was admired by some people) bouncing on the motor way, I quickly stoped but was to late as the road was so busy so I just stuck a piece of cloth over the hole and drove away.  :'(  Lucky I have spares!


Sully

[jaymanek]

Sorry to hear! And we were talking about it just last week.

[IXLR8]

My wife lost a stone from her diamond ring some time ago.

I know how you feel, except I don't have a spare wife.


Joe

[Larry & Norma]

Cost me £167 for a new one when it happened to me

[Richard Madison]

Shortly after buying a new chrome cap with the MB logo for mucho $$, the cap fell off somewhere between my garage and the annual gathering at the Mercedes North America headquarters in Montvale NJ, a distance of some 25 miles.

Reason for the fall off: I didn't know that the cap must be turned quite tightly until it hits the Stop tab. I had stopped turning when the cap first became tight and that's not enough.

Anyway, after returning home with a plastic bag over the gas filler pipe, I searched along every street and curb from the garage to the entrance to a highway, about 6 city blocks. If the cap fell off past the entrance to the highway, it would be gone forever.

I remember it was raining very had that evening and I got soaked. With a flashlight, I looked under every parked car, along the curbs, even on the sidewalk in case someone had found and moved the cap. No Luck.

The next day, in daylight, I took a last look. Eyes sweeping back and forth like radar, I went slowly up each street toward the highway entrance. The entrance has a low wall along curve separating the entry from highway traffic.

Just about ready to give up for good when a chrome highlight caught my eye. A spot of light at the base of the entry wall about one foot from the end of the wall and the high speed roadway.

It was the cap...signaling...Here I am !

I nearly jumped for joy but instead danced my way carefully across the entry lane barely avoiding cars getting onto the highway.

The cap was undamaged. I was very thankful that it fell off at just that spot. A foot or two further and no cap.

I now tighten the cap all the way to the stop. In New Jersey where self-service gas filling is not permitted, I always put the cap on myself, nice and tight.

Richard M, NYC

[71Beige280SL]

That's akin to finding a needle in a haystack. You should go buy a lottery ticket!!

[Raymond]

My first locking cap dissappeared when it wasn't tightend properly by someone else who was helping.  Then I got a new one.  It is so tight that I have to use both hands to get it to the stop.  The cork gasket is shredding a bit more each time I use it.  The new cork is obviously too thick and I thought it might eventually seat and be better, but after 4 years that obviously hasn't worked.  I will need to replace the gasket very soon.  I don't want to do cork again.  Does anyone have a suggestion for a replacement gasket that would be the right thickness and pliability?

[Norm]

Get the blue rubber one from the Classic Center.

Norm

[Jordan]

Ray, I hear ya, I also have to use two hands to tighten it.  I never let anyone else open or close the cap (we have a lot of full service stations where I live) because I do not want to spend another $200 on another one.  My cork is holding up (although it has only be a year) but I had also wondered about getting something else in the future.  Thanks Norm for the rubber tip. 

[badali]

A funny thing happend the other day with mine.  I used to be able to turn it at least a quarter turn when I put it on.  I couldn't turn it at all so I looked at it on the back.  There is a spring that makes some tension to help hold the cap once it is turned.  I put a few drops of 3 in one oil on the spring and part that slides and now it goes on like it used to.

[Iconic]

I have the same problem and I have the blue gasket. So the blue gasket is not necessarily a solution. (I need two hands to take off and put on the cap. Sometimes I need to put on gloves to get enough grip.)
I've used lubricant on the blue gasket, and it helps for a short while.
I can't want to try Brad's solution. Hopefully later today.
Thank you Brad.

[escapee]

Hi guys, I just got mine w113 1965 not long ago, right-hand drive. The petrol cap cannot be locked, so i figure i need to replace with one that is lock enable. So i downloaded the Miller's brochure for the W113 parts and found these:

31-0042A Gas cap - locking - non vented
31-0042B Gas cap - locking - non vented - original with MBZ star – chrome
31-0042C Gas cap - non locking - non vented - with MBZ star
31-0043 Gas cap - locking - VENTED - original with MBZ star

Question 1: Mine is a RHD, but the part for the petrol cap should b the same right?

Q2: Should i buy the VENTED or non vented type, i stay in a tropical country where it is pretty hot and humid all year round.

Q3: The part number quoted in the Miller's brochure, are they the same as the original part number from MB? Anybody has any experience of ordering from them? If not, any good website for me to find the correct part numbers?

many thanks in advance. 

[JamesL]

Same cap LHD/RHD

I seem to recall vented chrome (2nd one) is what you'd be after. Do a search on the site for vented gas cap

[Jordan]

escapee, the gas caps should be the same for both LHD and RHD, and they are non-vented.  The Miller part numbers are their own and not the same as MB's numbers.  The MB gas cap number was 000 471 20 30 which I believe has been changed to 000 471 01 80.  Best be sitting down when you ask the price.  The key for the gas cap and doors are normally the same.  If you know your key code, the MB Classic Center can have a cap made for you so you can use your existing key, otherwise you will have to carry an extra key.  In addition to the gas cap you will need the cork gasket seal ring, part number 110 471 00 80.  If my numbers are incorrect someone will hopefully correct me.
cheers
Marcus

[Sirasila]

The same thing happened to me in Thailand about 12 years ago. In the rear view mirror I saw my petrol cap bounce and went over the car behind me almost causing an accident.  Good thing it didn't damage anything or hurt anyone.
I'm happy to say now that I use a nice looking chrome non-locking cap I bought for the equivelent of 20 USdollars.  It's nice and secure and since most places I will drive around here won't have the trouble of fuel theft, I don't feel the need for a locking one.

[Cees Klumper]

My wife lost a stone from her diamond ring some time ago.
Joe

My wife lost the center diamond out of her wedding ring last January. As big as that stone was, of course in the bigger scheme of things it was tiny. Of course searching was to no avail.

Then, a couple of months later, I am vacuuming the floor of the Volvo. Thorough as i am, I lift the floormat to just get what's underneath there and I am sort of half-glancing at what is going on, and then I just catch a flash of white light, in the split second that it would take, say a diamond, to be sucked into the vacuum.

So I get all excited, walk into the house with the vacuum cleaner bag and start to empty the contents on the dining room table. I don't say anything but of course my wife suspects why I am doing this. We both watch as stuff comes out and, sure enough, a little piece of ... glass ... tumbles out. Hmmm. What a disappointment. We're running late to an appointment and my wife says, oh well, let's go but I don't give up and shake some more. And then the diamond falls out ...!

The next day, the car was going in for service at Volvo's and I had forgotten this but they always give the cars a good cleaning inside and out before giving it back to the customer. So:

- if I hadn't been looking while vacuuming
- if the stone had not been laying face-up as it was being sucked up
- had I stopped emptying out the bag after the piece of white glass fell out
- had I not decided to vacuum that last day the diamond would have been there

it would have for sure been lost forever.

Now back to gas caps!

[JamesL]

Am I the only one that finds it really worrying that Cees feels it necessary to clean his Volvo BEFORE the garage gets hold of it? You running drugs in the thing or something??

[Benz Dr.]

I put a bit of white grease on the locking tabs. This seems to be where it gets hard to turn.

  You wouldn't believe what I've found in cars that I work on. You name it and I've seen it.
The best one was the time this guy came in with a strange noise coming out of his engine. It sounded like a blender on high speed when I increased the RPM's.
So I did some testing trying to locate this odd noise and found that it was coming from the top of the engine. I removed the valve cover and found a rag that was wound around the cam shaft. After we finally got it removed it trurned to be a woman's frilly underwear - a really hot chick kind of stuff G string. 

 When the guy came back to pick up his car I showed him what was making the noise. I guess he forgot to put the oil cap back on and it was lost on the road. The engine started smoking and it was entering the car so he pulled over to check it out. Seeing the problem, he found the only thing that would work. 

I gave him points for being creative in more ways than one. Apparently, he only had to go a short distance and figured the '' replacement oil cap '' fell off under the car. He bought a new one and never gave it another thought until I showed him what I had discovered. His wife was sitting oustide in the car waiting and I'm pretty sure they weren't hers ( uh, like way too small ? ) so I discreetly tossed them into the garbage can.
 Best laugh we had all year.   

[douglas dees]

I replaced my cork seal with the blue one and it tightens nicely and so far no lost caps. I always take it on and off so I have no one to blame except myself. I did buy a spare though, just in case I lose it one day.
Doug Dees

[escapee]

escapee, the gas caps should be the same for both LHD and RHD, and they are non-vented.  The Miller part numbers are their own and not the same as MB's numbers.  The MB gas cap number was 000 471 20 30 which I believe has been changed to 000 471 01 80.  Best be sitting down when you ask the price.  The key for the gas cap and doors are normally the same.  If you know your key code, the MB Classic Center can have a cap made for you so you can use your existing key, otherwise you will have to carry an extra key.  In addition to the gas cap you will need the cork gasket seal ring, part number 110 471 00 80.  If my numbers are incorrect someone will hopefully correct me.
cheers
Marcus

thanks for your detail explaination, but i think it will be too much trouble to get MB classic center to have a cap custom made. My dad said he will bring the cap to custom made a key, as its the easiest option. But i did learnt from here that its better to grease the cap to ensure the tightness and to always open and close the cap yourself when refilling up.

Btw, i would like to learn more about ordering from MB classic centre, is there a thread about it?

Cheers

[Raymond]

I put a very light coating of petroleum jelly on the cork and it seems to work a treat.  I figured that the cork was being torn up around the edges anyway so there was nothing to lose.   It's only been 2 weeks, I'll see what happens over time.

[hauser]

I just returned from Europe where I rented a Renault Megane diesel with a six speed manual gear box.  When I needed to refuel the car there was no gas/diesel cap but a rubber cap was mounted to the door.  Hard to loose a cap when there is no cap to be lost.