Hello,

Title: Gas Tank Cap is supposed to seal tight? Gas Tank Cap Lock is now unlocked
who here thinks a gas tank cap with a lock & key is useless / has more potential for problems?
you don't have to speak on past experience (descriptive) but can be prescriptive

Not too long ago in 2017, Back when I was living in a house near the Beach here in California, there were some heroin addicts (part of the heroin opioid epidemic) who both siphoned gas and put strange things on top of windshields, vandalized cars.

The other day, I looked at my gas tank cap's key, it's quite thin relatively speaking

*Let's also assume it gets lost...

How would one add gas ? Lol....

Pretty much that would be a tough day, to say the least, needing to find an open mobile locksmith if the gas was pretty low due to the gas tank cap being locked without access, for some reason, to the key,

*Now, now I live in an apartment complex in downtown So. Cal, where I have indoor underground parking and a gate that prevents thieves from messing with the gas tank

Here's the interesting part
So, I went to a locksmith at a large chain hardware store, apparently, they don't have my make and model gas tank cap and lock key to make a copy of it,
The clerk was kind of busy and said, "where is it?" and stumbled around and finally found it and handed it back to me

Now imagine I did make a copy of my gas tank cap key, I put the copy at home....I'd have to take a bus or a cab back home and then back to where my car that ran out of gas (or was so low on gas I had to park it) and couldn't open

Question does the gas tank cap lock with key, pose more potential for problems?
I ordered the stock OEM GM part without a lock, this is the part

ACDelco GM Original Equipment GT174 Fuel Tank Filler Cap

some of the reviews for the above were bad on amazn saying that it didn't fit their car ^ even though it said it would

So I ordered the following that has 2 keys

ZBGUN 1 PC Car Fuel Tank Cap, Thickened ABS Locking Fuel Filler Sealing Cover with Key, Automotive Replaces OEM 77300-47020 10504 Safety Accessories, Compatible with Toyota/Chevrolet (Black)

Both of them according to the Fit your Vehicle on-line test field say it fits a 1993 Camaro

I ordered the 2nd one because

The current one with the lock and key is now unlocked by me, but
I left the original one from when I bought it during the beach theft area neighborhood unlocked....it is turned clockwise at 12 turns yet it doesn't click sealed so that it doesn't turn anymore if you try to turn it clockwise it still goes clockwise, but it doesn't pull out either--- it needs to be a total seal (even though unlocked) so that when you open the gas tank cap it gives off a "hiss" right?

Oh, my God, the worry smh
with the 2-5 reviews from the 1st no lock gas tank I ordered 10 minutes ago, sometimes not fiting although the item reviews from customers are at 4.0 at 193 ratings






Should I have not bought both from Amazon and went in-store for one?
You have any suggestions on any easy gas tank cap that fits a 1993 v-6, 3.4 liter base model

Thanks for any help

 

Oh, shoot, I forgot to add, in addition to it being lost....

Let's assume the gas tank cap Key.... breaks into 2 pieces, while trying to lock the gas tank cap--- because it's relatively thin?

 

maybe these gas tank cap keys are designed so that they won't break into 2 when locking, even though they look thin?

 

Update

I found another key somwhere that came with the gas tank cap and lock item

So, I have a total of two (2) keys to open the gas tank cap, no need for a locksmith or a place that copies keys, to give them what I thought was my only key for duplication

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but
I think it's a good idea to have this gas tank cap & locking mechanism, given higher gas prices & the current state of the economy.

I can imagine some crystal meth tweaker, not caring about the condition of his Esophagus and siphoning gas and trying sell my gas for drugs

Now, it gets interesting here....because my current gas tank cap and lock and key is from 2017 (7 years old),

Because of that, I decided to order from autozone the following....

Duralast Locking Fuel Cap 5794

that comes with 2 keys and has a 4.8 out of 5 star review on autozone

(I think the same item being sold between Amazon and Autozone, the 1st place might have a subpar item versus the 2nd place, Ive heard this elsewhere) due to quality control problems?

I might just swap the Duralast for the current one, and it
(by it, I mean the current gas tank cap & lock & key), it doesn't have the make model or brand on the cap I noticed 10 minutes ago, so I could be dealing with a cheap gas tank cap generic item that I bought back in 2017

It's a good brand, Duralast, plus it'll be brand new with newer keys and a newer lock mechanism

Feel free to comment, if you want, if not that's cool, too

 

Well I don't have a locking cap on mine but I live on acreage way out in the sticks with a gate on my driveway and fenced in yard so not much of a worry for me.
Also the car is a fairweather weekend fun car so spends most of it's time in the garage and doesn't get parked in the city anywhere for any length of time.
That said if I was worried about it and had a locking cap I'd get one of those magnetic hide-a-key boxes and keep a spare and a spare ignition key incase of locking the keys in the car or losing them.
I have one on my pickup truck on top of the frame rail incase I ever lose my keys or lock myself out.

 

thank you so much, y2kglide

I definitely will look into that, basically the magnetic hide-a-key, to hide the key(or keys) somewhere on my car

it also sounds like something handy when going to the beach, as keys are often lost or even stolen on beach sand, at the beach

 

Any hardware store that does keys should have them,it's just a little box with a snap tight sliding lid big enough for a couple of keys and it has a strong magnet on it.

 

Here's an interesting Update:
The duralast gas cap w/ lock came yesterday, needs more guesswork than current one-- even though it has a newer set of keys,

The guesswork I'm speaking of is in terms of screwing on and having it lock-- you may note the current one is a simple righty tighty half turn while holding the gas cap to lock the 1st time around. While to remove, it's an easy half turn Lefty loosie with the key inside in order to set the wheel firm and loosen open left wise

I superimporsed the mewly arrived duralast brand gas cap over the current one, the circumference seems the same

What I do know is that the current one although older from 2017 (7 yrs old), with older keys, allowed a hiss or a sigh upon uponening the gas cap which is a Really good sign of a Seal

My mobile mechanic said that although I unearth 2 instances of a gas cap key broken iNSIDE THE GAS CAP, by 2 different people while google searching, 1 who owned an IROC z mid 80s model, the chance of that is super rare

So, I decided to find a LOCal 24 hour mobile locksmith---and explained my situation.

I said I don't have any desire nor want to carry a drill in my car to drill a small hole and cross tip screwdriver into the hole above the gas cap lock, so as to pop it open, is that something yuo would do based on my location. he said yes

What I decided to do is put the duralast gas cap in the back trunk in case I lost the gas cap (they do get lost sometimes as in at the gas sta., although rarely, but that's the whole reason for a tether attachment some use).and in case I needed to get home with a gas cap sealed on due to a loss or misplacement of the gas cap at the gas station.

I also ordered a AC Delco GT 174 gas cap shown below (I was told by autozone that this is the Stock original part for a 1993 Camaro v-6). I will use this AC delco non-locking gas cap that requires 3 clicks clockwise to tighten, once in a while or after I'm no longer interested in a locking gas cap, for some reason; my rationale is that if my current gas cap with lock (the brand of which I don't know) is a good tight seal that it hisses upon opening, and goes on easily the 1st time around and removes easily, then "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." applies....plus I have the ph # of a 24 hr locksmith in my area, to drill a hole and pop open the broke gas cap w/ a key in it, in the rare instance that would happen (as they show in a few yt videos)

So now I have 3 gas caps: 2 with locks, 1 without a lock (any thoughts or concerns are welcomed, as always)

STATUS:READY TO SHIP

ACDelco Fuel Cap GT174

1 at $14.99

 

Now that I've done more research, these gas cap lock and key items are relatively new and like energy drinks invented in the 1990s, some latent problems are showing up

One of which aside from the relatively thin key breaking in the lock, is that over time, the gas fumes and pressure wear out and the teeth will no longer engage, rendering the spin wheel constantly spinning and not getting caught in the groove in order to be open

It's not wortth the hassle, I no longer live in that area with strange heroin and meth beach area neighbors upset that I used to work in government

I will keep it on hand, should I need to move to a worse neighborhood or if I lose the stock gas cap

The stock / factory gas cap for a 1993 Camro v6 turns out to indeed be:

AC Delco Fuel Cap GT174 (the one that says Tighten to 3 clicks on it)
So I will wait for the one on Monday from autozone, I do have the one from amazon, but having to choose between the 2 exact same items, it's best to use the one from Autozone as they don't have too many complaints, and autozone's quality control is a lot better


STATUS:READY TO SHIP

ACDelco Fuel Cap GT174

 

i hope i was helpful to a newbie or other, researching if gas caps with locks are a good idea, and not "everything you wanted 2 know about gas caps with locks but were afraid to ask"

for me wieghing the cost and benefits in an analysis, the worry and potential problems, given i got vid cam's flashing on my dash and rear hatchback interior, which in and of itself avoids the bad guys and i currently park her in an underground garage, it is not worth it for me

In case you wanted to know about the "over time, the fuel fumes and pressure" (i guess the sigh or hiss upon opening the gas cap, wears down the locking mechanism so that it's constantly swiverling (in locked postion)

here's the vid