Stuck Fuel Filler Cap

[gandy]

Hi,

Our boat has the old style screw on filler caps for both fuel and water. Similar to the now discontinued item listed by Trafalgar for older Westerlies ...

Our fuel cap is now seriously stuck, I ended up bending my chain wrench trying to shift it. Also tried a blow lamp to see if heating it up made any difference. I can't work out how to get any sort of penetrating oil into the relevant place. If any one has any suggestions about how to shift it, these would be appreciated.

Thanks, Tony S

 

[Malish]

If you've tried heat then how about cold - the freezing spary that plumbers use might help it free up if you can cool the cap more than the fitting

Scrub this suggestion.. Didn't see the image...

 

[paul-essex]

If you've tried heat then how about cold - the freezing spary that plumbers use might help it free up if you can cool the cap more than the fitting

for freezing you would have to get the fitting colder than cap



remove the complete unit turn upside down and fill with penetrating oil plus your chain wrench could have crushed it

 

[MoodySabre]

Repeated tapping with a light hammer might help to break the corrosion. Also trying to tighten it up sometimes gets things moving.

 

[CLB]

Finally, a benefit to having a gas guzzling mobo. We have to fill up so often there is no hope of the filler ever getting corroded on!!!!!

Hope you get it removed.

 

[Robin]

Back in the stone age when we had a westerly 33 I used one of those rubber strip strap wrench gizmos and after that greased the fitting copiously with teflon grease. In extremis it is a new deck filler complete and a lot of skinned knuckles and bad language.:ambivalence:

 

[Binman]

Let us know what worked,can't add to advice given.you could try a punch, give it a descent indent, then with punch held firmly try and tap it round in undo direction.either to top edge or on the side.

 

[ex-Gladys]

The one thing that's not been mentioned directly is to tap (with a metal hammer or bash the bejaysus out of it with a rubber mallet) whilst using your chain/strap wrench to unscrew. It can't be anything other than corrosion...

 

[Bru]

I had the very same problem when we bought the Westerly 33 a few weeks ago

In the end, everything else having failed and needing the damn thing off at any cost ('cos we had to get out of the Hamble before my wallet was totally empty!) I resorted to chiselling it off with a screwdriver and hammer. Cave man engineering but at the cost of putting a skin lacerating dent in the side of the cap it eventually and very reluctantly gave in and unscrewed

Replacing it with a better deck fitting is on the to-do list

 

[Little Dorrit]

If the cap fits over the nozzle I would try freezing the whole thing with plumbers freezing spray and then warming the cap or plug with hot water and immediately before the heat is fully absorbed unscrewing it. This is how I freed a stuck filler although my filler cap sat inside the nozzle (I think yours sits outside the thread). In my case I heated the nozzle and cap first and then directed the cold spray on the cap. This worked on a cap that was so tight I nearly bent a winch handle trying to free it.