Remove locking gas cap

Remove locking gas cap - You are many miles from home and low on fuel. You are needing to get gas on the way to work. One of your wheeling buddies didn't fuel up before hitting the trail. There can be many different scenarios as to when you need to refuel your Jeep. You put the key in the gas cap and give it a turn and crap ... it broke!! Or, in your mega top secret key hiding place you realize .. the key isn't there. Whether you have broken or lost the key, all is not lost.

In my case, when I got my Jeep Wrangler, the gas cap key didn't come with it. I got the YJ so cheap that I had lots of monetary room to still make it a great investment. So purchasing another locking gas cap wasn't an issue.

I kept messing with the cap and couldn't figure out how to remove it to put fuel in it. Google to the rescue!! I looked for a long while before I found even a half decent description of how to remove a locking gas cap without a key. I finally found one that was I thought was doable with what I had available at that moment. That little tiny cheap screwdriver was the saving grace. I then vowed to make this video available for people in need. To my surprise it's the most viewed video on my YouYube channel. With all the positive comments left from people the video has helped.

Remove locking gas cap off of my YJ

Remove locking gas cap if you have lost or broken your key. It's very quick and easy! 

This trick only works with plastic capped screw-in locking gas caps.

  1. Get a small Phillips screwdriver, pick, large nail or whatever you can find that's strong enough to pierce the plastic cap.
  2. Between the handle and the outer edge place the screwdriver against the plastic.
  3. Pressing firmly and twisting at the same time, pierce the thin plastic until you are through just the first layer.
  4. Push the screwdriver in at an angle with the point going toward the center of the cap.
  5. You will feel the screwdriver tip kinda wedge into an angled area.
  6. After the screwdriver has gone as far as it can. Keep pushing the screwdriver in as you screw the cap off.