Ok, not below freezing but will not turn. I picked up my new R56S a week ago today and have put gas in a few times. Today when I stopped at the gas station to fill her up the cap refused to unscrew. I may not be the governor of California but I'm no pansy either. Even with two hands I couldn't get it to budge. I got her home and took some Channel Lock pliers to the cap and succeeded only in tearing off the plastic cover of the gas cap. I then slipped a two tined pry tool into some holes in the metal part of the gas cap and used a medium pipe wrench to try removing the remaining part of the cap. All that did was bend the metal substructure of the gas cap. Since I live about 150 miles from the nearest dealer, and had no more than two gallons of gas left, my little Chiquita is currently on the back of a flatbed tow truck awaiting a trip back to Mini of Omaha. Has anyone had this happen before? It's as if someone super glued the cap on.

 

That sucked that it had to happen to you, and that your 150 miles away from the dealer, but the question is, if the dealer keeps the car for a couple days after it arrives to clean and check it one more time, how is it that they missed that?

 

I'm not sure what happened to your car, but when I first got my car, I thought the gas cap was stuck too... until I realized that I didn't need to twist it like a normal car... just twist it a little bit and pull and it comes right off.

My brother who borrowed my car one day tried to fill the gas for me, but ended up not doing so becuase he couldn't remove the gas cap.

 

im sorry but i would laugh if you were turning the wrong way

 

I wonder if the cap was already turned the 1/4 turn it needs to be removed?

 

there is something missing to this story - I am willing to bet it was/is an easy answer...

 

I thought mine was stuck till I realized it was already open and I just had to pull it out. My gas cap too...

 

Pulling didn't work either. Nor did prying, tugging, cussing or yelling. I guess there are some lugs in there that may become bent. I guess I'll find out today.

 

I put gas in it on two prior occasions with no problem so I have no idea what's going on with it.

 

I removed my cap just to see if I could find what could cause it to get hung, but I'll be darned if I can find out how or why it could ever get stuck.

 

Turn up the heat!! Where are you that it is so cold this time of year your cap is frozen?

 

This reminds me of when I took delivery of my then-new Audi A4 several years ago. I spent about 20 minutes standing at the gas pump and crawling around the car, trying to figure out how to trigger the fuel door to open.

Turns out on that car, you just push one side of the gas flap, and the other side opens. A fellow motorist finally "rescued" me.

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

I had the same thing happen with an A4 that I had rented. I went to fill it before returning it and damn near missed the flight. It became a quest. I was going to figure it out if it took the rest of the day....

 

Me neither but there it was. The new one works like a charm.

 

Just wondering if you park outside at night. Maybe someone tried to steal some gas thinking they could just open and siphon and ended up damaging your cap instead.

 

Was the dealer or you ever able to figure this out??? would hate to be in the middle of now where on empty and have this happen....

 

The gas cap was torn to pieces by the time the dealer got it so I'm just glad they got it off the filler neck. The tow driver said it took them a half hour or so to get it off and a minute or two to put the new one in place. I wasn't there so I didn't see the autopsy. They did say they had never heard of such a problem before so it's not likely to reoccur.

 

With mine, you have to turn it slightly to the right then back to the left, at least that is what i've been doing. If you turn it left only, it won't come off.

I'm still that you tried to pry it off with pliers, a pry toll and a wrench! That poor baby.

 

was the car locked by any chance? doesnt the gas cap lock along with the rest of the car?

 

oooh, good point

I sure hope there was something wrong with it so you don't feel stupid

 

The cover locks but not the cap itself.

 

The twisty cap doesn't lock. Only the door cover.

 

right that makes sense and somewhere in my head i knew that. Thanks!

 

I hate when they say "they had never heard of such a problem before." I've heard this twice on mine on different problems (both minor), and it wasn't long before I saw postings on NAM.

(Maybe the dealers should read NAM?)

 

It's all over and I wasn't there when they fixed it, so if I did something stupid I'll never know. But, at my age I've had plenty of opportunities to do stupid things and have taken advantage of more than a few of them.