Stant Locking Fuel Cap Frozen
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 807
Likes: 41
From: Englewood, TN
Stant Locking Fuel Cap Frozen
For several years I've been running a Stant locking fuel cap (the black one, not the green diesel-specific unit). I often notice that I can shake several drops of water out of the cap when I remove it to fuel up the tank.
This hadn't been a problem until 5:00am this morning when the temperature was 19°F and the key wouldn't turn due to ice in the cap. I finally managed to twist the key hard enough to break the ice, but it was a frustrating few moments. (I had 120 miles to ride and not enough fuel to make it.)
I really want to continue using a locking cap to discourage potential vandals. (I would love to find a chrome or aluminum fuel door with an integral lock so I wouldn't have to use the locking cap, but I haven't yet located one that will fit a First Gen truck.)
1. What causes moisture to collect in the cavities of the fuel cap?
2. Would the green diesel-specific cap work better than the regular black cap I'm now using?
3. Any other suggestions other than going back to the OEM (non-locking) cap?
TIA.
This hadn't been a problem until 5:00am this morning when the temperature was 19°F and the key wouldn't turn due to ice in the cap. I finally managed to twist the key hard enough to break the ice, but it was a frustrating few moments. (I had 120 miles to ride and not enough fuel to make it.)
I really want to continue using a locking cap to discourage potential vandals. (I would love to find a chrome or aluminum fuel door with an integral lock so I wouldn't have to use the locking cap, but I haven't yet located one that will fit a First Gen truck.)
1. What causes moisture to collect in the cavities of the fuel cap?
2. Would the green diesel-specific cap work better than the regular black cap I'm now using?
3. Any other suggestions other than going back to the OEM (non-locking) cap?
TIA.
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 7,221
Likes: 2,861
From: vermont
I would at minimum, carry a lighter so you could heat the key and install it in the lock.
Even if you needed to do this several times, it would thaw it out.
Not the best preventive measure, but it would solve the problem if it happened again.
Also filling up before a cold snap might help a lot as I see you are in Ga..
Even if you needed to do this several times, it would thaw it out.
Not the best preventive measure, but it would solve the problem if it happened again.
Also filling up before a cold snap might help a lot as I see you are in Ga..
Registered User
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,867
Likes: 536
Those caps after awhile, I learned not too long ago, go bad. My stant one, I noticed I could twist off w/o the use of the key. If you grabbed it a certain way, and apply enough pressure, it twisted right off. Replaced it with another brand that O'rileys carries, and there is a flip door to cover the key slot, which I liked. You say you've had that one for several years, it may be bad.
If I lived in those temps, and had that problem with my cap, I would be strolling down the Home Depot isles looking for some type of cap that would fit over that fuel cap snugly, but not so deep that it would not allow the hatch to shut flat. I would pad the inside of that cap with some form of insulation, too. Hope that helps
If I lived in those temps, and had that problem with my cap, I would be strolling down the Home Depot isles looking for some type of cap that would fit over that fuel cap snugly, but not so deep that it would not allow the hatch to shut flat. I would pad the inside of that cap with some form of insulation, too. Hope that helps
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,317
Likes: 485
From: alaska
2. No difference between the black and the green except color. Green signifies diesel fuel.
3. White lithium grease. Clean and dry the lock thoroughly and pack the lock with white lithium grease and work it in. NEVER had one freeze.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,389
Likes: 114
From: Orange County, California
If you've not modified anything in the filler neck/tube, there should be no worries about anybody syphoning fuel from the tank. At the other end of the filler neck (the section inside the tank) there's a green-colored ball. It's essentially a check valve to keep fuel inside the tank in the event that your truck rolls over. However, there's barely room for a 1/4" hose to sneak past it. With that small of a hose, syphoning would take quite a while.
This is just for your information, in-case you have ever wondered what was inside your filler neck.
What you are looking at is the Anti-Rollover valve.
The purpose of the valve it to keep the fuel inside your tank in the event of your truck rolling over.
Looking at it here would be if the truck was upside down, the green ball would roll up against the seat of the valve and prevent the fuel from spilling back out the neck.
Are you are wondering why there is an air fitting in the filler neck?
The previous owner had a 100-gallon transfer tank in the bed and only he know why he did what he did, I guess because he had one.
I am going to remove it and using my wire feed patch the hole.
Here it is in its operating position with all of your wheels on the ground, see the ball has now rolled off its seat allowing the fuel to flow past it and into the tank.
This device also acts a very effective anti-theft device, now you can rest and know there is no way anyone is going to stick a hose down your filler neck and siphon away your precious fuel.
This should also prevent anyone from "dipping your tank" without you knowing.
File this as: Maybe Useful Information
Just thought that you might be interested.
Jim
What you are looking at is the Anti-Rollover valve.
The purpose of the valve it to keep the fuel inside your tank in the event of your truck rolling over.
Looking at it here would be if the truck was upside down, the green ball would roll up against the seat of the valve and prevent the fuel from spilling back out the neck.
Are you are wondering why there is an air fitting in the filler neck?
The previous owner had a 100-gallon transfer tank in the bed and only he know why he did what he did, I guess because he had one.
I am going to remove it and using my wire feed patch the hole.
Here it is in its operating position with all of your wheels on the ground, see the ball has now rolled off its seat allowing the fuel to flow past it and into the tank.
This device also acts a very effective anti-theft device, now you can rest and know there is no way anyone is going to stick a hose down your filler neck and siphon away your precious fuel.
This should also prevent anyone from "dipping your tank" without you knowing.
File this as: Maybe Useful Information
Just thought that you might be interested.
Jim
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 807
Likes: 41
From: Englewood, TN
Thanks all for the helpful info. I will lubricate the lock with grease as well as put a cigarette lighter in the glovebox for emergencies.
This is good info to know; thanks!
I'm not nearly as concerned about someone siphoning fuel as I am an environmental terrorist slipping something in my tank to harm my engine. My daily driver is a Nissan Leaf EV (Electric Vehicle) and I burn biodiesel in my CTD whenever possible, so my "carbon footprint" is low -- but rumor has it that large pickup trucks have been vandalized simply out of spite.
So my First Gen has a locking cap on the fuel tank...
If you've not modified anything in the filler neck/tube, there should be no worries about anybody syphoning fuel from the tank. At the other end of the filler neck (the section inside the tank) there's a green-colored ball. It's essentially a check valve to keep fuel inside the tank in the event that your truck rolls over. However, there's barely room for a 1/4" hose to sneak past it. With that small of a hose, syphoning would take quite a while.
I'm not nearly as concerned about someone siphoning fuel as I am an environmental terrorist slipping something in my tank to harm my engine. My daily driver is a Nissan Leaf EV (Electric Vehicle) and I burn biodiesel in my CTD whenever possible, so my "carbon footprint" is low -- but rumor has it that large pickup trucks have been vandalized simply out of spite.
So my First Gen has a locking cap on the fuel tank...
Trending Topics
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 6,833
Likes: 1,680
From: Land of the Toxic Avenger
This is the ONLY reason I have a locking cap on my Brick. If they want your fuel, you have a plastic fuel tank, which is punctured by a cordless drill in milliseconds. They get their 10 gallons, and the rest is left for you to clean up.
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 4,479
Likes: 211
From: Isanti, MN
I'm not nearly as concerned about someone siphoning fuel as I am an environmental terrorist slipping something in my tank to harm my engine. My daily driver is a Nissan Leaf EV (Electric Vehicle) and I burn biodiesel in my CTD whenever possible, so my "carbon footprint" is low -- but rumor has it that large pickup trucks have been vandalized simply out of spite.
So my First Gen has a locking cap on the fuel tank...
So my First Gen has a locking cap on the fuel tank...
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 807
Likes: 41
From: Englewood, TN
I just read a thread in one of the other DTR forums and I suspect my moisture problem is due to the aftermarket cap failing to vent properly. Can someone recommend me a locking fuel cap that vents as well as the OEM fuel cap?
Please accept my apologies for pestering everyone; I know these questions are mundane.
TIA.
Registered User
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,867
Likes: 536
James, have you checked out the ones I was telling you about earlier from O'rileys? Just tell them your model year and they have it on the shelves. Mine passes a quiet PFFFTTT when I twist it off. Is that what you mean by a venting cap? It's the only one I've come across with a key hole cover that flicks off to the side.
Registered User
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,867
Likes: 536
What am I talking about? I believe they are steel, from all the write ups I see in the diesel mags. Could be wrong.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 4,918
Likes: 603
From: Tulsa, OK
This is good info to know; thanks!
I'm not nearly as concerned about someone siphoning fuel as I am an environmental terrorist slipping something in my tank to harm my engine. My daily driver is a Nissan Leaf EV (Electric Vehicle) and I burn biodiesel in my CTD whenever possible, so my "carbon footprint" is low -- but rumor has it that large pickup trucks have been vandalized simply out of spite.
So my First Gen has a locking cap on the fuel tank...
I'm not nearly as concerned about someone siphoning fuel as I am an environmental terrorist slipping something in my tank to harm my engine. My daily driver is a Nissan Leaf EV (Electric Vehicle) and I burn biodiesel in my CTD whenever possible, so my "carbon footprint" is low -- but rumor has it that large pickup trucks have been vandalized simply out of spite.
So my First Gen has a locking cap on the fuel tank...
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 7,265
Likes: 1,344
From: Prince George, BC
.....
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 691
Likes: 102
From: Winterset, IA
Lock deicer, sold pretty much everywhere.
