Gas fuel cap key

[Brennie]

Hi
This is my gas/fuel cap…
Is it the door key that opens it?( it doesn’t) and can the door key I have be used if I have the cap rekeyed?

[Mike Hughes]

You may notice the "Ymos" logo stamped into the body of your cap in the photo.  The original door key for your car would have also been stamped "Ymos." Does your door key slide into the lock freely, but just doesn't turn in the lock?

You have two re-keying choices here:  You can have a lock smith make a key that fits your gas cap lock, or you can have the lock smith take everything apart and change the tumblers to fit your key.  There is a little problem with the second choice:  See that little tab that fixes the center nut in place?  It can easily be snapped off when prying it back to release the nut when disassembling the cap to get to the lock cylinder, or it can break off bending it back in place when reassembling the cap. Either way this renders a perfectly good original gas cap junk.

[Brennie]

Thank you for that information..
yes, Ymos key and yes, it does fit freely but does not turn.. do you think they( locksmith) may be able to make my key work?

[Brennie]

Ok.. I have got this far.. how do I access the cylinder.. I mean, how do I dismantle  the remaining parts?
 

[Brennie]

More..

[Mike Hughes]

The search function is your friend.  Try:  https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=9974.0

Be aware that your gas cap is not original to your car, which may explain why your door key does not fit.  While also made by Ymos, the original style cap did not have the "ears" seen in your photos.

[Brennie]

Oh! That’s a thing.. it came with the car when I acquired it.. it looks like all the others I see whilst Googling… only thing that seems different is the lack of the little hole to be able to separate the top section.. it’s there I’m stuck…

[Jordan]

This is what your original gas cap would have looked like (but without the tarnished chrome).  Took the photo from another thread.

[Brennie]

Yes .. mine was dull grey once.. it’s been polished .. it’s not chrome.. my car is an early SL 230

[Brennie]

Hi Mike.. thank you for all your help.. I’m a bit puzzled about the “ears” ? Do you mean the two curved bits sticking out? They all seem to have them?  … 

[Mike Hughes]

What I called "ears" are the two flats sticking up from the surface of the cap to offer a better hand hold when turning the gas cap within the tight confines of the recessed filler neck locations found at the rear or within a rear fender of Mercedes-Benz sedans.  Some previous owner must have lost the original chrome locking cap and replaced it with a sedan locking cap, then polished it up to look as close as possible to the missing original.  The chromed original cap doesn't have those hand holds and has always been considerably more expensive than the plain metal sedan caps that could be had with or without the protruding flats.  Here is an example:

https://www.authenticclassics.com/Chrome-Locking-Gas-Cap-late-type-p/auth-002476.htm

[philmas]

I can confirm, the original SL cap has no "ears" and looks just like Jordan's.
There was a time when you could get a complete matching set of locks with a single key from SLS (ignition, doors trunk, gas cap...).
I was lucky enough to buy one of these some 15 years ago.
It wasn't cheap, though, but much more convenient than having three different keys (from P.O...)
I think it's NLA by now.
Anyways, I think the one key system was  only on the 280SL...

[Brennie]

Now I understand… thank you very much..
I learn something about my car every day…
It’s turning out to be a bitsa … bits of this and bits of that..

[Brennie]

But still… how do I take it apart to try to get a key to fit the cylinder.. it doesn’t have that little hole to pop the top off .. is there another trick to it?

[mazmonza]

Brennie are you using the correct key I have the same fuel cap but it uses a double sided key.
The slot is in the centre of the cap but to one side on the non eared type

Maurice

[Brennie]

Thank you..
Ah! No, I don’t have a double sided key… just the one shown.. it’s the door key… I guess the cap was just stuck on there when I bought the car and in my naivety, had no clue it was not the right one.. I’m living and learning..
So, how to dismantle the top but so I can get it to a locksmith to make a key for it.. it still fits, even with the “ears”

[Mike Hughes]

Maurice makes a point that all the rest of us have missed:  The center orientation of the key slot indicates that you have a later model cap that really accepts a two-sided key.  The early cap that accepts the single sided Ymos key has a key slot that is off-set to the side. Regardless of whether or not you are successful at getting at the lock cylinder, it will not be possible to make this cap work with your single-side Ymos key.

If you want to have a cap that is keyed alike with your door locks you may have to find an early cap and have the tumblers redone to fit your key, of find a vendor who is willing to check to see if he has a lock on the shelf whose keys match your key code.

[Brennie]

Thank you.. this is so interesting.. I have an aftermarket cap on at the moment, so,I already have an extra key.. I’d just like the lock on this one to work .. it looks better than the one I have now.. better to use it than keep it in the “box of bits”…