CARE AND FEEDING

OF YOUR XJ GAS CAP

Do you smell gas even when the cap is latched shut? Does your tank not want to drain even with the petcock set to
prime? Does your key not want to turn in the lock? Would you like fries with that? (Wait… scratch that last one.)

Chances are, you’re going to have to take your gas cap apart, either to replace the large sealing ring around the outside,
or free up a sticky tank vent. Here, we demonstrate how that’s done.

First thing you’ll be wanting is…

No, no. That comes later.

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This is what you need first:

What we’re caring for and feeding, right?

What you may or may not need, depending on what

you’re doing with the gas cap:

HCP170 Gas Cap Sealing Ring

If you smell gas when the cap is closed, 99.9% of the

time, this is the culprit

HCP17710 Gas Cap Sealing Ring Spring

If the ones you have are bad, broken, or they wind up

missing somehow, they can be replaced.

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 HCP186 Lock cylinder upper o-ring

HCP187 Lock plug lower o-ring

3/16” Ball valve for the vent. HCP6414 for 440C

stainless steel (good for corrosion resistance) or
HCP6415 for standard alloy steel

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 Retaining screws for the lock housing. Part numbers
vary by finish and whether they’re Phillips or allen
head. Here we see our HCP6421 Phillips head
screws, 18-8 stainless steel. The small head diameter
comes in handy for this close-fit application.

For every good screw, you need a good lockwasher.

Available as HCP6425 (18-8 stainless, seen here), or
HCP6426 (black oxide).

The appropriate tools (needless to say, we’ll be

starting with a phillips screwdriver)

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 We’ll be lubricating the guts of the lock plug with this
later. A tub of silicone grease (not pictured) will be
called for as well.

Speaking of the lock plug, you’ll notice after you

remove it that there are some teensy-weensy little
springs in there. Very difficult to find if they go flying
across the room. We now have them available as part
number HCP17708.

This spring is one of two that go inside the latch ears

(seen in Appendix A) and can be had as HCP17709.

Got everything? Good. Let’s get cracking.

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 Starting point: one gas cap in dire need of an
overhaul. You can see what we mean by “close-fit
application” for the two retaining screws.

Step 1: Remove the two screws holding in the latch

assembly and lift it off. Be warned that the latch ears
are (obviously) spring-loaded and can go flying every
which way, so be careful. We’ll demonstrate how they
can be cleaned and lubed in Appendix A.

Step 2: remove the two bottom plates. The big flat

plate covers the ball check valve and holds in the
sealing ring; the washer-looking thingie hides the lower
o-ring for the lock plug.

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 Step 3: Tip the cap over and let the ball bearing fall
into your hand. Stick it in a baggie somewhere.
(We’re doing this so it doesn’t get lost later.) You can
see the exposed vent hole underneath.

Those with California-model Maxim-X models don’t

have to worry about a ball bearing, as those bikes
have a non-vented cap (see the next picture below).

See where the vent hole has been plugged? The

California X uses a different (read: non-standard)
venting system, and hence no cap vent.

Step 4: Lift off the sealing ring (it may be a tight fit).
You’ll see the four springs that press the ring down
against the tank filler – PLEASE don’t lose them.

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 Now you know why we’re changing this one out –
badly cracked, and about a quarter of the lip that the
cinch spring sits on is simply not there.

If this is all you’re swapping out, you can simply drop

the new sealing ring in and reassemble.

On the other hand, if you’re doing a complete

overhaul, which isn’t a bad idea at that, then let’s
continue down the rabbit hole.

Step 5: removing the lock plug. We start by prying out

the lower o-ring. A VERY thin screwdriver or knife
blade will be needed here.

You’ll likely tear the o-ring up slightly getting it out, so

it’s a good thing you bought that new one, right?

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 Step 6: Gaze upon the face of thine enemy. That little
bit you see that I’ve highlighted is the retaining latch for
the lock plug. That will need to be pressed inwards in
order for the plug to come out, and you don’t have a
whole lot of room to do it.

(Apologies for the quality of the picture, but I had a hell

of a time with lighting and zoom – that thing just did
NOT want to photograph.)

A thin brad nail, a VERY thin screwdriver or something

similar might do the trick – you might be able to use
the top part for leverage, if your tool is thin enough.
Keep eyeballing the latch until it looks like you’ve
pressed it in far enough. Once that’s done, you can…

…proceed to Step 7 and push the lock plug out with

one of your opposable thumbs. S-L-O-W-L-Y. Why?

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 Here it is from the front. See those little bar-looking
things that I’ve pointed out? If you don’t have the key
inserted to hold them in place, they’ll want to go flying
everywhere. Yes, we’ll be wanting to clean that lock
plug up a bit before we put it back in. Detailed
instructions are given in Appendix B.

“But wait,” you say. “You said there was an upper o-

ring for that lock cylinder. I don’t see one… where is
it?” Glad you asked!

Now we move on to Step 8. To get to the upper o-ring

for the lock plug, we need to remove the chrome cap.
It’s pretty much crimped all the way around, but we’ll
start near the hinge, where if you look close, you’ll see
the two crimp points at the bottom of the hinge.

Using (once again) a small flat blade, we CAREFULLY

try and pry those crimp points away from the hinge,
then work the hinge upwards until it clears the cap.

At this point, you can then switch to a larger flat blade

and, levering up on the hinge, use it to pry the cap off
the rest of the way. We don’t wish to damage the cap,
so patience and caution should be abundant here.

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 Finally, we have the chrome cap piece off, and there’s
our upper o-ring.

On the left, where the arrow is pointing to, is the other

side of the tank vent hole.

Clean up the area with your favorite cleaner and a

piece of scotchbrite pad or somesuch, then apply
some silicone grease to the area, the new o-ring, and
the inside of the center opening on the chrome cap.
Insert the new o-ring into its home, then ease the
chrome cap back into place, taking care not to pinch
the o-ring.

Once you’ve done that and dealt with your lock plug,
we can finish reassembly.

Step 9: with a light coat of silicone grease on the o-

ring and around where it seats, install the lower o-ring.

Step 10: Drop the vent ball valve (new one, right?)
into the spot with the hole drilled all the way through it,
then put the springs back in and o-ring cover back on.

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 Step 11: Fresh sealing ring goes back on next. A wee
bit of silicone grease around the inner lip that the cinch
spring sits on. Retaining plate goes on top of that.

Step 12: Lastly, the latch mechanism. Fresh retaining

screws and lockwashers.

Congratulations! You have earned the right to walk with a swagger, a confident smile, and to speak loudly and carry a big
stick.

Oh, and NOW you can go have that pizza.

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 APPENDIX A: LATCH KEY KIDS

We’re just going to take a couple of minutes to go over the latch mechanism real quick. It’s not difficult, nor is there a lot
that goes into it – it’s probably just in need of a bit of cleaning.

When it’s bolted in place, the two little nubs you’ve

seen on the bottom of the lock plug sit in those little
cutouts (indicated by the red arrows) on the latch ears.
When the key is turned, they pull the ears in, and you
can open the cap.

Let’s see what’s inside. Grab the pointy bit of the ear,
and gently lift up and out.

Five parts: (1) outer housing, (2) latch ears, and (2)
springs. That’s all. What, you want complicated?

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 We grab some 600 grit sandpaper, the WD-40, and a
small flatblade screwdriver might help here. Spritz the
sandpaper and hit up the housing and latch ears until
they look all nice, smooth, and pretty. If the springs
have seen better days, now would be the perfect time
to swap them out.

Now, how to get everything back together?

Quite simple, actually. First, lay one of the springs in

the trough on top of the latch ear.

Then angle the latch ear into the housing so that the
end of the spring catches on its post. (It helps to have
the housing pointed sideways, with a slight down angle
– otherwise the spring rolls out of the trough.)
Continue pushing and lay the latch ear down in the
housing. Repeat for the other side. Don’t forget to
add some silicone grease in those little cutouts that the
nubs from the lock plug go into.

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 APPENDIX B: YOUR LOCK CYLINDER,
THE PLUG, AND YOU
Here, we’re going to dive into the guts of the lock itself. There aren’t that many parts, but most of them are tiny, and you
do NOT want to lose them, or put them back in out of order. If you do, your key won’t work anymore.

To start, let’s identify the type of lock. A standard “pin tumbler” lock uses springs, driver pins, and key pins of various
lengths inserted into a plug. The plug is inserted into an outer lock cylinder. Where the plug and cylinder meet is known
as a “shear point”. When no key or the wrong key is inserted, the point where the driver pins and key pins meet does not
line up with the shear point, and the plug will not rotate.

The ignition and gas cap locks on the XJ bikes work on a similar principle, but rather than the pin tumbler type, it instead
uses what is known as a “wafer tumbler” lock.

Without the key inserted, the wafer protrudes beyond

the edge of the lock plug.

The protruding wafer(s) extend into the large slot at the

top or bottom of the outer cylinder, depending on how
the plug is installed. With the proper key inserted, the
wafers retract, and allow the lock plug to rotate.

To learn more on this topic, go to:

http://www.capricorn.org/~akira/home/lockpick/

Next up: cleaning and lubricating the wafers.

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 So. We have teensy-weensy parts that we want to
keep in order, and most assuredly don’t want to lose.
How do we do this?

We’ll use some small parts bags we’ve got sitting

around here. You’ve got plenty of these left over,
right? <GRIN> Label them 1 to 6.

Wafer slot #1 will be at the front of the key plug, with

#6 at the rear being the retaining latch. With a pair of
needlenose pliers (and a toothpick for the spring, if
needed) CAREFULLY remove the wafer and spring
from its slot, put them in a bag, and SEAL THE BAG.
If those teensy little springs go flying, they’ll be almost
impossible to find, and you’ll have to order new ones.

You can clean up the inside of the lock cylinder, the

outside of the plug, and the slots where the wafers go
with some 600-grit sandpaper wetted with WD-40.

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 Likewise for the wafers – this retaining latch certainly
needs it. (You may wish to forego the WD-40 and/or
go to a stronger grit if you have a lot of buildup. If it’s
REALLY bad, then a dremel, a sanding disc, and a
light touch.)

If you do go with the dremel, remember – we don’t

need to grind anything down; we’re just removing
gunk. The wafers need to be nice and smooth so that
they’ll pop up and down like they’re supposed to.

Reassembly, they say, is the reverse of removal.

Spring in the hole, followed by its wafer.

Once you’ve done all the wafers, press them down into
their slots with your thumb, then insert the key to hold
them in place. Then give them a good dose of
graphite, both from the top, and in the keyhole as well.

Wipe off any excess graphite. Lubricate the lock

cylinder and the outer plug surface with a light coat of
silicone grease, then press down on the retaining latch
with the tool of your choosing, and slowly slide the plug
home. You should hear the retaining latch snap back
into place.

See? That wasn’t that hard at all.

Copyright 2011 xj4ever.com and Schmuckatelli Heavy Industries

[email protected]
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