Gas Cap Tether Repair
 

Like many 986 Boxsters, my car’s original gas cap tether broke at some point and I lived with it by placing the cap near the wipers while filling up. Since I’m considering taking a long 30+ hour (round trip) road trip in the coming months I’m checking everything that could become a problem and the thought of losing my gas cap while being distracted crossed my mind so I started researching the topic. Most people just replace the gas cap (tether included) since it’s only $20, others used wire, and others lived with it. I began taking a closer look at the situation and with the help of forums easily removed the plastic rivet holding the tether to the body - just push in the center with a small punch. Having the cap, with small section of tether (2”), and the remaining length of tether on the workbench I tried “plastic welding” them and failed/gave up after seeing the two pieces had zero bonding/tackiness. Then, I remembered I had 1/8” heat shrink tubing for electronics. I cut a 3” piece, slid it over both pieces, heat shrunk, and now the two pieces are joined again! Simple fix and it seems to be holding well. I’d assume double layering or using a heavy duty heat shrink would extend the life of this repair.

Can we get a bigger ****************ing picture?

Get a bigger ***************ing phone.

Nice simple repair. :cheers:

78F350
Thank you for the app. downloaded it and works great.
Just spreading the wealth...
Hcti, check out the link
http://986forum.com/forums/show-tell-gallery/78242-learning-post-picture.html

DONE! Sorry about that guys. Used Microsoft Photos to resize.

No big deal....see the pun? Nice repair.
Lots of folks end up replacing cap and tether due to age and O-ring triggering 'check engine '.

Nice job on re-size, looks good. That was fun. I will keep your repair in mind if needed. Good advise. Thanks.

Ha Ha. If I was attending to this forun on a phone I'd go absolutely mad. Nappenin.

Thanks OP for the edit. Maybe you could do a DIY vid on how to size pics. Perhaps the mods could make it a mandatory training session before a 'first post". ;)

Doesn't the tether and cap get in the way during refuelling? I removed mine so that I could get the cap out of there. Perhaps I was placing in the holder incorrectly.

yes...describe how you resized the photo and we should get the mods to "sticky" that MF'r. Of course we would miss starter's helpful and gracious comments, but we could live with that. :+)

I hang the tether on the tab on the filler door. Maybe I’m wrong though. :confused:

You're doing exactly as Porsche desgned it to be used :)

Brilliant! I love repairs like this. Instead of throwing money at it fix it with materials that you already have.

:cheers::cheers::cheers:

I believe the shortest sentence is the best. ;)

That thin wall heat shrink tube is not designed to flex. The cross linked bonds between polymer chains are what makes it try shrink to its original length and thickness. Consider half wrapping some Scotch 33+ tape (or another vinyl tape) along the length of your heat shrink and that should provide longer life.

Thanks for everyone’s funny and helpful replies. Morgal48, I like your idea and will try other configurations like the one you mentioned if this one doesn’t last. I thought about testing the strength but obviously it’s going to break at some point so I’ll just report back when that happens.

Regarding a pic resizing DIY, I’d like to help but there’s just too many OSs out there. I have Windows 10 and the photos app has a resizing option under more options (... at top right) then I chose the thumbnail option. Apparently there’s also a way to resize in Microsoft paint. Good luck guys.

Inventive, however, I'd just spend $20 on the new cap.

I will start hanging out...

Update on the “repair “: while filling up for the first time after the fix, within 20 seconds of hanging the gas cap on the fuel door hook, I heard the gas cap hit the ground and I looked down to see that the tether had broken in a different area much closer to the gas cap then before. At that point I started breaking the tether into pieces using very little tension and also tested the shrink wrap’s grip which was equally disappointing. Turns out the tether was softer than a twizzler. I guess it goes to show that in a 20 year old car it’s better to replace cheap parts than repair. This isn’t the first time I’ve learned this lesson (see my clutch “repair” post). When will I learn!

Haha, when you run out of money! :rolleyes: