What the hell!

Had the same thing happen to my Tacoma, last year. Filled the truck up, park it, came out the next morning, the gas gauge was sitting on a quarter of a tank. The low life thief or thieves were nice enough to put the gas cap back on, but you could tell where some gas was spilt during the process.

I was upset about the stolen gas, but was relieved nothing else was damaged.

 

Lol...stiff hose. Sorry bout the gas man.

 

Here are the parts numbers for both caps:

00113-04493 or 33342-00668

http://www.trdparts4u.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=-4338

 

Another sign that gas prices are going up.....

 

both my toyotas has locking doors? my 1990 and now my 97 taco??? and its a cheap taco... weird that your newer trucks dont have it...

 

^Toyota's term for it is "kaizen" - Japanese for continuous improvement of the company's bottom line.

There may be some difficulty (or reliability problem) with routing a manual cable from the cab to the bed, because the two structures flex separately. However, Toyota could have used a cheap electric actuator like Mazda has been doing with its Millenia since 1995.

 

Someone should make a manual actuator that just sits between the bed and cab or something. That way they think the door is locked, not knowing the lever isn't inside like most cars.

 

I went to the dealer today. The parts guy said Toyota won't even sell locking gas caps anymore because of the engine light issue. So my question was then why didn't they make a locking gas door or a secure one, and they were stumped. So Toyota provides no solution for making the gas more secure.

So I am going to order one one on trdparts4u.com and hopefully it will work without making the engine light come on. Oneof the service guys at the dealer said he thinks the two they types for our truck they are talking about are the threaded ones vs. the non-threaded ones. If so I know mine is non-threaded.

Also, they said the parts number I gave them, from the trdparts4u site, is not a valid Toyota parts number so it may be an aftermarket locking cap.

 

thoughts on this?

http://www.truckprotect.com/euroasian-anti-siphons-2/anti-siphon-summary

 

I worry about locking the door.. as I've seen a lot of busted open/off doors. Cap is fine..cept I hate carrying extra keys and am one of those people that's always in a hurry.

 

Looks like they'd cost more than any gas siphoned.
I've never met someone that had gas siphoned; cthulu bless the internet.

 

Yep, it's a Stant PN. Toyota sells a locking cap in Canada, see my post here:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...-gen-tacoma-locking-gas-door.html#post2571846. Note it's the threaded version.

 

The point is to keep people from messing with your vehicle. If someone was messing with your truck stealing gas at night while you were sleeping, would you side with your cost analysis and let them continue?

Regarding whether people are siphoning gas or not, there seems to be several people in this thread that have had this issue. I think its likely a means for money for users. I have some contacts in homeless outreach groups here, so I will ask them if they know anything of this. I guess its possible there could be an issue with the gas gauge, but it usually works perfectly, so it would have to be an intermittent issue.

I know there are screens or butterfly valves to prevent siphoning, but I bet someone, somewhere figured out a workaround while sitting around in prison. That is all I can think of. It is a bizarre mystery.

I too never heard of anyone getting siphoned but I think its happening. Maybe not where you live in Hawaii (except maybe Oahu), I but I would say more likely here in Mid City New Orleans.

 

I hate the fact that I'm gonna have to carry an extra key but I'd rather do a locking gas cap and spend $20 bucks then for someone to pour soda or sugar in my tank and end up having to get a new engine. I'm now having to leave the porch light on at night and back my truck in so the lights point toward the gas door.

I guess... better that they syphoned the gas then punctured a hole in my gas tank, right.

 

OK, who did you piss off...?

I am not worried with malicious tampering, as I think that is extremely rare that someone would do that.

While writing this post a detective for an insurance company just rung my doorbell investigating an alleged car theft in my neighborhood. He is a former state trooper who worked this neighborhood. He said it is still easy to siphon gas, and the culprit might just be someone who isn't selling it, but just filling their own tank up and not ever paying for gas. For example, driving around, hitting a few cars in one night will fill up your tank for a week or more. The way the economy is, some people are desperate.

He said its likely that my truck is getting tapped because its easy and one person is probably coming back for more, since I have the 'help yourself' fuel door. He said a locking gas cap might just send them on to another car. I mentioned reports of some people drilling holes into tanks, and he asaid its highly doubtful because the risk is too great for the reward. Power tools would make noise and a gas thief would want to work in silence and darkness. Its not worth getting caught for $15.00 of gas (1/4 tank).

So I will start with a locking gas cap, and keep the key stashed in the coin drawer, instead of on my keychain, so I can keep the keys in the ignition when filling up. A bit of a pain in the ass, but worth the minor deterrent to keep them moving on to another car.

Also, I am going to buy a siphon pump at the auto store to test it out to see if I can siphon easily, just for my own curiosity.

 

My 2000 tacoma had a locking gas door. I assumed it was standard. The person who had it before might have added it.

 

Honestly, I keep to myself in the neighborhood and normally wave to people when I'm driving down the street. Yeah, there are some punk kids who live right down the street but it's not fair for me to assume it was them, ya know. I think it's just some punk who targeted my truck since the other two vehicles in my driveway have locking gas doors.

Let me know what you conclude when you try to syphon your vehicle, I'm curious now.

 

IMO the 15 for the locking cap is worth it. It will slow people down long enough to get shot. It will make them move on to someone's car that thought the 15 wasn't worth it. Sure they can cut the filler hose or puncture the tank but that would take time and cause attention, again, just long enough to get shot or fucked up enough to not do it any more. It would have to happen in a public parking lot with lots of foot traffic if it was out of site or out of my garage at home or work. A locking 1/4 plate gas tank with steel filler neck seems to be in order.

 

Locking caps are a great cheap investment. I picked one up this past summer after thefts began to rise in my area.

 

ill guard your truck for $1.50/hour