08 Mazda 3 with 6K miles. I stared to fill up with gas and the cap will not loosen to come off. Not the door, the cap itself. I could not get the cap to budge. Finally, I got it to turn but then all it will do is spin. It will do the normal clic when you turn it clockwise when putting the cap on but will do nothing but spin when trying to remove it. Anyone had this problem or have any ideas? Thanks.

 

Never heard of that before.
You might try pushing it down as you are turning it.
Kind of like a medicine bottle.
Hope this helps.
Bob.

 

First off, try pushing it down and locking it again, it might be crooked. And this is a problem with the 08 early 09"s so if you have enough gas to make it until you can get to Mazda I would just let them deal with it. If not some have used Vice Grips or Channel Locks to get it off, sometimes even breaking it to remove it.

 

This is absolutely, 100%, ridiculously common. They're finally making gas caps that don't do this so easily. Basically with the problem caps, if you don't start threading them into the filler neck just right, they cross thread and clamp in like crazylike you described. But until you get the cap replaced @ a Mazda dealer (we generally end up breaking the black top off and using channel locks or something to beat on it and yank it outsurprisingly without damaging anything else, and without getting anything down the pipe), or you buy say, a 2010 model, you'll be dealing with it heh. :/

We've had a lady who went to gas up for the first time and it was stuckbecause the salesman at the dealer cross threaded it when he filled it up upon her buying it. We've had another guy who had his car towed in because he couldn't gas it upbecause the cap was stuck. It's a terrible thread designI'm just glad they're finally doing something about it.

Remember the old way of doing it? Where you actually had a set of real, big plastic threads on the cap, and not just a couple of weird notches? That worked every time. But that was the problemit worked! They couldn't possibly stick with that. *sigh* lol.

Do as Siber Express suggests and take it to Mazda. If you're going to or already have run out of gas, I think you should be able to call Mazda roadside assistance for a tow truckand you'll be covered on that if you're in (I think only) basic warranty. The gas cap itself will be covered by your federal emissions warranty8 years/80,000 miles.

 

on toronto mazda3 there are about 10 people that are having this exact same problem. its just threading

 

When they filled my tank up at the dealership when I first bought my 08 they did it to me.

 

Thanks for the info. Going to the dealer today.
Sam

 

how do they screw up one of the most valuable parts on the car lol. i mean really

 

It's their way of saying "With the good gas mileage, you should'nt have to use it that much!".
Cheap cocky bastards.