The rubber tether on my fuel cap has broken.  The rubber appears to have gone brittle.

 

It appears you have to buy a new fuel cap to replace the tether?  (or have I got that wrong?)

 

Does anyone have any long term repair solutions for this please?

 

thx

Salvage item from scrapyard/shoelace!

New caps are cheap as chips, whats the problem?

The amount of times I've thought about pulling mine off.

 

Not really necessary (on mine at least) as you can hook it over the fuel flap, so no real risk of losing it anyway.

As long as you remember to tighten it back up before setting off.

 

I've passed my fair share of cars on the motorway with the filler flaps half open and the cap flapping away down the side of the car held on via it's tether.

 

The tether only comes with the cap.

 

Less than a tenner delivered on eBay...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vw-mk4-golf-bora-diesel-cap-lead-04-vw-part-/201455500938?fits=Model%3AOctavia&hash=item2ee7aefe8a:g:x7kAAOSwuTxWCI8A

Salvage item from scrapyard/shoelace!

Mate.  I'm in Australia.  Scrapyards for VW product are somewhat rare and our scrappies have an odd habit of often charging more than the new price.

 

New caps are cheap as chips, whats the problem?

See above.  Australia.  Dealer spares are usually 2x-3x the UK price as they think they have a monopoly on supply.  I buy most of my parts from overseas.

 

The amount of times I've thought about pulling mine off.

 

Not really necessary (on mine at least) as you can hook it over the fuel flap, so no real risk of losing it anyway.

I understand what you are saying but it's nice to try & keep it looking "ex-factory"

 

 

I've made a temporary repair.  Got a 50mm piece of black tube (the stuff the use to hold fly screens in aluminium frames) with an ID slightly smaller than the strap.  Lubed it with dishwashing liquiid & jammed the strap in.  Seems to be OK.

 

Cheers

Drill a small hole to the side of where the original strap is secured to the filler cap.  Get a piece of string and thread it through the hole, tying a couple of knots at the end and pull through until jammed.  At the other end, form a small loop and push it over the tab that the other end of the strap attaches to (near the flap hinge).  Took 15 mins and works as well as anything.