Grease Gun and Zerks

[MikeH]

Hi All, Was out greasing my TR4 and MGB, and had trouble. I have a fairly good grease gun, but it wouldn't force the grease through the zerks. The grease come out around the zerk and not into the part being greased. What's wrong? Thanks,

 

[BIBBER]

plugged zerk...now hopefully someone else has suggestions for easily getting it back open..I have several plugged as well!!!

 

[tomshobby]

Most lever style grease guns put out 10,000 pounds/square inch of pressure. Anything short of a piece of steel blocking the zerk will be forced through. When the grease comes out around the outside of the zerk it is usually the gun nozzle not gripping properly. It would either be worn, defective, or just not tightened. Another possibility would be a damaged zerk.

If zerk is plugged and the nozzle works properly it would tighten on the zerk to the point that it would not swivel without some force and the lever would get very hard to operate if it could at all.

 

[Keoke]

OK Tom /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif But since you be so knowledgeable about the crease gun nozzle how do you get it to release easily???---Keoke

 

[martx-5]

Most lever style grease guns put out 10,000 pounds/square inch of pressure. Anything short of a piece of steel blocking the zerk will be forced through. When the grease comes out around the outside of the zerk it is usually the gun nozzle not gripping properly. It would either be worn, defective, or just not tightened. Another possibility would be a damaged zerk.

If zerk is plugged and the nozzle works properly it would tighten on the zerk to the point that it would not swivel without some force and the lever would get very hard to operate if it could at all.

I agree. If you have a non-flexible tube on the grease gun, just push hard on the zerk while you operate the lever. If it's a flexible line, grab the end that goes on the fitting and push hard while squirting the grease in. This usually works.

 

[tomshobby]

OK Tom /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif But since you be so knowledgeable about the crease gun nozzle how do you get it to release easily???---Keoke

If the grease flows through the zerk it will release easily when tipped to one side. If it does not flow the nozzle will have to be either tipped back and forth a few times to allow some of the grease to slip out over the zerk or the nozzle will have to be loosened on the hose.

 

[myspitfire]

The threads on the grease fitting are stripped use a new fitting. OR the grease in trunnion is solidified & no amount of pressure will force the HARDENED grease to leave the joint.The trunnions USE OIL not grease.Hope this advice helps.
PS;You may have to RETAP the hole to accept the new zerk.NOTE!Remember BRITISH THREAD STANDARDS ARE DIFFERENT.Maybe RETAP to use a USA Standard threaded grease fitting.

 

[MikeH]

Thanks All, Tom I believe that the fitting is not tight enough on the zerk, although its an almost new fitting.

 

[Lionheart]

When I was a kid, my Dad had one of these. You load it with oil, put it on the zerk, and whack it.
Here's another one.

 

[vettedog72]

I guess you know that the grease gun end (chuck) is adjustable so as to allow tighter fits on the zerk. It seems to work like a drill chuck. Fit the nozzle onto the zerk and then screw down the adjustment. You will have to loosen the "chuck" to get it off the zerk. It’s worth a try if you are having trouble.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Most lever style grease guns put out 10,000 pounds/square inch of pressure...

However, the little hole in the zerk is not a square inch... more like .001 square inches. I think that a zerk caked with hardened grease will hold against the pressure of a gun. Anyway, they can be cleaned up and that little ball lightly tapped with a drift to get them going again.

 

[PeterK]

The threads on the grease fitting are stripped use a new fitting. OR the grease in trunnion is solidified & no amount of pressure will force the HARDENED grease to leave the joint.The trunnions USE OIL not grease.Hope this advice helps.
PS;You may have to RETAP the hole to accept the new zerk.NOTE!Remember BRITISH THREAD STANDARDS ARE DIFFERENT.Maybe RETAP to use a USA Standard threaded grease fitting.

I agree. Almost every one of the 11 or so zerks on my 3A front suspension were caked solid and would not accept grease. The Zerk fittings are standard 1/4-28 not BSP though. At least the 1/4-28 replacements I used fit the threads OK.

Also TR3A trunnions use grease, not oil because the bottom of the trunnion design is different and oil can leak out.