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Steering gear box zerk fitting

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MarkA

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Hello all,

I am doing some front end work on my 67 BJ8. After having everything pulled apart, I noticed a zerk fitting on the oil fill plug of the steering box. Is this normal? I have not seen anything that would say it was.

I pulled the plug to check if the box was filled with greased and it wasn't. But, it also did not have much oil in it. The gears are wet, but the level is below where I can see peering in through the fill plug. It appears that someone has squirted some grease through the zerk at some point. It looks like the box was taken apart at some point since the cover plates have orange high temp sealant. It has also been painted since the zerk is also black. There is no excessive play anywhere that can’t be taken out with a little adjustment and the arm shaft does not have any side-to-side play. The box is pretty dry on the outside, so there hasn’t been any oil leaking lately. Since the oil is low, I was planning on changing the shaft seal at the bottom before refilling.

Do you think I should split and inspect the box and/or rebuild the box?

Thanks,
Mark
 
Hi Mark, The gear box should not be filled with grease only gear oil. Similarly a gear box that late should not be fitted with a Zerk grease fitting. I use Lucas 80/140 gear oil as it tends not to leak out. I would refill the box with oil and let it alone based upon your checks. There is a special fitting that will insect oil through a Zerk fitting. But you can simply remove it and just pour the oil in.---Fwiw--Keoke
 
Where can I buy the Lucas oil? So, the zerk fitting in the fill plug was standard at some model/year?

The idler has some play in it so I thought I had better take care of it also. Anything to watch out for when changing the bushings and seals on it? Use the same Lucas oil for the idler?

Thanks,
Mark
 
Uh, Redline gear oil, goodproduct, will work, available at more places than the Lucas.
 
MarkA said:
Where can I buy the Lucas oil? So, the zerk fitting in the fill plug was standard at some model/year?

The idler has some play in it so I thought I had better take care of it also. Anything to watch out for when changing the bushings and seals on it? Use the same Lucas oil for the idler?

Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...
You can get the Lucas oil at NAPA parts stores as well as truck stops or any place that sells big rig supplies.
Patrick
 
MarkA said:
Hello all,

I am doing some front end work on my 67 BJ8. After having everything pulled apart, I noticed a zerk fitting on the oil fill plug of the steering box. Is this normal? I have not seen anything that would say it was.

I pulled the plug to check if the box was filled with greased and it wasn't. But, it also did not have much oil in it. The gears are wet, but the level is below where I can see peering in through the fill plug. It appears that someone has squirted some grease through the zerk at some point. It looks like the box was taken apart at some point since the cover plates have orange high temp sealant. It has also been painted since the zerk is also black. There is no excessive play anywhere that can’t be taken out with a little adjustment and the arm shaft does not have any side-to-side play. The box is pretty dry on the outside, so there hasn’t been any oil leaking lately. Since the oil is low, I was planning on changing the shaft seal at the bottom before refilling.

Do you think I should split and inspect the box and/or rebuild the box?

Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...
Mark,
I have seen several Healey's many years ago that had the idler and steering box filled with regular chassis grease. I suspect that this was a cheaper way to hide a leaking unit. Most likely if you have grease in it is because it leaks with oil in it. Put new oil seal in and you can't go wrong.
Patrick
 
Interestingly, I have a replacement idler on my BJ8 that is also fitted with a grease (zerk) fitting. I use gear oil to fill it (fitting removed), but I imagine the former owner and the mechanic who installed the replacement idler probably used grease. From the look of it, I beleive the grease fitting came with the idler and wasn't installed later.
 
Yes Patrick, many years ago the Brits found out that if they put grease in the steering box the gears would push it out of the way and the box would prematurely fail. Zerk fittings on a 1967 BJ8 steering box is not original. Similarly, the Idler should also be filled with gear oil.--Keoke
 
Are all of the steering boxes from the different year cars more or less the same? If I have a zerk fitting on the filler cap, then either the cap was changed or the entire box was swapped out. Do all of the boxes have the same lock to lock turn numbers? Or maybe, I just treat it like a "special" box and make it feel like it belongs... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif
 
Hi Mark, That ran through my mind after your post. Certainly it would take a unique Zerk fitting to fit the filler plug hole on a standard BJ8 steering box top. the only way I know to check the box is to take it apart and compare the drop shaft and its worm drive peg against drawings of the boxes. As a general rule most of the standard boxes have similar lock to lock ratios. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif If it works OK I would just make it feel like it belongs.---Fwiw---Keoke- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
As I stated, the grease fitting on my replacement idler most likely came that way. It certainly appears that way. If so, maybe the replacements are suppose to have grease rather than gear oil.
 
shorn said:
If so, maybe the replacements are suppose to have grease rather than gear oil.
Click to expand...
Doubtful - If the idler box clearances are as tight as they "should" be, there would be no room for grease to "flow" into the spaces.

I don't know who made the idler box but it's a bit strange. As Keoke said above, gear oil in both the steering & idler boxes.
AND
"There is a special fitting that will inject oil through a Zerk fitting. But you can simply remove it and just pour the oil in."


If the bottom seals are bad, folks can get by for a while using grease instead of oil, but there will be a lot more wear.
D
 
MarkA said:
The idler has some play in it so I thought I had better take care of it also. Anything to watch out for when changing the bushings and seals on it? Use the same Lucas oil for the idler?
Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...
If the play in the idler is only in the vertical plane, there are shims under the top cap that can be adjusted to tighten it up. Use the same oil in both.

The seals in both the steering & the idler can be changed in place if the correct arm puller is used. Pulling the arms is usually the hardest part.
See here: https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcforum/u...true#Post143223

I think any GL4 80-140 gear oil would be ok.
D
 
MarkA said:
Anything to watch out for when changing the bushings and seals on it?
Click to expand...

Some tips .. the bushes need to be reamed to size to fit the shaft.

The adjustment shims that Dave refers to are the gaskets for the top plate. No gasket and the shaft won't turn when the top plate is tightened down. Add more gaskets or thicker gasket (if you make your own) until the shaft just turns freely.

Be careful when installing the seal over the shaft because the splines have sharp edges. Tape the splines and use some assembly lube to help the seal along.

Cheers,
John
 
The zerk fitting on the steering box was fitted to the filler plug, drilled and tapped.

The new bushings on the idler need to be reamed to size? I guess I should start reading the manual. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif Where do you get a reamer for this?

The idler is a little loose and is leaking. Seems to be leaking more since I took the ball joints off. It was hard to tell where the play is comming from. With all of the tie rods in place, turning (steering) the right hub side to side by hand causes the end of the idler arm to move up and down 1/16" to 1/8". It is looser around center than at the ends of travel. It was hard to tell if the play was up and down or a side to side flex. What are the wear limits like on the idler?

Thanks,
Mark
 
MarkA said:
The zerk fitting on the steering box was fitted to the filler plug, drilled and tapped.------Ignore it and use the filler plug. I wondered how it got there /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

The new bushings on the idler need to be reamed to size? I guess I should start reading the manual. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif Where do you get a reamer for this?-----Machinist supply store and it must be adjustable. A pilot and a Micrometer will also be required. Best bet: Get bushes and take to a machine shop for fitting.

The idler is a little loose and is leaking. Seems to be leaking more since I took the ball joints off. It was hard to tell where the play is coming from. With all of the tie rods in place, turning (steering) the right hub side to side by hand causes the end of the idler arm to move up and down 1/16" to 1/8". It is looser around center than at the ends of travel. It was hard to tell if the play was up and down or a side to side flex. What are the wear limits like

on the idler?-----1/16" is untolerable. Vertical end play should be ~ 0.002" Max and no side to side movement but free turning by hand.



Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...

-----------------------Fwiw---------------Keoke
 
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