Won't take grease

[jwcinpk]

I've got a couple of pins on my loader that I can't get to take grease. I've replaced the zirk, but no luck. What kind of tricks are there for getting it taking grease again?

 

[john_bud]

First is to heat it up. Use a heat gun on low or a hair dryer. Heat the housing and the pin. Try ane get the pin to rotate. Maybe by using the loader element. Lift or curl.

Next take off the keeper bolt and tap it back and forth (not out - that's a PIA to get back if you don't have the stuff to lift the heavy stuff that will fall and get out of alignment.) Try and grease it as it is tapped. Once it is taking grease, give it a lot. Try and rotate the pin and give it more.

Next is to use an oil injector to flush out the caked up grease with high pressure oil. Can find pump types or hammer types on the net.

Last is to take out the pin and clean the whole deal out. Can be easy, more likely to be a real PIA to get aligned.

jb

 

[RickB]

If a new zerk won't do it, I usually remove the pin anchor and drive the pin out far enough to reveal the cross-drilling (cross drilling is usually at the pin's midpoint). That can be cleared with an awl without completely removing the pin which can be a PITA to replace. This method works when the zerk is in the bushing, too. Without the pin below the zerk, the plug can be cleared easily. Frequent greasing eliminates plugged zerks.

 

[Redbug]

Sometimes a zerk will not take grease if there is pressure on that part. By moving the part, (such as the loader), and repositioning will open up enough space to take grease again. Some zerks on my loader and equipment trailer are like that. I would move things around first, and try greasing before taking it apart.

 

[RobS]

If you have a pin the same size as the offending pivot, you can use it to drive out the problem and not lose the alignment. Then it's a simple matter of cleaning everything up. I did this on the boom pivot of my backhoe, just happened to have a hitch pin the same diameter on hand.

 

[tinkertoys]

I usually put nozzle on a can of high powered brake cleaner, then shove it as far in the hole as I can and keep working it some times this will work.

 

[diyDave]

I have posted on this before-Don't heat up grease zerks! When the grease in one starts to boil, the little ball check valve gets pressurized, sometimes propelling the little ball with quite a bit of force out of the end of the fitting, aimed at the operator of the torch. If you are going to heat either the joint or the fitting, remove one from the other. Some other suggestions: Take a pick and pick out any dirt and dried up grease from behind the fitting. Make sure that the fitting isn't painted shut. Try the little oil shooting tool, sometimes it works. Try a little Kroil, best way I have found for this is to screw an 1/8" pipe nipple into the fitting hole, fill the nipple with Kroil, cap it with an 1/8" pipe cap. Refill when empty, or at every opportunity you can. Soon the Kroil will eat its way through the dried up grease, then you can start to get grease through. Another thing to try is to move the joint or pin throughout its range of motion, while trying to grease it. Sometimes the pin will bind the fitting in one spot. Another thing that I have tried with varying success is to plumb a porta power unit into the fitting, pump it up, and use the machine. Sometimes this breaks the joint loose. I have used a hydraulic line off of the same tractor, but others here have said its unsafe. Anytime you start fooling around with hydraulics, you will run into the same danger, which is the danger of injecting hyd fluid under your skin. Be careful and take your time, and you can unclog most without dis-assembly.

 

[RickB]

Tractor hydraulics won't outperform a grease gun. Even the cheapest pistol grip guns will produce more PSI than a tractor's hydraulic system. A good conventional style gun will develop 10,000psi.

 

[Runner]

I keep an ice pic handy in the toolbox and if a zerk won't take grease, I use it to make sure the ball isn't stuck. That usually does the trick. Also, as mentioned previously, moving the joint that has the offending zerk helps too.

 

[diyDave]

Rick B-true enough, but when you are trying to unstick a grease fitting, there are 2 advantages to that hydraulic line. 1. hyd fluid is thinner and penetrates better at 3,000 psi, than grease at 10,000 psi. 2. Having that continuous 3K psi applied while moving the stuck joint sometimes gets things moving better than having an assistant hold onto a grease gun while you are trying not to clobber him with the moving piece of machinery. A third thing also occurs to me, as long as I am in the cab when I am applying the hyd pressure, I am FAR away from the possibility of getting injected with the hyd fluid!