buickanddeere
Super Member
Had two zerk fittings that refused to take grease on my adeere 10A . The bores were drilled and tapped to receive the fittings . However there was no passage drilled down to the bore and pin.
BH76 Backhoe zerk won't take grease
- Thread starter Branson Bob
- Start date
- Views: 5638
OP
Branson Bob
Platinum Member
When I inserted the drill bit to unclog the port it bottomed out against a hard surface about 1.5" deep. I was surprised by this as I expected for the void to run the full length of the pivot pin.
I wonder if this is a similar situation to what happened to you.
I wonder if this is a similar situation to what happened to you.
BHD
Veteran Member
when using a Grease Fitting Cleaning Tool Amazon.com: Performance Tool W5429 Grease Fitting Cleaning Tool: Automotive like this,
I tried one one time, and filled it with grease, it did not work 99% of the time, ended up breaking it, I bought another one later, and some where read fill with a solvent, so one the new one, I put diesel in it, and would achieve about a 70% success rate, with it in clearing out old hard grease, those I did not succeed on I would have to take out the zerk and use a drill bit (hand held) to clean the hole out,
(mostly on old machinery, that had ran in the sand or dirt for years, Old drills and the like,
I tried one one time, and filled it with grease, it did not work 99% of the time, ended up breaking it, I bought another one later, and some where read fill with a solvent, so one the new one, I put diesel in it, and would achieve about a 70% success rate, with it in clearing out old hard grease, those I did not succeed on I would have to take out the zerk and use a drill bit (hand held) to clean the hole out,
(mostly on old machinery, that had ran in the sand or dirt for years, Old drills and the like,
OP
Branson Bob
Platinum Member
This weekend I'll have my wife at the backhoe controls while I try to apply grease while she works the controls... to see if that works.
Rather than doing a disassembly of the pivot pins I would like you, be tempted to use a solvent to try to clean out the grease chamber and passage.
Once I get these pins to take grease I'll be sure to use a molybdenum grease... apparently it's highly recommended for this particular application as opposed to in other areas such as wheel bearings.
Also it seems like Schaeffer brand grease is very highly recommended by people experienced in the maintenance of heavy equipment. It's a bit hard for me to believe that one can buy grease that would become hard and clog up areas that it's supposed to lubricate. Last time I checked the year is 2017. :mur::mur::mur:
cscollin
New member
There are 2 reasons why the grease would become hard, actually 3.
1. If you have been greasing your unit with 2 different Brands or types of grease and they are not compatible they can react to each other.
2. Grease is oil mixed with a filler, usually a paraffin wax. Over time the oil can separate from the filler, even sitting in your grease gun, and all you do is pump the fitting full of the filler which clogs everything up. We have had that problem a lot with the synthetic grease so we went back to the standard type.
3. Contamination of dirt, dust or fine metals from component wear.
Even though it would be a pain I would vote to remove the pins to find out what's going on, clean, do an inspection. Have your wife help you out, she will appreciate the quality time. Make it a date night.
OP
Branson Bob
Platinum Member
Quality reply all-around. Thanks!
OP
Branson Bob
Platinum Member
Alright, so this issue has been resolved.
My options were:
a) Trying the "move the hoe while pumping grease method"
b) Pouring solvent into pivot assemblies to flush out obstructions
c) Complete removal and cleaning of pivot hinge assemblies
Because it was the easiest and most sensible route I opted for the first method but just as importantly I changed the type of grease I injected AND I bought a new grease gun. After lots of poking around online it became clear that I should be using moly(bdenum) grease so I bought a case of Schaeffer's 238 which seems like the consensus best product.
Because I had 2 different greases (the first being the red-colored, all-purpose grease, "Mystic" from O'Reilly's which clogged the assemblies) I also bought a new grease gun for the Schaeffer's. This new grease gun also seems to reach a higher PSI than the older grease gun.
After just a little moving around of the backhoe I was able to inject the new grease (and flush out the old grease) into both pivot pins.
Thanks very much to all of you for the helpful feedback.
My options were:
a) Trying the "move the hoe while pumping grease method"
b) Pouring solvent into pivot assemblies to flush out obstructions
c) Complete removal and cleaning of pivot hinge assemblies
Because it was the easiest and most sensible route I opted for the first method but just as importantly I changed the type of grease I injected AND I bought a new grease gun. After lots of poking around online it became clear that I should be using moly(bdenum) grease so I bought a case of Schaeffer's 238 which seems like the consensus best product.
Because I had 2 different greases (the first being the red-colored, all-purpose grease, "Mystic" from O'Reilly's which clogged the assemblies) I also bought a new grease gun for the Schaeffer's. This new grease gun also seems to reach a higher PSI than the older grease gun.
After just a little moving around of the backhoe I was able to inject the new grease (and flush out the old grease) into both pivot pins.
Thanks very much to all of you for the helpful feedback.
