clogged grease fitting

[Laneman950]

Any tricks for clearing hole without changing fitting?

 

[slowrev]

They sell little pen sized gadgets that you smack with a hammer to unclog Zerks.
Much cheaper to replace the fitting though.

 

[montejw]

Any tricks for clearing hole without changing fitting?

Also, it might not be the fitting, it might be the channel the fitting feeds into. That's been the problem on our equipment at work, not getting greased enough and the channels in the pins get clogged from running the equipment 'dry'. I've been able to get them unclogged most times with a really good grease gun with a good tip and messing with the angle of the bucket or arms to the channels are uncovered inside the bushing. It's had enough pressure to unclog them all so far.

Monte

 

[Piperflyer]

I find if you move, rotate, spin what ever your trying to grease at the same time you try to add grease, the grease fitting will unclog sometimes. Just don't try with anything that could hurt you trying this way.

 

[patrick_g]

There are manual grease guns that develop more pressure than standard guns. I have a pneumatic that isn't stronger than standard but I have a "High Pressure" manual gun I got a few years back at TSC (I think) and it is rated to produce 5,000 lbs/sq in. When that won't do it (rare event) I have to take the assy apart. To get max pressure requires you to use both hands and really haul down on it. Well, it might be easier for a REAL HE MAN type.

Pat

 

[diyDave]

I go through a system of things when this happens. First remove the fitting and see if there is hard packed dry grease behind it, if there is, pick as much out with an o-ring pick as you can., spray with Kroil or similar penetrant. Check the fitting to see that grease will go through it. If it does, reassemble, and try again. If its still stuck, remove again, clean out with a pick again, this time replace grease fitting with a close pipe nipple and cap. Remove cap and spray it full of Kroil, recap. Every time you walk past the machine, or use it, refill the nipple with Kroil. Eventually you will have to try the next step of using a porta-power hydraulic tool, or a hydraulic line to force hydraulic fluid into the fitting. Use caution when doing this, as hydraulic fluid embolism is a nasty way to die. (fluid under pressure injected into skin) Best way to avoid this is to NOT have your skin anywhere near any potential leaks.
What you need to do is to plumb a porta-power into the pipe nipple into the grease fitting hole. Hydraulic fluid is thinner than grease, and will work through the joint. Once you have the porta-power plumbed in, and pressurized, work the joint in question. Work, repressurise, work repressurise, etc. You can substitute tractor hydraulic pressure for the porta-power if you have the remote port handy, or a long enough hose. Just remember that if anything breaks, don't be near it, or have anyone else near it. If this trick doesn't work, its time to get out the torch!

 

[Charolais]

Any tricks for clearing hole without changing fitting?

I find that most failed zerks on my equipment comes from the little spring inside the fitting had come out. I just change the zerks. I bought a zerk kit from Gemplers and replace as needed. I use a Lincoln air operate grease gun. If the zerk doesn't take grease it's time to change the zerk.

 

[patrick_g]

diyDAVE, Man you have had some serious industrial strength fitting problems. You have developed a good method. The pins on my FEL sometimes get balky but never needed a tactical nuke! I use the high pressure gun or in EXTREME cases have removed the pin that was not taking grease, greased it and put it back. Old grease and "stuff" was clogging it. Ibhave had virtually no Zerk failures, ever. Really rare for me.

The best fix is proactive maint. If you hit the Zerks often they usually don't get hard to deal with. I do keep spares for the once every few years replacement. Some of my Zerks can't be tightened or they will be inaccessible. They are floppy loose and under high pressure may leak around the threads. These are the angled ones on course. I wish the designers would just figure a way to access a straight one.

Thanks for sharing the penetrating oil idea and hydraulic thing. I will be able to handle the situation now should it arise.

Pat

 

[dtd24]

Are zerks all the same size?

 

[patrick_g]

Not hardly. They also come in metric and SAE threads. There may be other styles I haven't heard about.

Pat

 

[Sully2]

Not hardly. They also come in metric and SAE threads. There may be other styles I haven't heard about.

Pat

Also pipe thread and no thread...has little ridges on the shank and you tap them in.

 

[diyDave]

Patrick G- I deal with a lot of equipment that I have bought at auctions, you should see some of the abuse and lack of maintenance that I have encountered. One other thought: That impact grease fitting thingy is a good way to bust a zerk, or damage the threads, it makes more sense to remove the fitting and get the crap out behind it, while it still has good wrench sides, and good threads. Oh, if you heat a grease zerk real hot, that little ball will shoot out like a red hot projectile, so use common sense!

 

[Laneman950]

OK, I tried cleaning a few. Not worth the time. Bought new ones, they're inexpensive.

 

[patrick_g]

Also pipe thread and no thread...has little ridges on the shank and you tap them in.

Dang, that explains how the threads got buggered, they weren't threads! Iy was tedious and frustrating to try to thread in a new one, probably because there weren't threads. Oh well, after I chased the "threads" with a tap it got easier.

Thanks for the info, now I will be on the lookout for loose Zerks with bad threads that aren't threads. Its always something! What next, Zerks with left handed threads?

Pat

 

[BTDT]

What next, Zerks with left handed threads?


Oh, please, don't give them any ideas.

 

[patrick_g]

BTDT, About giving "THEM" ideas... "THEY" already do enough to make life miserable sometimes.

I am willing to bet that the automotive design geeks lay awake at night thinking up ways to mess with potential DIY owners. Do you think that having something sharp, hot, or both located so that when your "NORMAL" wrench slips your knuckles hit the hazard is purely coincidental? You know that stampings of heavy sheet for parts like alternator mounts or power steering pumps or A/C components and such don't have to be left with serrated edges to slice an errant hand but THEY ARE!

You can buy the $1000 special tool that makes the job easy or you can take your chances using standard tools and get cut, burned, bruised, etc. I'd have bet the under the hood design geeks have competitions on who can make it the hardest to work on with standard tools wielded by real man sized hands (American sized man's hands.) Wherever the nut is there is something behind it to cut or burn you when the standard wrench which doesn't fit into the space really well slips off.

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Pat

 

[pat32rf]

The pins on my JD hoe don't (didn't) have grease channels so each time I have to pull one because of a plugged/sheared off zerk I take my handy little angle grinder with a cut-off wheel and do my own channel. The pins don't rotate so its easy to get a depression right under the zerk and a short X shaped channel from there.

 

[john_bud]

I have some clogged fittings. Some zerks were clogged, the others had the pin rusted or the channel full of gunk. Have been using the highest pressure manual gun, moving the offending part thru full rotation and using the gun again.

Google searching found a guy that made a grease gun into a oil / solvent gun and used that to flush out old grease.

 

[Syncro]

A little heat from a propane torch works wonders, especially on press fit zerks that can be hard to remove. As a previous poster already stated, don't over do it, too much heat will harn the zerk or the bushing. I've had very good results with just a few seconds worth of heat applied directly to the zerk, immediately followed with a shot of grease from a standard grease gun. Works nearly all the time.