First let me say I am no mechanic. I actually love machinery. But don't like to work on it a lot or fully understand a lot of it.

I can do oil and lube and some basic mechanicing. That is most of my skill level and more over desire.

Having said all of that. One of the main issue's in keeping stuff going that is all but ignored and is a good reason for good equipment thrown in the junk pile permaturely is lack of lubrication. I know we know that since this is a firearm site. We know that.

But when pulling stuff out for spring work look for the fittings. If they have been ignored the fitting may have dried out and wont take grease. Take a tiny drill bit and drill it out.

Btw, most cars and trucks that go in for a lube a filter don't get any lube or almost no lube. If you have a 4wd and dont do your own I can almost guarantee your drive line is dry as a bone.

Look for grease zirks and give them some love.

Make sure it's a zirk fitting and not the brake bleed fitting you're greasing.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
...If they have been ignored the fitting may have dried out and wont take grease. Take a tiny drill bit and drill it out.

...

Look for grease zirks and give them some love.

Don't drill them, there is a small ball bearing that holds in the grease. Fix or replace them instead.

I have a buddy who I completely trust his skill. Made a good living fixing peoples stuff. Told me that. Hence the "tiny" bit. So you decide.

I am aware of two types zerks and alamite,zerks shaped like arrowhead and alamites have ball with spring under ball.

A Massey Ferguson 850 combine has a whole lot of grease fittings, all over it.
Most all of them you pump grease in until you start seeing some come out at some point. There happens to be one that is on a circular housing that happens to be for the clutch release bearing that I now know only gets two pumps of grease maximum, not pumping until grease comes out bottom of said housing. Just fortunate I could outrun my Grandfather lest he had killed me with the wrench that was in his hand whilst he was chasing me when he realized why combine was smoking and would not move.

I had an old truck (1964 Chevy C-10) that had a zerk on every steering/suspension part that moved, plus three universal joints, plus the clutch linkage. If you're using a hand gun, this can get very tiring.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I have a buddy who I completely trust his skill. Made a good living fixing peoples stuff. Told me that. Hence the "tiny" bit. So you decide.

Maybe the drill frees up a stuck bearing. Sometimes replacement isn't possible. A lot of times a grease needle will also free up a troublesome zerk.

[a grease needle will also free up a troublesome zerk. [/QUOTE]

Also required when doing the drive line.

If you love it lube it. Applies to all situations in life!

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I had an old truck (1964 Chevy C-10) that had a zerk on every steering/suspension part that moved, plus three universal joints, plus the clutch linkage. If you're using a hand gun, this can get very tiring.

The F-4 Phantom had a 7 day cal inspection required greasing everything, piano hinges on panels and flight control surfaces, wing folds, a ton of high and low pressure fittings, on all the gear components, pullys, bellcranks with multiple lubes and greases, anti-sieze, etc., and a whole bunch of other things in the cards.

Always wore the worst set of fatigues for the 7 day.

Took nearly half a day (but it seemed like seven...)

As pointed out, a bleed fitting looks REALLY similar to a grease fitting. Also, it is common to remove grease fittings and plug the hold in places where the fitting may interfere with moving parts. You need to remove the plug and insert a grease fitting, grease, then remove and plug again.

Another point about grease....they don't like being mixed. Also, use the proper grease. They have different temperature levels and water resistance properties depending on the intended application. When in doubt (and as a good policy) clean and remove all old grease prior to inserting new grease.

Be careful of closed systems where over pressurizing grease can actually cause more harm than good. A constant speed propeller is a good example. Pilot's see a grease fitting, and pump some grease in...but proper procedure is to remove the opposite fitting to not over-pressurize the prop hub. Blowing out a seal in a constant speed propeller hub is going to cost some money to fix.

All of that can be summed up in the following advice: Find the service manual appropriate for the equipment, and follow the instructions.

My Machine Shop instructor told me nearly 50 years ago...
"Everything works best and last longer with the correct... and correct amount of... lubrication"
I never forgot that.

This can help with a clogged fitting... if you have the room to use it.

http://www.northerntool.com/sh..._200430913_200430913

This airplane crashed because a jackscrew used to raise and lower the elevator wasn't greased and stripped out, causing it to lose control. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/..._Airlines_Flight_261

Unless it's a sterndrive with a new sealed gimbal bearing and someone didn't remove the zerk!

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I had an old truck (1964 Chevy C-10) that had a zerk on every steering/suspension part that moved, plus three universal joints, plus the clutch linkage. If you're using a hand gun, this can get very tiring.

My 2002 Chevy pickup had 11 zerks on the front end. My 2010 Chevy pickup only has 4.

Grease fittings are cheap. Take it out and throw it away. Then clean out the gunk in the hole where the fitting was. Use penetrating oil and then dig it out with a sharp tool (or maybe a tiny drill bit). Make sure the bearing or shafts turns freely. Then put in a new fitting. The grease fitting cleaner and that cparktd mentioned sometimes work, but often do not because the dried up grease and dirt is just too hard.