grease fittings

[royboy42]

The two fittings for the pedals won't take any grease. I've taken some off before and worked the valve with a allen key and even ran grease thru them before putting them back on. Once reinstalled, no dice. Best i figure is that the old hard grease that was in the fitting is also blocking the cavity. I've thought about using a little heat from a propane torch to liquefy that old grease.


So what's the hot ticket to making old grease fittings accept grease again?

 

[Theekillerbee]

I had the same problem on my old Ford backhoe. I took out the zirks, sprayed them daily with WD-40 for a week, then put on new fittings and put the grease to them! Worked pretty well. A couple of them I had to keep pressurizing them with grease to finally get them to break free.

 

[Ob1kubota]

The two fittings for the pedals won't take any grease. I've taken some off before and worked the valve with a allen key and even ran grease thru them before putting them back on. Once reinstalled, no dice. Best i figure is that the old hard grease that was in the fitting is also blocking the cavity. I've thought about using a little heat from a propane torch to liquefy that old grease.


So what's the hot ticket to making old grease fittings accept grease again?

Roy adding to what's been said you can take a pick and push in on the zerk ball and if it won't move freely then I suspect the ball valve is stuck in the head. At this point you will have to remove the fitting to examine and most guys just replace them but they will be metric threads [http://www.saeproducts.com/metric-grease-fittings.html] so be prepared to have them on hand. Once out look in the threaded holes for rust on the shafts and if visible, well, I'd pull the linkage loose and WD-40 the shaft completely loosening the rotation resistance caused by the rust in the shaft barrels. Spray it until you see the rust running out the ends of the shaft barrel. Carburetor cleaner makes a nice finish for old grease but remember it will remove orange paint Its great for the Zerk fittings applied on the back side of the valve. Work the ball with the punch and spray the open hole on the back until you can see the spring and ball seat is free and clear I think that is all it will take.

 

[aquaforce]

So what's the hot ticket to making old grease fittings accept grease again?

I have used a small pic and removed as much of the old hard dry grease as I could get to and then gotten grease to go through. Also the penetrant that was mentioned helps.

Using a hammer to hit the shaft while the pressure is on the zerk can also make it go through. I don't like to bang on things with a hammer unless there is no other option but using a little care is good when banging.