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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Grease zirk problem

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old

05-24-2006 15:31:39




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Got a couple grease zirks that will not take grease. I was going to replace them but there an odd size so I have them soaking on carb cleaner hoping they will start to work. Any body have any other ideas of how to get them to work. I know its the zirk its self not the place they go since I pulled them and they will not take any grease when off the machine. Thanks for any ideas

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RustyFarmall

05-25-2006 07:43:54




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
Old, I have never had the heat method fail me unless the problem was deeper than the the zerk itself. Just grab the propane torch, heat the zerk until you see a little "worm" squirting up, and then start pumping the grease to it.



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souNdguy

05-25-2006 07:12:30




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
OLD.. if you are soaking them in the 'dip' style carb cleaner like varsol, or chemdip.. then i think you will be fine! I just cleaned 4 gearbox plug/vents that were totally blocked up with dirt and oily grease.. spray carb cleaner didn't work, and naptha didn't work. 5 minutes in a pail of chemdip and they were 100% clean!

Soundguy



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old

05-25-2006 07:32:37




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to souNdguy, 05-25-2006 07:12:30  
Well so far it isn't working. I soaked them for a couple hours yesterday and tried one and it didn't help it any, there still in the stuff right now. If they don't work later today I'll try the tourch and see if heat works



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souNdguy

05-25-2006 07:46:32




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-25-2006 07:32:37  
I made up a piece of 3/16 plate that i tapped for a grease zerk.. that way i can screw them in, and then hit them with a grease gun and not worry about shooting old grease into a cavity.. etc.

Heat may work.. but might mess up the spring.. so go easy.. If you had one of those hammer grease zerk cleaners.. that might work.. but they are a tad spendy. Good luck onthe carb cleaner.. i havn't seen much that it won't 'eat'.

Soundguy

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old

05-25-2006 08:03:15




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to souNdguy, 05-25-2006 07:46:32  
Ya I figured the carb cleaner would do the trick but as I said so far it hasn't. It would be a big deal but this is one of those that is an odd size and my grease zirk kit, which has a lot of differant size zirks doesn't have any of the size I need to replace this one.



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TomR Ont

05-24-2006 19:24:00




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
Old - I'm sure you checked the grease gun, I have one that the whip was pluged, thought it was the zirks, but it couldn't be all of them that were pluged?? changed the whip and it worked.



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MarkB_MI

05-24-2006 19:18:32




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
I've freed up many zerks with a center punch. Just hold the tip of the punch to the check ball and give the punch a light tap. Once the ball is freed up, they should be fine.



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Hurst

05-24-2006 18:22:36




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
The only thing I have ever done that seems to work on about 95% of the tips I have (if it doesnt work, they are replaced as there is more than grease clogging them) is to put them in the vice, and light up your blow torch (propane torch) and heat her up. Be careful, as they will pop and can shoot some nasty spirts of hot flaming grease out at you. Stand back and don't do it near a baler or dry grass... Afterwards, put a little penitrating oil in it to loosen up anything left and you should be good to go. Some do just seem to clog up for no reason at all though??? go firgure Good luck

Hurst

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NC Wayne

05-24-2006 18:20:03




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
Hey Old, if you know what size they are (metric, 1/4 pipe, drive in, etc) you can get any of them you want from Mcmaster Carr. Their not that expensive for a pack of 5, 10, or however they come and Mcmaster doesn't have a minimum so you ought to be able to get close to the amount you need. Beyond replacing them you can try the breakout tools the other posts have mentioned, that's good if their gummed up. If you grease them regularly though that shouldn't be an issue. In my experience when a zerk that's used regularly "sticks" it's usually that the spring has broken and the check ball "backseats" itself in the housing when you try to force grease through it. If that's what's happening nothing you try is ever gonna work short of knocking the check ball out somehow. In any case the easiest and surest fix is probably gonna be to replace them...before you lose your religion over them.... Good luck.

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old

05-24-2006 19:38:45




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to NC Wayne, 05-24-2006 18:20:03  
I keep new zirks on hand but as I said these are odd ball one. They go on an old IH rake, so go figure I would think they would be the normal sizes but they are



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chris sweetland

05-24-2006 17:31:17




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
in the lubracation section of norther tool they have two thingg that clean and unstick them i bought the cheeper of the two and just tap it with a hammer on the stuck ones also you could try a small punch to knock the ball back and forth a couple of times or try your local parts store and im sure they can find one to match



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Old Duke

05-24-2006 17:23:17




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
The grease needle works good to grease difficult to line up U-joint zerks too. I've had fair luck drilling out plugged zerks from the back with a small diameter drill like 3/32nds(don't force it throught the spring into the check ball) and then using the needle fitting. The needle fitting upsets the stuck ball then and the grease will flow through. Most foreign fittings i've ever seen were very similar to ours except they used a straight thread instead of a taper pipe thread and the hex was metric dimemsions of course

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Bob

05-24-2006 16:21:11




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
Go to the link below. Scroll down to "RAMO-MATIC ZERK FITTING TOOL".


I have had a similar tool for years, and it works very well.



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Don-Wi

05-24-2006 16:03:23




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
They don't happen to be metric do they? I know you probably don't have much stuff that's new or foreign enough to be metric, but it's a shot.

If you have to(or if you can), drill them out and tap them for a grease zirk with 1/8" pipe threads

Donovan from Wisconsin



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dale poland

05-24-2006 15:57:42




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to old, 05-24-2006 15:31:39  
hi, just a thought. ai have what what is called a grease needle,fits on your gun and you shove into the zerk. sometimes it will break them loose. you can get them at napa stores and some farm stores. good luck dale



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nballen

05-24-2006 16:06:46




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 Re: Grease zirk problem in reply to dale poland, 05-24-2006 15:57:42  
Dale,

I grew up calling that needle a "chainsaw tip" since the only place we used that style tip was to grease the front roller on a chainsaw bar.

Old,
If you can get to the back parts bin at you favorite parts store, you may be able to find one that matches...had some success that way at NAPA.

Nathaniel



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