• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

grease gun, kind OT

Fred85

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Orange, VA
I'm a complete noob when it comes to grease guns or greasing steering parts.....but i went to AZ today and picked up a mini grease gun and some mini grease gun cartridges because i wanted hit all the zerks on my steering linkage with some grease (not sure when the last time they got greased was)

but the grease just squirts out around the zerk, how do i know if any is going into the joint or not??? do i need a different end on my gun??
 
Are you sealing the fitting tightly onto the zerk? You have to push until it snaps on - the fitting on the gun should cover the entire "ball" portion of the zerk.
 
Sometimes the little spring loaded ball in the Zerk freezes. I have stuck a paper clip in them to push ball down and try to free it up.
At the price of Zerks I would just replace them, also make sure you have the right fitting on the gun.
 
If the grease is extruding out around the grease nipple, try aligning the nose of the grease gun straight onto the zerk, put some muscle on it, then start pumping.

If that doesnt work, try taking a center punch, and carefully push on the center of the grease nipple, to unstick the little ball valve inside. Sometimes old gummy grease hardens inside the zerk and seizes up the valve.

If all else fails, put a new zerk fitting in!
 
thanks for the replies, could i just have the wrong sized fitting on my gun?? or are they universal?

i didn't realize that the fitting had to actually "snap" onto the end of the zerk" maybe the was my problem lol

ok, another stupid question............how do i know when i've put in enough grease?
 
The hand held ones are not all that useful, it's hard getting enough torque to run the piston with a pistolgrip.
Get a good quality tube type and an 18 or 24" long flexable extension, not the cheap ones in AA, go to napa and get a red flex one. It has two advantages, higher torque/pressure and you can leve the gun on the ground, operate the lever with one hand and move the extension around with the other. Also have a shop rag to clean the zerks off BEFORE you put the fitting on, othewise you will be pushing dirt into the zerk.
As for knowing when you pump enough, if the part you are trying to grease has a big rubber fitting it will start to bulge, when it get firm then stop, some keep pumping till it *pops* and oozes out, not a good idea, it breaks the seal between the part and the rubber fitting.
I have a couple, my good one cost me $24 plus another $8 for the extension, the extension has the first 5" or so wrapped with a spring and a high quality fitting on the end. That one stays loaded with Mobil-1 grease.
 
Back
Top