I adjusted the brakes and greased up the coach in a ritual of preparing for an excursion.
I greased 8 fittings on each tag assembly
I greased 5 fittings on each side of the drive
I greased 6 fittings on each side of the steer
One on the pitman arm
Did I get them all??? or did I miss any???
What do you do when a fitting won't take grease. I replaced the fitting and it still would not take grease. It is the lower forward facing fitting on the passenger side. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Melbo
Sometimes all you have to do is loosen it slightly and it will take grease.
If the grease is hardened nothing will work except a long soak in solvent.
Just replacing them is easier and faster if access is not too bad, unfortunately sometimes access is almost impossible.
Replacing also allows you to substitute straight for angled and vice versa for easier greasing.
Hi Melbo,
I don't know how many grease fittings there are on an MC 8 but I think you missed some very important ones. The U-joints on the drive shaft, tierod ends, and DD3 parking brake locks are some that come to mind. I'm sure there are others. You didn't say what the fitting is on that won't take grease, but if it is on the front king pins you can sometimes get them to take grease by jacking up the wheel to releave the pressure on the pin. By releasing the parking brake you can sometimes get the brake shoe pins to take grease. Be sure to block the wheels before releasing the parking brake.
Melbo, you may not want to pay the price but Snap On sells what they call the Rejuvenator for grease fitting the last one I bought was around 50 bucks they work to free up the passage to accept grease.
Beats all the drilling and soaking
good luck
I don't know what you might have on your fan drive but I've got a couple on there. In addition to the u-joints that were already mentioned look for a slip joint on the propeller shaft (it will be a splined shaft sliding inside a sleeve with a zerk on the sleeve). On mine I open the driver's compartment to get at some u-joints on the steering column as well as the front end of the drag link.
Sam
I did not mention the driveline because I have a cummins and slip yoke it has 5 fittings and I got them all. Two at each universal joint and one on the slip. Some of the fittings I counted are on the brakes as well as the suspension. One of the front ones is each tie rod end and I did mention the pitman arm. You are probably right that I need to take the pressure off the king pin and that will solve my problem. I did block the wheels because I was adjusting the brakes and I had the brakes off when I made all my adjustments and lubrication. So tomorrow morning after some personal stuff business stuff and other stuff I will head on down to the bus and jack it up and see how that helps. I will post and let you know thanks for the tip.
Melbo
If you are using a air greaser try the hand pump..more power...I have one you even hit with a hammer..the guys have covered everything else...keep greasing and good luck.
Seems like on the 4501 there are a hundred or more under there.
Jack
Well I have about 50 but maybe that is because the senic is twice the bus an MCI is
Melbo
Melbo, there should be a chart in your manual showing the places and types of grease to use if my memory serves me my MCI used 2 or 3 different types of grease.
good luck
Clifford
Good Idea look in the manual
I just did and it appears that I have gotten all the ones that are noted there
Thanks for the tip --- should of thought of that myself but then I wouldn't have learned to jack up the front end to do the king pins.
Melbo
Don't know anything about MCI's but heavy equipment is pretty much alike.
Usually the only ones I have trouble with are in the adjusting arms of the suspension.
When I find a zerk that won't take grease, I remove it and try to fish out the hardened grease in the joint (not the zerk) with a piece of wire. If that doesn't work I heat it until the grease melts and runs out. then I install a new zerk and after it cools I grease it.
That has always worked and the zerk usually doesn't give me any more trouble.
Seems the Eagle has more than a 100 zerks. More every time I grease it!
The zerks for the throttle and fan are much easier since I remoted them to the rear of the engine compartment.
Melbo,
Actually I'll bet somewhere the service manual does suggest jacking the front to lube the king pins. I won't guarantee it, but I'd be surprised if it didn't. As long as I have been turning wrenches on anything bigger than a car, I've always been told that it's the proper way! (by many different sources!)
Also one other tip for zerks not taking grease (especially after changing it!), is to use a small propane torch and heat it till the old grease loosens up. (But be very careful doing this for several reasons. 1; is the grease surrounding the area can catch fire if not careful. 2: is to be careful not to damage any rubber seals etc.! It is a great last resort trick, but only when done very cautiously!)
;D BK ;D
looks as though the 2 of us were posting at the same time! LOL! ;D
Allow me to translate what Bryce just said for you Mel: RTFM
Sorry - couldn't resist. The devil made me do it.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: bobofthenorth on November 21, 2009, 04:17:02 PM
Allow me to translate what Bryce just said for you Mel: RTFM
Sorry - couldn't resist. The devil made me do it.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Bob you bad, very bbaaaddddd! ;D
;D BK ;D
Bob and BK what is rtfm?????
Read The FINE Manual or something like that???
Thanks for the tip
Melbo
P.S. I did get the fitting to take some grease but it was a bear
Robert,
Please explain the "one you hit with a hammer"? I think that is the one that translates to thousands of PSI and will push grease through a brick. More info....please.
John
JohnEd, that is a rejuvenator go to www.dmstools.com (http://www.dmstools.com) they have several brands there you can read about the tool and yes they even have pictures.
Thought I would save you the trouble of photos Robert.
good luck
Quote from: Melbo on November 21, 2009, 12:36:01 PM
Clifford
Good Idea look in the manual
I just did and it appears that I have gotten all the ones that are noted there
You need to do two things.
First, using the chart, find and lube every fitting on the coach, not just the ones listed for PM. After a few million miles, some of the "lifetime lubed" points are probably not lubed anymore.
Second, take a GOOD look under and around the coach -- there may be fittings not mentioned in the chart, especially if you have optional equipment or if they swapped parts between coaches when it was in service. Lube them and add them to the chart.
The best thing to do with hardened fittings is to replace them. If you don't want to spend the money, then take them out and soak them in solvent overnight, dry them, then finish the cleaning job by squirting some grease through them before reinstallation.
If removing them is not an option, take a small piece of wire to force the ball down, and squirt solvent in there, while you work the ball back and forth for a few minutes. Eventually you can hook onto the Zerk and feel the dam burst when you pump the grease gun.
The tiny amount of solvent which will be in there can be ignored. One trick used by military and antique vehicle collector / restorer shops is to have a special grease gun set up just for shooting solvent into stuck Zerks. You wouldn't even bother trying to grease the first time, you just pump solvent in. A day or so later, chase the remaining solvent out with new grease -- even the old grease that was still in there will have been softened enough to shove out of the way. NOTE: DO THIS JOB OUTSIDE ON A BIG DRIP PAN, and THE SMOKING LAMP IS OUT. When working with that much solvent, you're flirting with the opportunity to get on the Five O'Clock Follies, either from the fumes or from fire.
What ever you do, do not heat it up with the fitting in. I know a guy that did this and was just missed by the ball in the fitting. Just like a bullet.
Quote from: busnut104 on November 22, 2009, 02:46:45 PM
What ever you do, do not heat it up with the fitting in. I know a guy that did this and was just missed by the ball in the fitting. Just like a bullet.
OK, OK, I've been out on the road hauling the Special Olympians to Joplin again. And only spent a few moments online at the hotel and now look what has evolved! ;D LOL!
OK I did not make my point clear!
I ALWAYS TRY OTHER METHODS BEFORE HEATING! (especially changing the zerk, since I have like 2 zillion of them in several little kits!)
Also I never heat the zerk itself! And then when I do heat the arear around it I am very careful not to heat the zerk or melt anything else in the process!
OK is that clear as mud?
;D BK ;D
WOW, BK that must have been a rough trip LOL
good luck
touchy touchy But BK my post was not aimed at you but just to try to inform some one else that may try this for getting hurt.
Quote from: luvrbus on November 22, 2009, 07:08:24 PM
WOW, BK that must have been a rough trip LOL
good luck
If you only knew! Oh wait if you read my long winded up coming post you will know! LOL! ;D
Quote from: busnut104 on November 23, 2009, 03:11:54 AM
touchy touchy But BK my post was not aimed at you but just to try to inform some one else that may try this for getting hurt.
BN104 not touchy, just wanting to make it clear as mud that I use the torch only as a last resort. (well sorta, I never did the solvent thingy. But may try it in the future! ;D)
And that when using heat that it is not appied directly to the zerk itself. (If it is applied directly to the zerk itself, you'll be changing the zerk again. And no need to ask how I learned that either ;D !)
;D BK ;D