Broken zerk -- can't get it out

Soundguy · Dec 4, 2012

bad ez out.

fluted or square profile?

Soundguy · Dec 4, 2012

i bet a bad drill angle or dull bit has work hardened the leading edge.. and that and a less hard extractr may be an issue. onc ethe extractor rounds wher eit is making contact at the stuck shell.. you aren't getting any leverage.

driving it sdeeper, if it is not bottomed would help.. that or just peel that thing out of there with a carbide bit.

thought? got a lefty? many times a lefty bites in and unscrews a fastener..

ddb123 · Dec 4, 2012

I don't have a left handed bit, but I've been contemplating buying some. I don't know if the EZ outs are "bad." I just bought them today and they are supposed to be hardened steel.

Soundguy · Dec 4, 2012

if it has necked or waisted in an area.. it wasn't a good set.. especially if a cheap chinese steel zerk did it..

i've seen lots of different tool metals in tap and die and extractor sets. i got a beater metric tap set for junk work, and it is just a bit harder than gr5 steel..

on the other hand.. I have a nice sae fine / coarse set that is a workhorse for sure.. not brittle like the cheaper 'hard' set

were they a dull grey color? shiney steel color, or TN coated?

RaydaKub · Dec 4, 2012

Soundguy said:
if it has necked or waisted in an area.. it wasn't a good set.. especially if a cheap chinese steel zerk did it..

i've seen lots of different tool metals in tap and die and extractor sets. i got a beater metric tap set for junk work, and it is just a bit harder than gr5 steel.. on the other hand.. I have a nice sae fine / coarse set that is a workhorse for sure.. not brittle like the cheaper 'hard' set

were they a dull grey color? shiney steel color, or TN coated?

Wow! I can't believe how many different ideas you rattled off there in half dozen posts. Very creative! :thumbsup:

Boostinjdm · Dec 4, 2012

You're killin' me here. If you'll pay shipping both ways, I'll fix the **** thing.

lew61 · Dec 4, 2012

This forum is more fun than a swimming hole in June!

ddb123 · Dec 5, 2012

Boostinjdm said:
You're killin' me here. If you'll pay shipping both ways, I'll fix the **** thing.

LOL. It wouldn't be a learning experience if I did that!

ddb123 · Dec 5, 2012

Soundguy said:
if it has necked or waisted in an area.. it wasn't a good set.. especially if a cheap chinese steel zerk did it..

i've seen lots of different tool metals in tap and die and extractor sets. i got a beater metric tap set for junk work, and it is just a bit harder than gr5 steel.. on the other hand.. I have a nice sae fine / coarse set that is a workhorse for sure.. not brittle like the cheaper 'hard' set

were they a dull grey color? shiney steel color, or TN coated?

Dull grey

Boostinjdm · Dec 5, 2012

ddb123 said:
LOL. It wouldn't be a learning experience if I did that!

Don't take this the wrong way, but 1 grease zerk has been kicking your *** for a week now. I think you may have learned all you're going to learn. I'd promise to post pics of the repair....

ddb123 · Dec 5, 2012

Boostinjdm said:
Don't take this the wrong way, but 1 grease zerk has been kicking your *** for a week now. I think you may have learned all you're going to learn. I'd promise to post pics of the repair....

Thank you for your input.

Soundguy · Dec 5, 2012

ddb123 said:
Dull grey

from what i have seen.. the dull grey are the lowest end of them.

I'd chalk the fialure up so far to the inferior extractor and not so much your fault. the extractor rounde dout.. or you might have already had it out..

Gordon Gould · Dec 5, 2012

Is there any way you can post a picture of this thing ?? We must not understand what you are dealing with. Since a zerk already has a centered hole it is usually easy to drill using the original hole as a pilot hole and starting with a bit just slightly larger as has been discribed. You must have something different ???

gwdixon · Dec 5, 2012

Boostinjdm said:
You're killin' me here. If you'll pay shipping both ways, I'll fix the **** thing.

Boostinjdm said:
Don't take this the wrong way, but 1 grease zerk has been kicking your *** for a week now. I think you may have learned all you're going to learn. I'd promise to post pics of the repair....

Hey, Jim - welcome to the forum. These guys are a lot nicer than over on WW. Be gentle.

Oh, and I know your name is not Jim. :laughing: :laughing:

Hijack over. Back to your regularly scheduled thread.

DFB · Dec 5, 2012

Geez just clip a needle point adapter onto your grease gun and go pump some grease in there!

ddb123 · Dec 5, 2012

Okay!

I found some time to work on it today. I used my masonry bit according to Soundguy's recommendation (I have only one masonry bit but it was the proper size). It didn't let the EZ out bite. I drilled a little larger, then a little larger, and finally the EZ out bit. But it didn't unscrew. With vice grips on the EZ out and the pin in a vice it started to shred the outside of the EZ out (I had to use a cheater bar to achieve this). I then used progressively bigger drill bits until the zerk was pretty much completely gone. Then I used a chisel and hammer to knock out the remaining pieces. I cleaned it up a little and checked another zerk and the new zerk fits and send grease where it's supposed to go. Yay!

So here's my (hopefully final) next question. The pin has a bunch of metal shavings in it. How do I deal with these, and is it a big deal? Seems like it would be bad.

EDIT: my idea is to put about a tube of grease through it to push all the shavings out.

JohninCT · Dec 5, 2012

Good you got it out. If you think you got some chips in the hole I would suggest back flushing with a can of WD40 using the little straw in the hole into the grease outlets. Then blow it out with air. Repeat until you're satisfied it's all clear and then put your zerk back in and reinstall the pin and grease. If you have a big enough chip in there and you push it in with grease then you might clog up your grease path.

Boostinjdm · Dec 5, 2012

ddb123 said:
The pin has a bunch of metal shavings in it. How do I deal with these

You flush 'em out with brake cleaner or solvent before putting in the new zerk.

ddb123 · Dec 5, 2012

Boostinjdm said:
You flush 'em out with brake cleaner or solvent before putting in the new zerk.

Right on, and will do. Thanks guys! It feels great to get this fixed and now I have a better idea how to tackle it next time! Although I can assure you I am going to be MUCH more careful when greasing now...