plugged zerk?

[ElBubba]

I just did my first 100 hr maintenance on my 425 and ran into a possible snag. The zerk between your legs (lets not go there...) that you get to by taking off a cover plate won't take any grease. This happened the last time I tried to grease it and I just let it go thinking it must be full. This time though I used a different zerk and still was unable to squeeze any grease in. I then removed zerk and pushed a thin wire in. There didn't appear to be any obstruction and the wire came out coated with pretty clean grease.

Now there's a black plate that the zerk screws into and the plate has a large nut. If you take off the nut, the plate doesn't seem to want to come off and I'm hesitant to force it off to get a better look at what might be going on.

I'm assuming the zerk should be taking in a few pumps from the grease gun but maybe this particular one doesn't? What experience have others had?

 

[SCB]

Not sure of the setup of your machine, or what the zerk is greasing, But sometimes a zerk will be tight when in a certain position. Such as bucket all the way curled or loader arms all the way down. If the zerk is on a pivot point of some kind, try moving it to a different position. SOmetimes that is all that is needed.

 

[SnowRidge]

Mine takes grease. I don't recall having any problems with it either. Sounds like the joint is so tight that you can't force any old grease out.

I think if I was in your position, I would take off whatever I had to, and try and examine the back side of that joint. Maybe use a small inspection mirror.

It also might be worth a call to Terry.

 

[tracdoc]

ElBubba,

I had the same problem, as did Scotchers (and probably others, too). The Zerk is not plugged with debris. Rather, the internal port is closed off, and this is a positional problem. I found that removing the bolt on the plate or tang, and then tapping the tang about a quarter of a turn will open the internal port and allow the grease to get into the rights places. Once greased, tap the tang back, and replace the bolt.

The procedure I described is in more detail {HERE} . Hope that helps.

 

[SCOTCHERS]

I was in the same boat and did what I was told and WHOILA- A little inconvienient but did the trick Noise stopped and zerk allowing grease. Hope it works for you. John