Zerk fittings not taking grease. Puzzled.

Hellspawn · Mar 11, 2012

I've got about 15-20hrs on the 60" MMM on my B2620 and dropped the deck today to get the blades off for sharpening and thought I'd hit the zerk fittings with some grease.

This is the first time I've done so, and even though the fitting snapped onto the zerk, as soon as I hit the level on the gun the grease came out around the head of the hose fitting and the zerk.

This happened with every zerk I tried, and I did clean them off before doing this.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

gwdixon · Mar 11, 2012

Try the grease gun on tractor Zerks that you know will work.

The fitting may be loose on the gun - it screws on.

After the gun is known to be working, take out one of the Zerks on the MMM, hook it to the gun, and see if grease will flow through it.

If everything works then maybe the bearings in the MMM are tight and greased to the max. There may not be a place for the grease to escape (like on a FEL) since a MMM runs in a dirty environment. If grease can get out then filth can get in.

PILOON · Mar 11, 2012

Zerks, while a great invention, often are troublesome as you have found out.
Heat (gentle with propane) usually clears things.
Pressure applied to the little ball valve at the tip also frequently will free things up.

Only 40 hours, but how long was the mower stored outdoors at the dealership in blazing sun? and perhaps it was in stock since the previous year.

Good luck.

Ductape · Mar 11, 2012

Agreed with all above.

When you get to where heat won't work...... remove the zerk and replace with a new one.

Hellspawn · Mar 11, 2012

PILOON said:
Zerks, while a great invention, often are troublesome as you have found out.
Heat (gentle with propane) usually clears things.
Pressure applied to the little ball valve at the tip also frequently will free things up.

Only 40 hours, but how long was the mower stored outdoors at the dealership in blazing sun? and perhaps it was in stock since the previous year.

Good luck.

The deck has about 15 hours on it. The place I got it at keeps their implements and crated tractors under a roofed building for environmental reasons. I'll check a couple of these ideas in the morning see.

thanks!

like2wheel · Mar 12, 2012

Sounds to me more like the grease gun coupler has gone bad. If the fittings were not passing grease, the lever would get hard to pump, & the coupler would tighten, but not leak. Plus, what are the chances that all the zerks are plugged??
It's a common replacement item available at any auto parts store.

Hellspawn · Mar 12, 2012

So from reading the MMM posts I could find on here I guess I messed up something else too. I used my pressure washer today to clean the crap from underneath around and on top of the gear box. I see there is a vent on it? I didn't hit the zerks with it though.

****.

F250DSLPWR · Mar 12, 2012

I had problems with a zerk fitting on a boat trailer axel.. I soon figured out the hole behind the zerk fitting was not drilled all the way through.... You might try removing the zerk and cleaning out some of the old grease to make sure the hole is not plugged. Just use a small drill bit and use your fingers to twist it to remove the grease, you will know when your get to some hardened, dirt clogged stuff. I also gree with the comments made above and suggestions to solve the issue.

texasjohn · Mar 12, 2012

I've had an occasional zerk that did not take grease...removed and zerk would pass grease. So, removed pin behind zerk (this was on a FEL), cleaned up all old caked grease and replaced...zerk now delivers new grease to the pin. Have to do this at least once when I grease tractor.