Thread: Followed Me Home II

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Yikes !!!!!!!! KS may spout great BBQ, car friendly they are not. Abusers of the owners that find and enjoy the simple pleasures of the machine.

Hope the have nightmares

The tie rod ends on the steering rack won't take grease with a manual grease gun pumped up several times, so I took one off to examine. The zerks are clear, and probing into the threaded grease zerk hole they're not bottoming out. With the rod end on the spindle, loose from the rack I can work the joint around, but when I put max pressure on the grease gun it's like it freezes in place. Take the pressure away and it moves around freely, but they're tight. These ends were sold in early 2009 so likely made 15 years ago, if not more, but they put some grease inside so I can't see corrosion being an issue.

Since I can work them around freely (with some effort) I decided the best path forward was to fill the rubber cap with grease, reinstall them and run them for a while, thinking that with some use they will "loosen up" enough that they'll accept grease. When I Google "tie rod end won't take grease" it seems that it's not so unusual? I've never had a new tie rod end that wouldn't take grease, but I can't see that my approach has any fatal flaws. Thoughts/experiences?

I cannot honestly say I've ever encountered this. The unit is somehow sealed? You cannot add to the space if something doesn't get displaced is the theory I'm using. Do you have one of those needles that plug onto the grease gun?

I think I'd do the same as you're thinking, run it and try again in 6 months or so...

Originally Posted by 34_40

I cannot honestly say I've ever encountered this. The unit is somehow sealed? You cannot add to the space if something doesn't get displaced is the theory I'm using. Do you have one of those needles that plug onto the grease gun?

I think I'd do the same as you're thinking, run it and try again in 6 months or so...

The way it looks to me is that they insert the threaded tapered shaft into the machined "socket", set a "cover" in place that's got the zerk fitting hole in the center and swage the body closed to hold the cover. I'm thinking these got swaged really tight, so that there's just no room for the grease to flow through to the top. That's the only thing that makes sense to me, but it's damned tight tolerance! Hoping they wear in a bit with a few road miles, or I'll be contacting TCI or Pete & Jakes for a pair of new ones! Warranty is probably still good from '09, right?

I guess as long as it isn't 1909... they oughta be glad to cover that one! We are in agreement, no room for grease.
Pop out the zerk and force in some thin oil??? Or as you did already, under the rubber boot..

Originally Posted by 34_40

I guess as long as it isn't 1909... they oughta be glad to cover that one! We are in agreement, no room for grease.
Pop out the zerk and force in some thin oil??? Or as you did already, under the rubber boot..

Yeah, I took the zerk out and filled one with penetrating oil and then worked it around. Still no joy on the grease so I opted to fill the rubber cover, put everything back together and clean off the grease that squeezed out. Note to self - Grease tie rod ends at the end of the summer!!

When I was a teenager (over half a century ago), I once watched the local gas station owner (old time place that had a grease pit; no lift) heat a stubborn tie rod end on a truck with a torch to get it to take grease. As I recall, he just got it hot, but not hot enough to glow. Then he plugged on the grease gun and it took grease, but the grease melted. He went on to do something else, came back after it cooled and greased it again. It took grease normally then.

It would be a lot of trouble to do that on your roadster. You would have to remove the rubber and possibly take the rod end off. Try your idea first and if it doesn't work you can try heat as a last resort next winter.

Jim, in my Google research I did see where someone talked of heating with a torch but it was in a thread where being filled with old, hardened grease was mentioned so I didn't really consider it. But now that you mention it they sat basically untouched for nearly 15 years so that might be it!

I had the roadster loaded last night for the trip to the shop first thing this morning. Showed him that they had put in a B&M Shift Kit, Corvette Servo, 500 Boost Valve, High Energy 2-4 Band & friction set, and non-stick throttle valve when it was built. Got a call at 2pm saying "Come get it! It's good to go!" Turns out that sitting idle for 7 years in a mainly unheated barn space had rusted the 2 to 3 and 3 to 4/OD valves so they were stuck in place and not allowing the shifts. The 2 to 3 he was able to move with some lube, and once moving it freed up and was OK but the 3 to 4 valve wouldn't budge. It rides in an aluminum sleeve with lots of machining, and by the time he got the valve out the sleeve was in several pieces. Of course the sleeve is considered integral to the valve body and isn't sold alone, but he had a buddy at another shop that had a spare 700R4 valve body and he got the sleeve from it. My valve body had been modified, so simply swapping valve bodies would have lost all of that, or required uninstalling/reinstalling the pieces/parts. Easier and cheaper to just swap out the trashed sleeve & valve. Lighter by only $350 and it shifts like a dream!! That's why I like small, independent shops and won't go in the big name places that automatically drop the tranny and bust it apart, then announce "It's gotta be rebuilt". He also explained how the lock-up feature works, blocked until the fluid is up to temp, and how he wires them on non-stock applications. Something else to look at....

Next is alignment!

Nice. Worth every penny when it's fixed. Good progress.

Originally Posted by rspears

That's why I like small, independent shops and won't go in the big name places that automatically drop the tranny and bust it apart, then announce "It's gotta be rebuilt". He also explained how the lock-up feature works, blocked until the fluid is up to temp, and how he wires them on non-stock applications. Something else to look at....

Next is alignment!

I hear you on that.
I won't deal with any large franchise-holding garage for that very reason.
The bloke in the local garage will repair it, and explain exactly what he's done and why in words of one syllable so that even a dumbass like myself can understand.

JB,
Here's the roadster key, on a Kiwi fob that I'm sure came from you!
20210420_173918.jpg

Originally Posted by johnboy

The bloke in the local garage will repair it, and explain exactly what he's done and why in words of one syllable so that even a dumbass like myself can understand.

Dirty Harry said a man has got to know his limitations... good to hear you've found your limit!



Pokin' the bear boss! LOL

Originally Posted by rspears

JB,
Here's the roadster key, on a Kiwi fob that I'm sure came from you!

...complete with an instrument for removing crown tops off BEER bottles!?!?


Who me??


Shame, shock, horror!


(You're most probably correct in your assumption.


It's all about getting your priorities right.


And removing beer bottle tops is a priority.)

Originally Posted by 34_40

Dirty Harry said a man has got to know his limitations... good to hear you've found your limit!



Pokin' the bear boss! LOL

Phoo!
Read my byline.

'I don't know everything about anything, and I don't know anything about lots of things.'

I've had the response ready for you well before you passed the comment.





(That's not pokin' the bear. That's giving the bear a good kick up the derriere.)