MickinMO Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Went to replace the grease on the boat I recently bought that has bearing buddies. First side went fine, the other side won't accept grease from the gun. As soon as I start pumping it just flows out of the end at the zerk. I assume the zerk is clogged. Is there an easy way to unclog without taking the bearing buddy off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishinwrench Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Pop it with a tiny drift punch to unseat the check ball. If that doesn't work remove it with a 8mm socket and replace it with a new one. MickinMO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMO Posted June 2, 2018 Author Share Posted June 2, 2018 The socket won't grab. I think this may be an EZ Lube system. The zerk seems a little loose, but I know nothing about this stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMO Posted June 2, 2018 Author Share Posted June 2, 2018 I removed more grease from under the dust cap around the zerk. It is round and flush so no socket going to grab this. Must be compression of some sort or I need to replace the entire buddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishinwrench Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Yeah I dunno. If I have to spend more than 5 minutes on it then it gets brand new bearing buddy's. Usually a tap with a drift punch gets the ball unstuck. Better to have new ones than to pay my time to fix old ones. 😎 MickinMO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMO Posted June 2, 2018 Author Share Posted June 2, 2018 Well, none of it matters at this point. Just noticed that I have a seal busted somewhere on the left wheel so going to need a full bearing set replacement. Might as well put new bearing buddies on at the shop. Not what I was hoping to see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BilletHead Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Mick, Some brands of bearing buddies are different. Some of the zerks are actually threaded into a tapped threading. Others are through thin metal with a nut and washer behind the zerk. I have had to mess with both types. The ones with the nut and washer behind will loosen and you have a wobbly zerk that will leak around it. If it gets too loose you will loose the zerk and have to fish around for the nut and washer in the grease behind it. It will never tighten if it is just loose nothing to hold the nut behind. You need to pop off the cap and use a socket of pair of pliers to hold the nut, tighten and pop the cover back on. pain in the rear and poor engineering IMO but an easy fix if you want to. Looks like you have found another problem with the seal you may not want to mess with yourself but you can replace seal and clean and repack existing bearings if they are not damaged. BilletHead Has four trailers with buddy bearings and one with sealed non greaseable bearings. I like the maintenance free ones and hope they last along time. BilletHead MickinMO 1 "We have met the enemy and it is us", Pogo If you compete with your fellow anglers, you become their competitor, If you help them you become their friend" Lefty Kreh " Never display your knowledge, you only share it" Lefty Kreh "Eat more bass and there will be more room for walleye to grow!" BilletHead " One thing in life is for sure. If you are careful you can straddle the barbed wire fence but make one mistake and you will be hurting" BilletHead P.S. "May your fences be short or hope you have long legs" BilletHead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishinwrench Posted June 3, 2018 Share Posted June 3, 2018 In all reality Bearing Buddy's are nothing more than a glorified dust cap. There isn't enough spring tension to push grease past the outer bearing and into the hub. There is always going to be an air pocket, and the air pocket is always going to suck water when you dip the warm wheel into cool water. A properly packed hub with a plain old dust cap will last 4-5 years. Bearing Buddy's truly don't extend the service interval of wheel bearings, but they look cool and it makes you feel like you're really doing something to pump grease into them. If they worked like everyone thinks they do then they'd pop out on hot days from air expansion. tjm and MickinMO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoLuck Posted June 3, 2018 Share Posted June 3, 2018 Also,if they had enough spring tension to actually push grease through the bearing,it would probably pop the grease seal loose unless they were a really tight fitting seal. But,yeah they look cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
176champion Posted June 3, 2018 Share Posted June 3, 2018 Warm the zerk fitting up a little with propane torch, i have done that on many grease fittings and it worked tjm and MickinMO 2 I know everything about nothing and know nothing about everything! Bruce Philips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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