Cleaning Dry Crumbly Grease Out of a Ball Joint

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Calvin - 21 May 2007 19:47 GMT

I went to give my new-to-me truck its first shots of grease since I
bought it. I had some trouble with the passenger side lower ball
joint in that it seems that the grease doesn't have any oil left. I
couldn't get any grease into the joint so I removed the zerk to find
it plugged up with a dry crumbly crud that has the texture of
topsoil. I cleared the zerk with a dowel and some mineral spirits but
still couldn't get any grease into the joint because it looks like the
whole joint is full of the same crud.

The joint seems to still be in good condition and I would like to keep
it that way. Does anyone know of a way to flush out the old dry
grease from the joint without taking it off of the truck? Do you
think I could hose it out with brake cleaner without hurting anything?

Thanks - Calvin

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PAuL - 22 May 2007 01:58 GMT

> I went to give my new-to-me truck its first shots of grease since I
> bought it. I had some trouble with the passenger side lower ball
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Thanks - Calvin

The ball joints that I have taken apart have been smooth with several
spiral grooves for grease.
You could try taking the weight off the ball joint and then greasing.
Or use a power greaser.

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Rodan - 22 May 2007 04:40 GMT

Calvin wrote:

A lower ball joint on my truck is dry and I can't get any grease
into it. I removed the zerk and found it plugged with a dry
crumbly crud that has the texture of topsoil. I cleared the
zerk with a dowel and some mineral spirits but still couldn't
get any grease into the joint. It looks like the whole joint is
full of the same crud.

Does anyone know of a way to flush out the old dry grease
from the joint without taking it off of the truck? Could I hose
it out with brake cleaner without hurting anything?
__________________________________________________

If the joint has any movement at all, it has enough
clearance for a standard grease gun to force grease
into it. The zerk fitting may have its check ball
rusted frozen, or the grease gun used may be weak.

It is preferable to grease it without using solvent in
the joint, as the solvent dilutes the new grease and
prevents it from properly coating the mating surfaces.

Good luck.

Rodan.

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Scott Dorsey - 22 May 2007 14:52 GMT

>I went to give my new-to-me truck its first shots of grease since I
>bought it. I had some trouble with the passenger side lower ball
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>still couldn't get any grease into the joint because it looks like the
>whole joint is full of the same crud.

Try replacing the zerk completely. A good grease gun should put enough
pressure in there to displace even the hardest and crustiest gunk if the
zerk is clean and the ball isn't stuck.

>The joint seems to still be in good condition and I would like to keep
>it that way. Does anyone know of a way to flush out the old dry
>grease from the joint without taking it off of the truck? Do you
>think I could hose it out with brake cleaner without hurting anything?

Brake cleaner won't hurt the joint, but it might hurt you so use proper
face and eye protection if you're spraying it in there. But I doubt it
will really do any good. WD-40 might do better, and I wouldn't expect
much from that either.

Whatever you do, if you put a solvent in there, you need to get the solvent
out of there too, and that might involve pumping excessive grease into the
joint and then cleaning the residual stuff off.

Let me also put in a good word here for Mobil 1 grease, the maroon-colored
stuff. It seems to have better solvent action than lithium grease, and it
sticks to surfaces better too.
--scott

Signature

"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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Calvin - 22 May 2007 19:05 GMT

> >I went to give my new-to-me truck its first shots of grease since I
> >bought it. I had some trouble with the passenger side lower ball
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I'm sure the zerk is clear because I used the gun to flush it out
before I reinstalled it. I'll try hitting it with WD40 to see if that
softens it up enough to push through. I got some of the Ford spec
Valvoline stuff because it has the moly; I didn't see any synthetics
at AZ when I was there. I'll let you know.

Calvin

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