I do my own grease job. There are 11 grease nipples, 6 on the right and 5 on the left side of the car. There is a nipple one on each side near the front tires that can only be accessed from top side. I think you call them Upper Ball Joints.I usually over-lubricate them since I can't see any old grease pushed out.Usually how many pumps on the grease gun shoulld I give each side? Would too much grease harm them?
Larry
Hi Larry,Originally Posted by ChevyMan
You should be able to see grease coming out from the joint as you pump in fresh grease through the nipple; this tells you you've just injected sufficient fresh grease, etc.
Be sure the grease gun fitting is completely snug on the nipple; sometimes it's not quite on - in which case, you're not getting any fresh grease into the fitting at all.
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Yes, I know all about the loose gun fitting on the nipple since I'm a DIY. I just get lost on how much to grease the control arm, is all.
Larry
As soon as you see fresh grease coming out of the fitting/joint, you're pretty much there!
You'd have to check with an expert, but generally, on ball joints, if the car is sitting on the ground, you haven't greased anything. The suspension has to be "hanging" in most cases in order for the ball to be properly lubricated.
But that's not true for all ball joints, so you need to check to be sure.
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That's the first I've heard of. I may have to check available manuals in detail.Some manuals do not go into explicit
details on grease jobs.
Larry T.
The "suspension hanging" could make sense, seeing that the grease will always take the path of least resistance. Thus the surfaces under a lot of pressure when the vehicle is on the ground would receive no grease.
You've opened or broken the boot seal when the grease comes out. On a tie rod end, you can knead the boot to squeeze out some of the excess and maybe re-seat the seal. On a ball joint, you can start budgeting for its replacement.
Stop when you see the boot bulging.
It usually takes 3..4 strokes on a small plunger type grease gun, less than 1 full stroke on a big lever gun.
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