MTFCA Forum

I thought the large grease cap located here was to keep the uni joint greased but when I pulled the motor/trans the inside of the ball is empty, joint has a light oil coating.
Does this mean the engine/trans oil keeps this area lubed? Either that or the hole from the large grease cap is blocked.
Should I pack this area by hand full of grease before reassembly?

Thanks

Yes, should be full of grease, if all washed out and only oil in it then the oil is coming from the engine through the worn babbitt in the 4th bearing ball cap. Check your diff oil level as well, a lot of engine oil can end up there as well.

When I initially fill the u joint area with grease I unscrew the filler cup and pump the grease into the hole with a grease gun.

Someone used to make a grease cup for that area with a grease nipple hidden inside.

Michael...this is what you need. Sadly, so many U-joint "cavities" are empty like yours. You will need to pump in at least 30-35 pumps of your grease gun to get a good amount in there I'm sure. I use the good old Red-N-Tacky grease, seems to work great.

Here's what you need: https://www.modeltford.com/item/2579GR.aspx

Upps....sorry, I thought this was Michael's post...guess I needed to address it to Kevin!
And now that I actually read his post more carefully...looks like he's lucky that it's all apart, and yes Kevin, pack it FULL with the same Red-n-Tacky or your country's equivalent. Then get one of those aforementioned grease cups with the built in zerk.
Sorry I wasn't alert enough on this initially!

What was intended to go where - but remember its based on the lubricants of that era. The ball cap grease is for the u-joint

Previous posters gave you very good advice. The "ball" is one area I service (with Timken red bearing grease) prior to any tour and during regular maintenance. It doesn't seal that well and grease tends to disappear. Do yourself a favor and get the grease cup with the hidden zerk fitting (Lang's 2579GR $8.95) - The vendors also carry the smaller cups with hidden zerks and you'd be well-advised to replace them all. Photo 1

The oil in the ball may be there for the reasons previously expressed. In addition, sometimes people neglect to install the "Transmission Driving Plate shaft plug" where the differential plugs into the 4th main. Photo 2. If you ever pull the rear end take a look up there and see if the plug is in place.
(Lang's 3324B $0.95)

Another neglected area is the steering quadrant. That should be packed full of grease as well. You have to remove the steering wheel and cover to get at it so be careful to reinstall the little screw in the cover when reassembling. I find that in one season of driving most of the grease in the steering quadrant will disappear - down the steering column probably.

Forget the hidden zerk, just install a zerk fittings, both for the U-joint and bushing behind it. No one can see it and unless you are building a points car, no one would be looking for it.

Some great advice there guys, brilliant.

I take it "Zerk" is your term for a "grease nipple"?

I have 3 T's and several times a year I screw in all the grease caps and every 2nd time I refill the caps so not sure how this come about, I will check to see if the hole is blocked.
I'm about to pull the motor/trans on the 2nd one tomorrow so be interested to see if that one is also empty. both cars came from the same owner originally, I've owned for about 6 years and they sat after previous owners passing for about 8 years.

TimW- I think I will hand pack it before reassembly. I just ordered some bits from all 3 suppliers this week - Langs, Snyders and Macs. Shipping is the killer for us so plus we have to keep the total price below $400nzd to avoid more tax so will think about those modified caps later on if Marks suggestion isn't followed.

Frank - Not sure if engine oil had worked its way in there or it is just the left over from the grease coating.

Mark - To save buying new caps do you just thread the grease nipples into the existing caps? I see 2 of my cars have grease nipples threaded in the ends of the diff where my other car has grease caps.

TimJ - Thanks for heads up on the steering grease, I havent checked this area for grease on any of them, will be interesting to see what I find. But I'll leave this job for awhile, engine swapping is focus this week.

Thanks again everybody

Kevin

Mark is so right ---- you should be able to thread a SAE nipple (zerk) into any of the holes that have grease cups. Otto Zerk did not take out his patent until 1923 and I suspect Henry was slow to adopt them. They are certainly more efficient than screwing a cup down to squeeze the grease in, especially on the universal.

I just the pulled the 2nd motor ( I removed the steering this time and that saved a heap of grief and time on the removal) and found this car also has just a oil covered joint. Same original owner, perhaps he never packed them up when assembled them originally?

Kevin...yes that is probly the case with the previous owner. Plus, he may have put in the usual "cap or two" of grease annually, which is never enough grease. As I think it was Mark who said forget the grease cup with the zerk, a.k.a. "nipple", he meant to just screw in the zerk/nipple in place of the entire cup. I've seen that before. Once you reassemble your car with a fully packed U-joint ball, you won't need to pump so many times of the gun to keep it filled. I usually give mine 10-12 pumps per oil change. Some greaee will eventually ooze out around the ball cap connection area but that's normal. You will also get a slight amount of "oil" drip from the same area, as heat and the shaft spinning will liquefy the grease somewhat.

Thanks Tim I think thats the plan