Regarding Grease nipples

[113gray]

I am in the midst of my annual chassis greasing. Each year, I come away feeling I have mastered this chore & the next year I am humbled yet again. :-) I continue to have problems getting a perfect seal between the tip of my grease gun & the nipple, resulting in lots of grease outside the area I want it to be.

So, I am wondering if: 1) This is the normal course of events for this task that everyone experiences?; 2) Are there separate gun tips for SAE & metric fittings? (my GMC pickup was much easier in this respect); 3) Do the nipples wear with time & consequently do not allow a perfect seal? 4) Is my technique not correct?; 5) Are there variations in nipple diameters that account for this? (I found that measuring these w/ a caliper, the new metric nipples seem to have a broader diameter than the old ones of 0.2 to 0.3 mm. This seems small, but is constant & the new wider ones definitely provide a better seal w/ less grease leakage.) What light can you share? TIA.      Jim Pancoast '66 230SL

[bpossel]

Hi Jim,

If it makes you feel any better, I have the same problem.  I need to hold the tip of the grease gun directly on the nipple.  If the tip, hose, sits at a slight angle (which is its natural tendancy), the grease comes out the side of the tip, vs going into the fitting.

Maybe someone else has the answer?
Bob

bpossel  (Memphis, TN.)
'71 280SL  /  '97 E320

[113gray]

Bob, Yes, that's exactly the problem.     -JP-

[114015]

Hello Jim & Bob,

Yes, I have the same problem ...
I think the nipples can wear but definitely the fitting of the grease gun does over the years. Possible even that there are differences between metric and inches.
Very old and hardened grease in the nipple/bearing makes this job even harder  :x - but I think this is not the problem in your case.
It is necessary to press the fitting of the grease gun tightly and straight onto the nipple.
I am thinking of buying a compressor (air pressure) driven grease gun, then I can put more effort (force) to the fitting than to pumping the gun ...? :oops:

Perhaps JoeA has some good advice ...?

Good luck to all of us,

Achim
(Magdeburg, Germany)

[Benz Dr.]

Use a new end on our grease gun. You will find that it grips the Zerk much better.

Dan Caron's
 SL Barn
benzbarn@ebtech.net
 slbarn.mbz.org
  1 877 661 6061

[113gray]

Dan & Achim, Thanks for the input. I am using a new Lincoln pistol grip air powered gun, a top quality tool. My questions were raised after the gun functioned nearly w/o flaw on my old '90 GMC pickup, but grease leaked as usual on the old MB fittings. This made me wonder if there are metric tips & SAE gun tips. I also replaced some metric nipples w/ new ones & noted the new nipple diameter was 0.3 mm larger on average & these new fittings leaked much less. Not earth shaking problems, but I have 3 old Benz's & believe it very important for a good lube job to be done annnually. I find it pretty time consuming to be sure I am consistently getting grease into where I want it to be. Thanks again, -JP-

[Benz Dr.]

I've found the same thing over the years. I believe the metric fitting are a bit smaller and maybe the early ones used on these cars to be smaller still. Or, they're simply worn a bit.
Any restrictions inside the fitting would only make things worse. I just keep hammering grease in them until I see it come out or try to make repairs. Front suspension fittings seem to be the most trouble due to dirt and moisture causing rust.

Dan Caron's
 SL Barn
benzbarn@ebtech.net
 slbarn.mbz.org
  1 877 661 6061

[TheEngineer]

Just for what's it worth: I bought a manual grease gun years ago from Wanner - made in Switzerland - has a patent number on it. It has always worked just fine.

[tuultyme]

I just did this yearly dirty job today.  I am going to change the intent of this discussion some.  When I greased this area for the first time when I got the car 6 years ago, the lower A frame to the outside of the spring was so full of gunk that water would not drain out of the opening outbroad of the Shock attachment.

I got the area scraped out (sure was a lot of gunk). I am sure most of the dirt accummulation was from the old grease that was left after each greasing.

Fast foreward to today, when you regrease all the various fittings a lot of old grease comes out.  I try to remove as much of this old grease as possible.  I use pieces of cheese cloth as "dental flose" to remove as much of the old grease as possible.

How does others remove this old grease to prevent the build up dirt and grime?  You see pictures of restored car which look like they just came out of the factury.  How do you keep this area that clean on a car that is driven on a regular basis?
 
Now this project will have to wait until I go to the chiropracter on Monday as I pulled my back as I was trying to move the tire to clean it. Oh Well I guess I am older than my car!