Author Topic: chassis lube (Read 14970 times)

Cees Klumper · « **on:** June 22, 2003, 14:32:31 »

Today I did my scheduled chassis lube and I am afraid that, for the first time since I own the car (almost four years now) I have only now located all of the grease fittings that are supposed to be serviced. Thanks to Joe Alexander's tech session in Ohio. The ones I never noticed are on the top of each of the front suspension kingpins. There are three nipples on each kingpin, one on the lower side, one on the bottom, and one on the top - which I never noticed until today, when I decided I wanted to remove the wheels (to check whether they were straight, whether the brake discs were still straight, and to check the condition of the brake pads).

These top nipples go unnoticed with the wheels on - I am not even sure you can reach them with a grease gun with the wheels in place. Fortunately, both mine took grease and there was plenty there to begin with ...

So, in all, I count 17 fittings (front: 3 on each kingpin, four more on each front wheel, then one on the front driveshaft, hidden behind the transmission support plate (this one is also almost invisible) and two more on the rear axle. My car is a 280SL, I understand 230SL's have even more grease points.

Richard Madison · « **Reply #1 on:** June 22, 2003, 17:44:20 »

Important to get to all those lube points...on my car the hidden kingpin lube points had been neglected for many years...the fittings under the lube points were rusted together and had to be destroyed and replaced...instead of a quick, inexpensive routine job that happens on a properly lubed car, fixing the unlubed parts became a lot more expensive...
Richard M

ja17 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 22, 2003, 20:14:30 »

According to the original books, chasis lubrication is called for every 5000 km or every 3000 miles!

Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio

Albert-230SL · « **Reply #3 on:** June 23, 2003, 00:46:37 »

The owner's manual (at least of the 230 SL) has a double page with a drawing and pictures which show all its 20 grease fittings. I made a big size photocopy (DIN A3) of this page, and always give it to my mechanic for the service. With this guide is more easy to not forget any of the grease fittings

Regards,

Albert de la Torre Chavalera
Barcelona (Catalunya/Spain)
Feb.'64 230 SL Euro 113042-10-002432

Naj ✝︎ · « **Reply #4 on:** June 23, 2003, 03:24:03 »

Cees,
For top and bottom of king pin,using angled grease nipples fitted facing forwards but also inwards at around 30 degrees makes them easy to xs from the front of the car with wheels still on.
Do you pump grease until some old grease exits from the seals?
naj

naj
'Kloines Scheisserle'
65 230SL
68 280SL

Cees Klumper · « **Reply #5 on:** June 23, 2003, 09:37:59 »

Yes, I always pump in new grease until I see old squeezing out. Fortunately, all of my fittings take grease, I know this is not always the case and you have to try and make them. I always clean off the nipples before I apply new grease, so dirt does not get pushed in.

I do do the lubrication every 5,000 km as called for, alhough it does seem like that's a little bit much.

In my 280 SL owner's manual it also has the diagram of where the lubrication points are. Thanks for the tip on the orientation of the top-kingpin fittings, Naj.

I will wager that, many times, at least some lube points will be skipped/overlooked by nechanics ...

hands_aus · « **Reply #6 on:** March 27, 2006, 13:08:20 »

Hi,
I had my front LHS wheel off yesterday, for the first time.

Primarily I was looking for anything loose in or around the brake caliper that might be the cause of my on-going rattle.

I cleaned the grease nipples.
Because they were accessible, I thought I would give them a squirt of grease with an old grease gun of my father. I found it under their house and gave it a clean.
My neighbour put some marine grease in it and used it on his diesel boat. He said it worked great.

When I tried using it, grease came out the front of the nipple connector all around the nipple. I tried another nipple and the same thing happened. I don't think any went in.

Obviously the connector is the incorrect size, so my question is what size should the connector be?

I am thinking of buying a flexible hose for the gun, that should make life easier too.

Also is it alright to use marine grease on the car or do I have to clean out the marine grease.

What type of grease should I use? (this area of Australia never goes below 4 degrees C but often gets up around 39-40 C)

Bob Smith
Brisbane, Australia

Bob Smith (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL, auto

DaveB · « **Reply #7 on:** March 27, 2006, 17:12:20 »

Hi Bob, I think there's only one size so it's more likely the nipples are blocked. It may help if you push the fitting hard onto the nipple while pumping the gun. A flexible hose would definitely help you get the right angle.
Perhaps you could unscrew the nipple and clean it up.
I believe the marine grease should be ok?

DaveB

A Dalton · « **Reply #8 on:** March 27, 2006, 17:35:51 »

<<When I tried using it, grease came out the front of the nipple connector all around the nipple. I tried another nipple and the same thing happened. I don't think any went in.
>>

Most gun heads have a screw-on casing over the nipple head. If this is loose , it will leak . See if it is threaded Tight.
It could also be worn out...

robbie · « **Reply #9 on:** March 27, 2006, 19:01:35 »

I had to have my King-pins rebuilt about 20 years ago (previous owner had never greased the car ) at that time an old mercedes mechanic (about my age ) told me to grease the car every 1000 mlles Sure its over-kill--- But---he explained that the king-pins would never ever be a problem again and he was right.I have a grease pit in my garage so under car work is pretty easy .The grease nipple on the front of the drive-shaft is for me the most difficult.

George Davis · « **Reply #10 on:** March 27, 2006, 21:51:50 »

Sometimes the old grease in the joint is just too hard to get more grease in. My car has two or three joints like that. I believe it was Dan (the Benz Dr.) who suggested lubing such joints with ATF or oil. I tried it, it's a bit messy, but I was able to pump some ATF into those joints where no amount of pressure would pump grease in. At least this way there is some lubricant in there rather than little or none.

Another trick I've seen is to have someone bounce the suspension while another person pumps grease in. The movement of the joints allows grease in.

George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

psmith · « **Reply #11 on:** March 27, 2006, 22:20:51 »

Eastwood used to carry little red covers for grease fittings and I thought it would be a helpful in finding all the fittings. Unfortunately they don't seem to have them any more.

Do the fittings themselves ever freeze up? Would it be worth removing them for cleaning and testing?

Pete S.

Ben · « **Reply #12 on:** March 28, 2006, 02:42:29 »

When I overhauled my front suspension a few years back I removed the various nipples and left them in deisel to open them up. It worked on most but still not others. I just replaced them !

It is better to have the wheels off the ground BTW !

I used to do mine every 3,000 miles when changing the engine oil !

Regards,
Ben in Ireland.
'64 230SL 4sp.

hands_aus · « **Reply #13 on:** March 28, 2006, 05:02:10 »

Thanks for your responses,
The car was serviced 5 months ago by the local mechanic using his pressure grease line.
I watched and saw grease came out of the joints.

The grease gun was sitting around for 45 years not being used. It has been used a lot in the past so it is possible that the connector is worn out. Previously, I dismantled the nipple connector and cleaned the old grease out of it.

The wheel was off and the front was suspended with the sub frame on large blocks of hard wood, so the joints should have been open.

What sort of grease do you guys prefer?

Some places use a blue grease, some use a grey/black grease. I never know the difference but I figure any grease is better than none.

Also, I forgot to mention
I removed the cover for the front wheel bearing. There was very old grease in there but not a lot.
So I dabbed enough grease on the ball race to cover it. Then replaced the cover by hitting it with a hammer and a piece of hard wood.

Bob Smith (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL, auto

Vince Canepa · « **Reply #14 on:** March 28, 2006, 06:11:12 »

The early cars (230 & 250) have a grease fitting on the bottm of the idler arm. At some point the idler arm bushing was changed to rubber.

Vince Canepa
1967 250SL
113.043-10-001543
568H Signal Red
116 Caviar MB-Tex

knirk · « **Reply #15 on:** June 08, 2006, 02:30:25 »

I have two blocked nipples on the upper control arm. No matter how hard I pump, the grease will not go in. Last time the flexible hose bursted from the pressure.

George, you mentioned that you pumped ATF or oil into the nipple – with success. Did you just use an ordinary grease gun and put the oil into an empty grease container?

Per G. Birkeland
69 280 sl aut 834
Norway

bpossel · « **Reply #16 on:** June 08, 2006, 06:03:09 »

I would unscrew the blocked nipples and make sure that they are clean 1st. If you cant get them clean, MB sells new ones.
Bob

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

George Davis · « **Reply #17 on:** June 08, 2006, 08:55:38 »

Per,

I used a regular grease gun to pump ATF into the joints. After a few pumps I could see the ATF coming out of the joint, so I know it was getting in there. It's a messy procedure. You need to put enough ATF in the gun to ensure it will pump, maybe 200 ml or so, but it tends to leak out so don't use too much. added - I don't remember if I needed to use an empty grease container, but if your gun won't seal without a grease container, then yes, you'd want to use one.

George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

TheEngineer · « **Reply #18 on:** June 08, 2006, 10:14:00 »

Have been using MOLITH by Lubriplate. It contains Molybdenum Disulfide used to lubricate long-life lube points. To cap off lube fittings you can use Brake Bleeder Rubber caps available in most automobile supply places.

A Dalton · « **Reply #19 on:** June 08, 2006, 10:32:08 »

Many neglected grease problems are caused by the old grease hardening up like old wax.. an old trick is to heat the part/cavity section with a heat gun . This melts the old grease and then the pressure rorm the new grease chases the old [ now flowable ] out..

Naj ✝︎ · « **Reply #20 on:** June 08, 2006, 12:55:00 »

Since we've been talking about synthetic oils, why not grease too??

I found some Mobil 1 at Auto Zone (I believe) in Chicago

naj

68 280SL

A Dalton · « **Reply #21 on:** June 08, 2006, 13:02:56 »

quote:
Originally posted by naj

Since we've been talking about synthetic oils, why not grease too??

I found some Mobil 1 at Auto Zone (I believe) in Chicago

naj

68 280SL

Now , I like that ... I bet that doesn't harden up......

bpossel · « **Reply #22 on:** June 08, 2006, 18:04:37 »

ON this topic...

One of my 1st posts was in regards to finding the 17th nipple...
Well, I found it, and it was missing on my car. A previous owner had my auto trans rebuilt and most likely had to disconnect the driveshaft and flexdisk. To do this, they removed the grease nipple on the drive shaft. Only problem is that they never put it back.

Last week, I installed a new nipple on the shaft. I squirted some grease in it.

Unlike the other nipples, I didnt squirt grease in until it squirted out on the sides. Rather I just put a small amount in.

:?: How do you know how much grease to install in this nipple that sits behind the flex disk? I recall if you put too much in, it can explode the flex disk?

Any advice is appreciated!
Bob

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

A Dalton · « **Reply #23 on:** June 08, 2006, 19:43:48 »

<<How do you know how much grease to install in this nipple that sits behind the flex disk? I recall if you put too much in, it can explode the flex disk?>>

It has a capacity relief vent .. you fill until it is evident at the vent.

bpossel · « **Reply #24 on:** June 09, 2006, 04:45:07 »

Thank you, Arthur.
Bob

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

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Author Topic: chassis lube (Read 14970 times)

Albert-230SL

A Dalton

robbie

George Davis

psmith

Ben

Vince Canepa

knirk

bpossel

George Davis

A Dalton

A Dalton

bpossel

A Dalton

bpossel