Rocker arm grease nipple

[needles]

Cheers Belrix

Have read the Wiki link and am up to speed

Just going dark here so will take a shot tomorrow and post it

Thanks for you replay

Needles

[Chondro]

When I replaced my center Zerk the new ones fit tighter than the stock nipples. Because of that, I was able to get the new one to screw in firmly.

How do I know how much grease to inject into each fitting? Can you see the old grease being squeezed out somewhere? I need to grease mine as one of the last things to do on my winter list.

[Belrix]

Originally Posted by Chondro

How do I know how much grease to inject into each fitting? Can you see the old grease being squeezed out somewhere?

Yup. Here's the service manual text:

For the rocker arm it has grease nipples [A] on the rocker
arm for lubrication. Force grease into the nipple until it
comes out both sides of the rocker arm, and wipe off any
excess.

Apply a thin coat of grease to the lips of the grease seals.

I used to force in enough until you see a color change, fresh grease coming out where the older grease is usually darker.

EDIT: Disclaimer: this was on my old truck, not my Kaw.

[Joram]

Originally Posted by Belrix

Required Wiki article.

+1 on the article..

Still think from the damage I am seeing on a few of the pictures, I would grease up the swing arm and pull the zerk "nipple" out and replace with a SS bolt with a hex head.

[Belrix]

I finished the fix tonight.

I sprayed out the hole with WD-40 - lots and lots of it - trying to flush out any dirt that might be in there. I then put in a new zerk from the local auto-supply. "Metric" seems to be enough to get one although, if you have a choice, it's 6mm. The replacements seem to have more thread than the original so it's deep enough to catch threads deeper than the damaged area.

I filled it with grease and capped it. I then "topped off" all the other fittings, and there seemed to be plenty of air in each one, and then pulled the rear two zerks and put two stainless bolts in. The front one seems high enough to not catch on anything in the future so I left it alone.

[Hardwire]

Looks good!

[flrbrddrggr]

Originally Posted by Belrix

"Metric" seems to be enough to get one although, if you have a choice, it's 6mm. The replacements seem to have more thread than the original so it's deep enough to catch threads deeper than the damaged area.

Belrix,

6mm ?

Do you know if there is more than one thread pitch in this size? How long are the SS bolts that you used?

Looks like a great fix. With your help, I think I'll try it.

-Dwain

[ersterhernd]

Yes, if you can specify the exact ss bolts used, that'd be much appreciated. I'll need to pick some up to do this mod.


Regards,
Ersterhernd

[JRBL1A1]

Ya know... even before this thread I noticed those grease zerks while I was under my 900LT changing the oil I saw them things poking down like nipples on a sow and wondered "WTF" are those zerks doing there???

I'm thinking some Kawasaki engineer(s) needs to get kicked in the 'nads for placing the two lower zerks where they did.

I'll be replacing those two lower zerks as soon as I get them greased up and I learn what the thread pitch it on those 6mm bolts.

[Trashman900C]

so how much does a grease gun cost? and can i get it at any auto parts store?

[Sierra Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Trashman900C

so how much does a grease gun cost? and can i get it at any auto parts store?

A cheap gun will cost 15-20 bucks with 1 or 2 tubes of grease.

[Belrix]

It's a 6mm x 1 bolt - about 1 cm long. At 1 cm it's a bit long but seems to seat OK. I used a split ring washer to discourage backing-out and to absorb a bit of the length. I used the split ring since I was pretty sure lock-tite was useless in a place as greasy as this.

The gold colored zerk is from the auto-parts store, the steel-colored one is the stock one. As you can see, the replacement is slightly longer than the stock one.



EDIT: Recommend rubber gloves for putting in the grease. It gets everywhere and it stinks.

[flrbrddrggr]

Belrix,

Thanks for the quick response. Methinks that I will do this today!

-Dwain

[mcwrath]

Belrix! and others who are about to attempt this....

I hope you realize that WD40 is effectively a DEGREASER...and spraying it up into there will cause the grease to rapidly break down. Use it sparingly at best, and it might be a good idea to change that grease in the near future.

[Kenskiv]

Originally Posted by mcwrath

Belrix! and others who are about to attempt this....

I hope you realize that WD40 is effectively a DEGREASER...and spraying it up into there will cause the grease to rapidly break down. Use it sparingly at best, and it might be a good idea to change that grease in the near future.

^^^What he said...

[Belrix]

I knew that WD40 is a degreaser but I couldn't think if a way to get that dirt out otherwise. Water, IMO, would be a bigger mistake and leaving the dirt in there also one.

It's a good idea to get more grease in there later, though.

[JRBL1A1]

Originally Posted by Kenskiv

^^^What he said...

or just keep pumping it full of grease, it wont break down the grease that much at least not enough quick enough to cause problems I wouldnt think. I'd just keep pumping it full this summer ever few hundred miles and be done with it.

Many dont realize the negative effects of WD40. It is good stuff for the right jobs. I cringe every time I hear someone using it as a gun lube, too.

[Belrix]

Well - maybe I did well accidentally. I didn't use really WD-40, I used what I thought was a cheapie equivalent, something called Jig-a-Loo. I couldn't remember the name last night and didn't want to go out the garage to check. I figured calling it WD-40 would be close enough.

Looks like it's non-solvent, says the website. The carrier for it seemed strange - very cold leaving the can - some sort of rapidly-evaporating, freon-like stuff.

Maybe I don't have to worry about the grease breaking down. Website

[Joram]

Originally Posted by Belrix

Nice job on this one Belrix.

[Belrix]

Originally Posted by Joram

Nice job on this one Belrix.

Thanks.

Careful, by the way, if you have to put the SS bolt in a hole that's been damaged. It's very easy to cross-thread.