Grease cup overflow

[Walter F.]

I have been told my 84 needs a new front end,that the parts will soon fail. I was told this because my grease fittings have grease flowing out of the top or bottom of the rubber cup when you grease the car.I was always thought that is nornal ? Can someone tell me if this is correct. I have been quoted a price of about $800.00 to replace these parts.

[Joe L.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

I have been told my 84 needs a new front end,that the parts will soon fail. I was told this because my grease fittings have grease flowing out of the top or bottom of the rubber cup when you grease the car.I was always thought that is nornal ? Can someone tell me if this is correct. I have been quoted a price of about $800.00 to replace these parts.

Walter--------


Ridiculous. Over-greasing of the ball joints often results in the condition you describe. In no way does such a condition indicate that the ball joints are failing. However, if the rubber seals (boots) are torn or otherwise deteriorated, that could mean that they do need to be replaced. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to replace these. But, I really doubt that yours are torn or otherwise deteriorated.

[Mark E.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

Walter,

It sounds like you're talking about the rubber dust boots for the ball joints and/or tie rod ends. Their job is to keep dust out and grease in the joint. First, check to see if any of them are torn or ruptured.

As you mentioned, when the boot is filled with grease during a lube, it is normal to see grease seep through the top or bottom of the boot.

But it's not normal to see grease seep through a tear in the boot. Tears happen with age, when they are greased too aggressively (especially with an air powered grease gun), or greased when it's too cold. Boots rupture more easily when cold, so it's best to lube your car when the ambient temperature is warm and to use a manual grease gun. Using a hand gun, I like to add grease slowly while gently lifting the lip of the boot to allow old grease to escape. Few mechanics use this procedure during a LOF, but this does help prevent ruptures.

The good news is that dust boots can be purchased and replaced separately, without buying a new ball joint or TR end.

Bottom line, check for ruptures in the dust boots. And also check for wear in the ball joints and TR ends. This will tell you if you need to replace the entire joint with boot, dust boots only, or just find a new mechanic.

[Mark E.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

Joe- Sounds like we're on the same page. Torn dust boots are a peeve of mine- so messy. And so are mechanics trying to make their next boat payment by replacing a bunch of front end stuff.

[Walter F.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

The boots are not torn and feel puffy when filled with grease. This morning I went under the car,checked all the fittings and rubbers and greased everything, and the grease did come out of the top or bottom of the boots when full..I orginally thought I needed my u joints replaced, a job that is beyond my experience. I was told by the same mechanic my transmission was failing. This all started because I was hearing a slight clicking sound, sounding like a pebble in the tire, which it was not. I was also told because my car had a shift kit put in by the last owner my transmission would fail early. I now realize I have been had. I was suggested this shop by a friend and this shop is suppose to specialize in high performance cars. It cost me $300.00 for this super auto inspection of my Corvette. Live and learn I guess.

[Duke W.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

One way to check steering system ball joints is to use a big channel-lock pliers and and squeeze them axially - along the axis of the stud. If there is any noticeable play, they are worn, but not necessarily ready to fail.

Worn steering joints can cause creaking/snapping noises while turning the steering wheel through large angles while stopped or at low speed and can also cause some on-center vageuness and wander, which is often tough to notice because it develops very slowly over time as the joints wear.

Duke

[Mark E.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

It sounds like your boots are fine.

Maybe replace the mechanic instead of the front end and transmission.

[Jim S.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

" I was also told because my car had a shift kit put in by the last owner my transmission would fail early."

With regards to replacing the mechanic, I ask the following .

Back in the 70s when I was poorer , I went through a lot of , and had a lot of rebuilt automatics. I always thought that a shift kit did make the shift a little more noticeable, because it contacted sooner or removed a lot of the slippage . However I thought that meant you were actually prolonging the life of the tranny . Was I wrong ?

Jim

[Mark E.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

I too have installed a few shift kits over the years and had good luck with durability. One of the selling points of street shift kits is they reduce/eliminate shift overlap, thereby reducing heat and wear.

I suppose durability could be affected if a full race kit was installed and each shift was extremely harsh.

[Steven B.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

A firm shift will prolong the life of an automatic. Smooth shifts are obtained by overlapping the application of one piston against the clutch pack while another piston releases as Mark mentioned. The other means used to gain a smooth shift is by placing a wavy steel plate in the clutch pack. This is OK for the family sedan, where you don't want to snap everyone's neck, but shifts are smooth at the expense of generating a larger amount of heat, and heat is one of the big enemies of automatics.

Steve

[Mike E.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

I orginally thought I needed my u joints replaced, a job that is beyond my experience. I was told by the same mechanic my transmission was failing. This all started because I was hearing a slight clicking sound, sounding like a pebble in the tire, which it was not.

Could be a bad wheel bearing, you might jack up the front of the car and spin the wheel and listen for the sound. Because a C4 has rack and pinion steering it's a pretty simple system....Well except for the rack, which is more or less a black box, if bad it will need to be replaced. From your description of the problem, it doesn't sound like a bad rack, if the car steers fine. Can't say I've really heard of a transmission causing a ticking sound.


Mike

[Steve G.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

Promises of extended transmission life with the use of a shift kit is a marketing ploy used by the makers of the kits and the retailers that sell them. Ask any transmission rebuilder how many worn out clutch packs or bands he's seen in his career and I'm sure he/she will tell you none. I had never seen one in the years I did transmissions. Lots of burnt clutches, but worn out, never. Transmissions with the bushings so badly worn the parts were rocking around, but the clutches could have been re-used. Those few milliseconds of slippage while the clutch or band applies will never wear out a friction surface in the transmission's service life. And it's service life was determined either by the operator or the internal seals.


Bind up is not really an issue because most transmissions don't have anything to release in the 1-2 shift. The holding member is an over running sprag in D-1 so the D 1-2 shift involves only applying the intermediate clutch or band. On a th350 D-2 is also run through a sprag, the band is only for engine braking when 2 is selected. So the D 2-3 shift is applying only the direct clutch, nothing to release (one of the reasons I've always felt that was one of the best transmissions ever built). In the ones using a band, like the Torqueflites, the direct clutch apply pressure is also servo release pressure, so release and application are tied together.

I used lots of the SK series kits. Not to extend the life but to please a customer that also didn't like the mushy, hanging shifts the oe engineers seemed to favour. The warranty was the same.

Steve

[Steve G.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

One way to check steering system ball joints is to use a big channel-lock pliers and and squeeze them axially - along the axis of the stud. If there is any noticeable play, they are worn, but not necessarily ready to fail.

Worn steering joints can cause creaking/snapping noises while turning the steering wheel through large angles while stopped or at low speed and can also cause some on-center vageuness and wander, which is often tough to notice because it develops very slowly over time as the joints wear.

Duke

The large pliers works for steering linkage ball joints (tie rod ends), but not for suspension ball joints. You would be trying to compress the coil spring with a pair of pliers.

To check ball joints (suspension) you need to unload the load carrying joint, in this case the lower, but keep the control arm close to it's normal riding position. Jack it up and rest it on a jack stand as close to the outer end of the control arm as possible. Now use a lever below the tire and lift up and down and move sideways. Take vertical and horizontal movement readings with your dial gauge mounted on the control arm with pointer on the ball joint. Compare to published specs. To get a horizontal reading on the follower joint you would use a screw driver or small pry bar to lift the control arm away from the ball joint. This is never done because following joints don't usually wear vertically.

Of course no one ever uses a dial gauge or compares to spec. The rule of thumb is no horizontal movement on either load carrying or following joint, no vertical on the following but some vertical is usually allowed on the load carrying. Some load carrying ball joints were allowed up to 1/4" of vertical movement. I remember that was the spec on Ford with the load carrying in the upper control arm, Mustang, Maverick etc..

Steve

Edit. To check horizontal movement in the following ball joint grab the tire adjacent to the ball joint and move in and out. Ie, where the follower is the top ball joint grab the top of the tire and move it in and out.

[Joe R.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

Walt,

The mechanic you use is a scam artist and should be reported to better business BBB. Also tell your Corvette buddies to stay away from that crook!

JR

[Jim T.]

Re: Grease cup overflow

My original owner 1970 Corvette with turbo 400 original transmission has over 160 miles on it now and will chirp the tires shifting from first to second, or at least it did when I used all acceleration available. It has been awhile since I chanced getting a speeding ticket in town using all acceleration. Still shifts great for me. Regular changes of transmission fluid and filters have been used.