>Date: Wed, 3 Jan 1996 12:29:10 -0500 (EST)
>From: Jeremy DuBois <jer@thlogic.com>
>Subject: Oil/Grease in MGB steering rack.
>
>
>Hi all,
>
> Here I thought the grease/oil thing was over when I finished cleaning the
>grease out of my Spitfire's trunions, but no...
>
> I opened up the steering rack on my 74 MGB and found grease in it, which
>seemed fine and dandy to me, until I looked at the manual which says there
>should be oil in there.
> Anybody know why I'd find grease in there instead of oil? Just ignorance
>on the part of the PO? From the looks of all the internal parts, it doesn't
>seem to have been detrimental, but it also looks like a fairly new rack.
> I'm currently planning to put oil in when I rebuild it, since that's what
>the manuals state.
>
> Thanks for any info,
>
> Jeremy DuBois
> Programmer/System Administrator
> Thermalogic Corporation
> '74 MGB, '76 Spit
>
It is true that the manual says to put oil in the rack. It is also true that
when you buy a new rack, there's already grease in it. I think a combination
of the two isn't going to hurt things, bit you DO need oil in there. Just
pumping grease into the fitting isn't going to get the grease to the places
it needs to get to, and if you were to pump the thing FULL of grease, you
would wind up slowing down your steering considerably. Think; as you turn
from one lock to the other, one end of the rack gets bigger and the other
gets smaller. If you filled the rack with grease, you would be trying to
push a LOT of grease through some very small openings. With the right amount
of oil in there, approximately the top half of the space in there lets air
from one side to the other when the rack itself goes from side to side.
To my knowledge there's no one in America that still sells oil guns. A good
friend of mine owns two and won't sell me one of them. Last year Jay Tilton
mentioned to me that when it's time to put that ten strokes of the oil gun
to the rack, he takes the top off of the damper and pours it in through the
top. It's much easier (and neater) than taking the boots off and forcing it
through there. The only caveat is that you have to have something other than
a Castrol bottle to pour it with because a Castrol bottle won't fit
comfortably between your radiator and your crank pulley. I just try to make
sure it's about half full.
What I'm still trying to figure out is how the guys who wrote the manual
KNEW FOR A FACT that it would take EXACTLY ten strokes of a oil gun to
refill the rack every six months. I think it was a conspiracy.
Glenn "It's either that or space aliens" Schnittke
-----------------------------------------
Joyful Driving
Glenn Schnittke Recovering Musician
Nashville TN 615-385-2800
glenns@edge.ercnet.com 72147.3635@compuserve.com
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