Too Much Grease in Drive Shaft? (3 Viewers)

[abuck99]

I recently used Valvoline Durablend Moly #2 grease in the 2 slip joints- 20 pumps no sign of grease coming out of the seal, drove around the block, added another 20 pumps still no grease passing by the seal. I stopped adding grease at that point.

Lots of opinion on here about too little or too much, and interpretation of the FSM. If i didn't get enough in there I can always add more. Been driving it for a week, it's much better than before, and I've got no driveline noise, we'll see if 40 pumps in each slip joint was enough and how many miles that lasts before the clunk returns.

Tia- #1 grease is thinner- read 2001LC post on why he used it.

For the spiders I used Lucas Red n Tacky #2 - it's lithium based chassis grease. Doesn't take much to purge the old grease out.

 

[bodywhomper]

^^^Thanks. I missed that during an earlier read.

 

[Greenbean]

I finally got around to greasing my zerks today,

Was able to get fresh grease and the popping of purging air and old grease from the u-joints easily with about 1-3 pumps,

Now the front slip joint I did 10 pumps and didn't notice anything, I stopped.
Rear took 20 and nothing noticed so I stopped and went for a bouncy test drive.

I'm going to check them again tomorrow.

 

[DirtDawg]

I finally got around to greasing my zerks today,

Was able to get fresh grease and the popping of purging air and old grease from the u-joints easily with about 1-3 pumps,

Now the front slip joint I did 10 pumps and didn't notice anything, I stopped.
Rear took 20 and nothing noticed so I stopped and went for a bouncy test drive.

I'm going to check them again tomorrow.

When I first greased my slip joints it took like 1/4 to 1/2 a tube of grease. 17 years of no attention left them really dry.

 

[nissanh]

Don't add too much grease. You don't want to put too much pressure on the transfercase rear extension housing bearing. It is retained by a circlip onto an aluminum body. When I recently did the oil seal inside this housing, I find the housing is not so strong to support lateral forces.

After purchasing the truck, I removed the rear drive shaft (after making proper installation marks) and remove all old grease. Applied a film of Moly grease onto the splines and slide it into the other half. Did it twice with another round of grease. Put all back together and then did 3-4 grease pumps from a small grease gun. Then I removed the grease fitting (7 mm) and bumped the truck few times to get rid of excess grease. Reinstalled the grease fitting.

 

[BEG]

I had to do at least 40 pumps per slip joint before the grease came out of the seals. Once the grease broke through, I would pump and the drive shaft would expand, then I'd wait for it to compress back down before pumping again until fresh grease came out. If the FSM is to be trusted, the seals are supposed to give way before any hard parts do, since that is the method prescribed.

If, however, the driveshafts expanded/separated from the grease pressure but the seals never allowed any grease past, I would definitely remove the zerk and cycle the suspension to remove any excess. I'd probably replace the grease with a thinner variety to try and loosen up the seals.

 

[hankinid]

Correct answer. The 100 series works just like any other vehicle with a similar seal.

 

[sean2202]

On my 2000 LC I noticed that the universal joint on the front driveshaft that goes into the transfer case does not have a grease fitting yet all other u-joints in both driveshafts do. Is this how the truck was made or did someone replace it with a non grease able unit? Looks like it has been on the truck for a long time.

 

[BEG]

On my 2000 LC I noticed that the universal joint on the front driveshaft that goes into the transfer case does not have a grease fitting yet all other u-joints in both driveshafts do. Is this how the truck was made or did someone replace it with a non grease able unit? Looks like it has been on the truck for a long time.

My 2000 LC does have a zerk in the front u-joint. I couldn't reach it with a lock n' lube or a standard tip. I had to use a needle.

 

[nissanh]

May be it is broken or someone replaced it with an aftermarket.

I have the small grease gun so you can pump grease with one hand and to all the joints. The 3rd gen 4runner has the Cardon joint and that is the toughest to put grease into due to its location.

 

[sean2202]

After another inspection it looks as though the grease fitting has been lost as I can see the hole in the middle where it would have thread into. Also looks like someone had the driveshaft off as some of the nut edges have been rounded.

@nissanh your right that 3rd gen fitting was a PIA.

 

[2001LC]

After another inspection it looks as though the grease fitting has been lost as I can see the hole in the middle where it would have thread into. Also looks like someone had the driveshaft off as some of the nut edges have been rounded.

@nissanh your right that 3rd gen fitting was a PIA.

I replace one spider with OEM ($80) and had machine shop press in ($20). The zerk mount was fixed, that is not threaded into spider. I know this because the shop misaligned the mount zerk and tried to turn without redoing...WRONG.

 

[apdxyk]

The 3rd gen 4runner has the Cardon joint and that is the toughest to put grease into due to its location.

U-joint = Cardan joint (in Europe [also, Cardano joint]) after an Italian mathematician Gerolamo Cardano.
What you meant is the double-cardan joint on 4R that everybody gets confused about, especially which zerk gets moly and which ones don't.

 

[kcobourn]

Guys, what's your take on my situation? I've burned 8 f**k**g hours learning & DIY'ing & definitely need an expert to tell me what's up.

The work
Greased the DS end-to-end a few weeks ago. Pumped until the slip yolks on front / rear extended to show clean metal. The truck has ~132K on it & the DS looked like it hadn't been lubed in either a very long time and/or since driving off the factory line.

The results
After about 1,000 miles "overgreased" I pull off zerks on all but the front diff (front yolkspider). Other than an air 'pop' & a pea sized drop of grease coming out of the zerk that "I think" fills the yolk (the one further from the TC in this pic) no other pressure was relieved. The rear yolk from the TC is still showing metal ...

Next steps / OCD paranoia validation
1 - Should I be concerned?
2 - My plan is to drive with the zerks off for a few days, replace zerks + a few pumps
3 - Any advice / thoughts are appreciated!

And man did it stink next time will be cleaning before calling the job done.

 

[abuck99]

If you're worried- mark the slipjoint on both sides, remove the propshaft, clean it out, grease the splines with moly and reinstall. I dont like the idea of driving around with the zerks removed. Removing and letting any excess release should be enough. Another option with zerks removed, you can step on the bumper and compress the suspension a few times and that should get any excess out., then reinstall. Is the Zerk on your spider removed as well? ( I cant tell from the angle)

IMO Propshaft only needs a few squirts every 3 to 4,000 miles; I dont subscribe to pumping till it passes the retaining seal. Strictly empirical reasoning on my part as not to over load the Tcase or diff with unnecessary pressure.

 

[2001LC]

Good news, the grease slung on the cross over support and exhaust pipe (burnt) indicate it has been greased regularly, unless that's all from your greasing.

Your rear wheel should be on ground with AHC set at N. This put your rear propeller shaft (P. Shaft) (AKA drive shaft) in a neutral position.

Pull & clean: @abuck99 suggestion of marking, removing, cleaning propeller shaft slip yoke is good practice with a used rig that history is unknown and when you just can't get old grease to pass out seal. Repacking with #1 grease the first time is also helpful to help loosen up seal.

Here's a trick that recently worked for me. Raise rear of vehicle allowing differential to drop extending P. Shaft revealing silver on slip yoke Wipe the seal clean, then wipe on some new grease on silver of slip yoke and seal. This primes outer lip of seal. Then put vehicle back on ground (neutral position). Pump in grease until you see yoke just start to extend putting pressure on transfer case & differential. Then give one more pump which will extend yoke just a bit more. Then wait a few moments for yoke start to collapse back into propeller shaft under it's own pressure. Then give another pump of grease, you'll see slight extension on yoke again. Then wait a few moments for it to collapse again. Keep repeating this until old grease passes out seal. Patients is key, as is not putting to much pressure on inner lip of seal (extending yoke). These seal are incredible tight. This pumping action (priming) doesn't always work especially if your rig has been properly serviced (greased) over the years, which keeps seals in good condition. If you don't see the grease pass seal just drive. If you've extended the yoke to much, say over 3/8", relieve pressure again (remove & replace zerk) before driving. Repeat again every 5K miles or sooner, using #1 grease if you like. Fact is sometimes the seal just will not let grease pass.

In your picture the spider joint (AKA u-joint) grease zerk appears missing. But I'm not sure as it's hard to see with glare. No need to ever remove this one. Just grease the spider until you see your new fresh grease as it's has pushed out old.

Tip: Always wipe dirt off grease zerk before attaching grease gun.

 

[DirtDawg]

And I thought I was OCD about stuff...

@kcobourn as long as there is grease in there you're good. This isn't something you need to waste 8 hours on.

 

[fooldall1]

Great info. There's such a thing as too much info, I think. I'm totally confused now. I don't want to kill something in there by overgreasing!

 

[kcobourn]

Great info. There's such a thing as too much info, I think. I'm totally confused now. I don't want to kill something in there by overgreasing!

This is why I spent 8 (now 9) hours on this subject. Coming from NO DIY experience + new platform + 1.5 decades of opinions = FML.

The good news is I'm caught up & can now carry the flag on this topic lol

 

[kcobourn]

And I thought I was OCD about stuff...

@kcobourn as long as there is grease in there you're good. This isn't something you need to waste 8 hours on.

Thanks & RE: wasting time everyone needs a hobby right? The majority of my time has been combing through the forums & just learning the platform. I've had a similar session focused on AHC ...