Broken Zerk

[IndianaVX]

:eek: CRAP......what have i done?????

ok, so i finally have some time where i can do some over due maint. on the truck. the first thing, (and easiest, by the way) i want to do is grease the u joints, and shaft. so i get things ready, mobil one grease, new pistol grease gun, put the nozzle on the zerk on the frontermost u-joint, grease the thing up, go to pull the nozzle off, and **snap** the zerk broke off. flush with the u-joint "housing"

any encouraging words, or last rites that could be offered? i am thinking of a small screw driver "jammed in there" delicatly, and see if i cant turn it out of there. or maybe screw ectrator? but worried about metal shavings getting in there too.

am i going to have to tear this thing out of there, and do it on the bench:smack:???

thank you all in advance, for all of your amazing input and banter:bwgy:

david
IndianaVX

also, is there a stainless steel zerk avalable? is there a specific zerk i can ask for. I think ive lost my vx cd in all the water weve had, i have the top part of the zerk, but not the threaded end, which is still in ujoint. are all zerk threads the same size????

thanks again for the help, as always,
david

[Triathlete]

You should be able to use a small ez out (used to remove stripped screws) to remove it. You shouldn't have to remove anything from the VX.

[tom4bren]

I've never checked but I assume that they are all a standard size on the threads.

I second the motion for an easy-out. As it comes out tho (before the last thread disengages) wipe it down to remove any metal shavings. You shouldn't have any problems. Good luck.

My bad - they come in SAE & metric - Look here:

http://www.toolprice.com/category/assortmentkits.greasefittings/

[VX4EJR]

I know this is an old post and there is other info around here on the drive shaft zerk fittings, greasing them, etc...but, I could not find details on my particular question/issue. So here goes...
I went to try and grease the zerks on the drive shaft, etc with grease gun in hand..blah blah blah...but, I looked closely at all the zerks (3) and did not even see a tiny hole or opening of any kind at the tip of the zerk fittings. In fact, it looks like it is solid metal and what should be a zerk is just a zerk looking metal plug like insert. I even wiped them down thinking maybe dirt, etc was blocking my view. Unless I'm loosing my eye sight or going stupid, was there perhaps a change that Isuzu made to later model VX's that converted the zerks into just zerk-like metal plugs where you can't (or shouldn't need to) grease them??
For those who have greased the drive shaft zerks, have you been successful at putting the grease gun tip onto the zerk? Does it even latch on or stay in place enough for you to grease them? Do you see a tiny hole at the zerk tips?
I thought maybe I'm going crazy but my grease gun tip doesn't easily sit on the zerk and well there seems to be no hole or entry point for the grease to go into the zerk! Ummm....hmmm...what?