Lube the U joint on driveshaft

[Grubby]

Last year there was a thread concerning how to grease the U joint closest to the transmission. There was some discussion that the grease fitting could not be accessed.

I just greased all of my U joints including the one at the rear of the trans. It was possible to fit my grease gun through the below pictured opening in the E brake cable bracket. You can just see the grease fitting in the picture.

The E brake is in the off position.

John

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Grubby

Last year there was a thread concerning how to grease the U joint closest to the transmission. There was some discussion that the grease fitting could not be accessed.

I just greased all of my U joints including the one at the rear of the trans. It was possible to fit my grease gun through the below pictured opening in the E brake cable bracket. You can just see the grease fitting in the picture.

The E brake is in the off position.

John

John, is that with the outboard braked rear or the Jag rear?

[patrickt]

Ehhhrrrggg.....

[Grubby]

I have the outboard braked rear.

I wonder if my e brake is adjusted tighter or looser? Maybe Bob can weigh in on the difference between our cars.

Did you try setting the E brake and see if that gives you more room?

John

[patrickt]

I know you can get your gun up in that hole, but can you also see the four seals purging grease out when you shoot the grease in to the zerk?

[patrickt]

I always post this instructional video from Spicer when we have a thread on lubing u-joints. They make a really big deal about purging all four posts: http://ujoint.kickme.to

[Grubby]

I can see all four post by rotating the driveshaft. It is not possible to wipe away the excess grease.

John

[strictlypersonl]

If I interpret the picture correctly, the balance pivot moves from 2 o'clock to 8 o'clock as the handbrake handle is pulled. Because their is no length adjustment in the front cable, there are slots in the bracket so that it can be shifted slightly. It's sandwiched between the chassis and the driveshaft loop mounting bolts, so if you loosen the nuts on the bottom, you might be able to make the "access hole" larger.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

... so if you loosen the nuts on the bottom, you might be able to make the "access hole" larger.

Yeah, that might work. And if it doesn't, I'm just going back to my original plan of putting an access panel on the passenger side of the tunnel so that you just pull the passenger seat out, lift up a flap of carpet, unscrew the access panel, and poof the u-joint is right there in front of you.

[patrickt]

Monkeying with the brass colored e-brake system worked and the hole is big enough to get to the zerk -- so no access panel cutting this year. Here's a shot of the hard to get to zerk, which really isn't all that hard to get to after all, and the other five u-joint zerks just for reference.

[Jerry Clayton]

You should replace those u joints with the spicer spl joints and never grease them again---they don't have a zerk fitting and use a different type seal. My truck has over 500,000 miles and I replaced them at around 220,000 when I had the driveshafts out for replacing the center hanger ---
The SPL are the only type I use any more if available for the application and if not, I consider redoing the shafts so I can use them.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Jerry Clayton

You should replace those u joints with the spicer spl joints and never grease them again---they don't have a zerk fitting and use a different type seal.

Uhhh, I don't know about that... Greasing them takes all of five minutes, and I would venture to guess that changing out six u-joints on that car would probably end up taking me the better part of a weekend, and likely more. Now that I think about it, it would probably take all week, maybe longer....

[PeteF]

If you don't mind my asking here, in doing my spring checks on ERA2041, I notice some play in the rear wheels when I grab the tire and try to move it up and down. (Jag rear, inboard brakes, 42,000 miles) Not much play, but enough to feel it and hear it. My Jag repair manual says there is "end float" of .003 max supposed to be designed in. Both sides feel the same. Plenty of grease in all U-joints. Should I be worried? Thanks

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by PeteF

If you don't mind my asking here, in doing my spring checks on ERA2041, I notice some play in the rear wheels when I grab the tire and try to move it up and down. (Jag rear, inboard brakes, 42,000 miles) Not much play, but enough to feel it and hear it. My Jag repair manual says there is "end float" of .003 max supposed to be designed in. Both sides feel the same. Plenty of grease in all U-joints. Should I be worried? Thanks

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it until it: 1) started leaking; or 2) started making really scary clunky noises that you could both feel and hear. Then I'd change it all out for the ERA outboard braked rear.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by PeteF

If you don't mind my asking here, in doing my spring checks on ERA2041, I notice some play in the rear wheels when I grab the tire and try to move it up and down. (Jag rear, inboard brakes, 42,000 miles) Not much play, but enough to feel it and hear it.

Pete, I ran across this today and remembered your post.

Probably the most common major component problem with Jaguar automobiles is carrier or output bearing failure in the differential or rear axle unit. Jaguar diffs will usually develop the characteristic whine of a damaged and failing bearing by at least 100,000 miles, in some cases sooner, but in almost every case by 125-130,000 miles. As an aside, bearing noise from the rear of your Jaguar can be from the wheel (hub) bearings but is much more commonly from the differential bearings, says 80% of the time.

There are two main reasons why this occurs. First, the design of the Jaguar independent rear suspension uses the axle half-shafts as the suspension's upper control arms. This is why the axles have normal U-joints (rather than CV joints) and also why the axles do not have sliding splines as many IRS setups use. This design, which is more commonly used on racing cars, feeds additional thrust loads into the output shaft bearings as the suspension compresses and shortens their service life. Excess play in either the U-joints or the output shaft bearing will allow the rear wheels to tilt out at the top. (To check this, jack up the rear of the car and place your hands on the wheel at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and pull outward. There should be no significant movement of the wheel.)

Second, Jaguar does not list a differential lubricant change as part of the scheduled maintenance, as most other manufacturers do, usually at 30,000 mile intervals. Our experience is that changing the diff lube will delay the inevitable failure of the diff output bearings. We also feel that the use of a synthetic gear lube, of the appropriate viscosity, will extend the life of these diff output or carrier bearings.

If you have a diff with a noisy or loose output bearing, it is not recommended just to replace that bearing and stub axle as the metal particles thrown out by the failing bearing will usually damage the other bearings in the diff in short order. And if you have an inboard brake Jaguar, such as an XJ6 Series 1, 2, or 3 sedan or an XJ-S, be sure to replace the rear rotors at the same time as the differential; either procedure requires dropping the rear suspension assembly from the car. This is not a job you want to have to do twice!

Source -- tipofmonth5 - Dealing with Your Jag Differential

[PeteF]

Hey, thanks, much appreciated.

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I always post this instructional video from Spicer when we have a thread on lubing u-joints. They make a really big deal about purging all four posts: http://ujoint.kickme.to

Thanks for posting Patrick.
Excellent video clip, most educational in it depiction of how it works.

[WildBill1965]

They make an attachment that goes on the end of a greese gun to get into tight places like the front zerk on the trans end. Had the same problem and got one from the local parts store, but they had to order it. I guess all of the newer cars don't get greased any more. If you want part # I can look tomorrow!

B i l l

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by WildBill1965

They make an attachment that goes on the end of a greese gun to get into tight places...

No need. The flexible hose that came with my pistol grip Lincoln fits easily right through that hole and on all six u-joint zerks (and the ball joints and tie rods up front as well). I use Schaeffer's 274 grease too, btw, if anyone gives a shi*. Now that I think about it, my last GM car was harder to grease than this ERA.