Jim-K

I just recently replaced my control valve and ram, the new control valve has a plug where the old one had a zirk fitting. Should i put a zirk here and lube the control valve? I seem to vaguely remember something about over lubing the unit, but haven't had much luck finding info on this.

More information on this would be greatly appreciated, TIA

Jim-K

rdrman

leave the plug in and do not greese it

norvalwilhelm

I just replace my control valve with a new one not a rebuild and there was a big warning not to overgrease. One shot at the most.
Norval

KenSny

One small squirt or you will "blow" the rubber boot after a couple of weeks.

BSeery

What is the symptoms of this problem. I had my local dealership do an oil change and I know that they grease every zerk they can find.
Some grease monkey probably pumped grease in until it was leaking out :mad:, I haven't checked.
But, what problem would this cause? Hard steering ?
My car turns fine but the steering is hard. It has been this way since I bought it. The place that I bought it from has replaced the pump twice, the valve once and all of the hoses to try and solve this problem.
If someone blew out the new valve by overgreasing it, then the problem may still be the valve.
They can be re-built - right ?? :confused:

Jim-K

Mine leaked like a sieve, had grease all over, and the boot was damaged. I dont know the history since it was like this when i got the car, but there was a zerk there....

There is a rebuild kit, yes, check elklers or zip products... I got my parts from Muskegon Brake, the rebuilt units.


Jim-K

Wrecked82

My zerk fitting needed to be greased when I replaced the ps control valve months ago to make it STOP leaking when it was new. Right on one small shot, otherwise, a leak will start eventually from blowing out the seal. Makes me want to get a plug and replace the zerk fitting to keep someone from overfilling in the future.

Jim Shea

The original Saginaw control valves had a stud seal that had a small slit to allow excess grease to purge out of the seal cavity. The theory 25 years ago was that the seal wouldn't keep water and dirt out of the ball stud cavity so the next best thing was to periodically add grease and push the old grease and contaminents out the slit.

The the advent of better greases and seals, modern technology allowed for greased for life ball joints. You will note that virtually all passenger car outer tie rods are now greased for life.

If you look closely at your control valve, you will probably find that there is no slit in the ball stud seal to allow any grease to escape. Therefore, you should not need to add any grease. If you do add a zirk fitting be very careful to add just a small amount of grease. Otherwise, you can overfill the cavity, blow the seal up like a balloon and rupture it!

JIML82@aol.com

Jim-K

Great, thanks for the responses. I'm going to install a zerk, give it one shot for good measure, and put the plug back. It seems a little dry in there.

Jim-K

Wrecked82

Just to elaborate more, when my new one was put on, it leaked drips (alot!) into a small puddle overnight. Even had the valve replaced with another one. It also leaked. So, there were posts, etc. back then on greasing. I finally decided to give it a shot. It instantly fixed it problem. Not a drop since - probably 20K miles.

Jim Shea

The ball stud cavity is completely separate from the hydraulic control valve section. Adding too much grease will only destroy the seal around the ball stud. I'm not sure what could be causing your hard steering. Most complaints seem to be about steering feel being too light.

Vette Brakes & Products Inc (www.vettebrakes.com) will rebuild your old valve or you can purchase a new one and send your old valve in to save a core charge. Their standard spring is called a 40 lb spring. This should give you moderate to light steering effort. They also have a heavier effort 55 lb spring on special request.

Other suppliers can also supply control valves but I am not sure if they have special springs or not.

Ganey

Synthetic seems to work best. Orig. system, no leaks.