ZF dash-1 clutch shaft zerks

Nate,

One thing about bronze......oil impregnated....like in pilot shaft bearings.....should be oiled, never greased!   Grease will plug the tiny passages/holes in the bronze and then lube no more.....premature wear is end result.  Made this mistake one time.....wore out the pilot bushing so badly that the trans wouldn't shift gears properly! (NOT a ZF......thankfully!)

Ford (60-70's) door hinge bearings, are another example....oil them, don't grease!

Makes me wonder if the bushings are actually bronze.....or if they should be lubed with a pressurized oil gun of sorts.

Anyone have they ZF service manual handy ......"periodic maintenance" section please! ???  

Perhaps old grease had more oils? Less fillers???

Just my angle on these always over- ignored fittings.....

I'd give them a shot about every 2cnd-3rd oil change as a compromise.....well greased...then can't wear! Can't do that to a pilot bearing!

Steve

"Fwiw the dash-2 doesn't have the same zerks - -  the entire -2 clutch actuation system is upsized & 'different'.   The dash-2 shaft does has analogous bronze bushings.... not clear offhand how they are lubricated."

The -2 clutch shaft is supported by small needle bearings (sealed) instead of bushings.

Ron

Steve, I never knew this about bronze bushings and had always used grease before installing the ZF.  Do you have a technical bulletin or article confirming that grease prevents the bushing from lubricating properly?

No offense intended, I have simply never read or heard this before and I have read many books and mag articles on engine rebuilding.

I have gone back to using pilot bearings and don't use bushings anymore.  I believe bushings are less tolerant of the potential misalignment of the shaft in the bearing due to offsets created by line-boring the crank and other manufacturing variances causing a shift in the crank centerline.

JTP,

I don't have any TSB's only personal experience with my cars over 30 years.  The happiest pilot bearings seemed to be the ones I didn't grease........the worst...were greased!   This was on my daily driver of 30+ years, a 3 spd, a 4 spd, and then a modern T5.      The T5's seem to like the needle bearings so I went that way last...........

It may have been the moly grease????? Did I use synthetic grease in any??  Am not sure, but some wise older mechanic than myself told me of this property with oil impregnated bronze.    Then of course not all pilot bearings are created equal either!!!!   ....just to make things more interesting.....

Cheers!

not the expert..but what I learned over the years the MOLY stuff  dries out . I went where ever possible to modern silicon grease..(I am a push bike man besides 1000HP in the garage..)

Matt

I have a new in box Centerforce clutch kit for a ZF-1 trans that I bought by mistake so if you are interested PM me an offer. I believe it requires the a Centerforce flywheel.