Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I was just browsing the lubrication section of the 1936 Twelve owner's manual copy that I made for Walt Haskins and was struck by the thought of how many owners, seeing grease fittings on the universal joints, slip yoke, king pins, drag link, and tie rod ends, think that those locations are to be lubricated with grease. The lubrication recommendations for these locations are the same for the 1935 and 1934 models, and probably the same for some prior years.

These points are to be lubricated with SAE 160 heavy oil, not grease. The manual states that plugs are used at these points which should be removed and temporarily replaced with lubrication fittings, then oiled, and the plugs replaced. No doubt many service facilities decided to just leave the grease fittings in place, rather than remove and replace them each time, and if you failed to read the owner's manual you'd assume these points were to be greased.

The reason for use of oil on the king pins and universal joints is pretty obvious when you examine the construction, the oil fills a reservoir which then gradually over time feeds fresh lubricant; the driving force for the king pins is gravity, and for the universal joints is centrifugal force. Grease on the other hand is not mobile and cannot continue to provide fresh lubrication. It's a bit less clear to me why Packard would have liked heavy oil on the slip yoke, tie rod and drag link ends, but nevertheless that's their recommendation, and I've always followed it that way. I use a high pressure oiler with a needle tip that inserts into the grease fitting and pushes the ball check aside to permit flow of oil.

Dave,

That was a very timely post! Looks like I need to take apart my universal joints and relube!

Any chance you could explain, or post a picture, of your high pressure oiler?

Again, thanks!

Cheers,

Tom

Tom, I'm glad you found it timely and interesting. I'm not saying that grease won't provide adequate lubrication, just that Packard wanted oil. Now if grease has been used, chances are the passages are filled with grease and oil will no longer flow as it should, so whether to disassemble everything and clean it just to use oil is a good question.

My oiler is a "Lincoln High Pressure Oil Gun", Model 848, Series A. I see them frequently at flea markets, I just checked the MSC catalog and didn't see a Lincoln HP oiler listed, but I wouldn't be suprised that they are still made. At the end of the oiler you use a syringe-like tip, readily avaiable from MSC, probably McMaster-Carr, and perhaps the local auto supply house. I'll give you details if you need them.

You wanted a picture? Lucky guy, you caught me with 1 exposure left on the current roll of film. I'll append it to this post in a couple of hours. You'll see the needle tip on the oil gun.

EDIT - Tom, if you're into older vehicles and servicing them, there are some other interesting and useful lubrication gadgets to keep an eye out for at flea markets and EBay. One is a hammer-tapped wedge to insert at the end of spring leaves to insert oil or grease between the leaves (keep in mind later springs were NOT to be so lubricated). Another is the adapter from modern-style Alemite to pin-style Alemite (still available new from MSC), and yet another is a little gadget that clamped around your Bendix mechanical brake cables at the junction of the shield to allow you to grease the internal mechanical brake cable without having to disassemble.

Tom, here's a picture of the Lincoln pressure oiler I use for the king pins, universals, drag link and tie rod ends. I use plain old SAE160 gear oil (not EP) in it.

Tom, one reason I think this car has been so trouble-free and required so few repairs is that it's never been laid up or off the road, and was serviced by a Packard factory branch up until only about 2 years before I bought it.

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Dave,

Thanks tons for the information. The gadget for the lubing of brake cables is definitely one I need. I already have the alemite adapters (I got mine from RSC).

Also thanks for the photo of the oiler. I am definitely going to keep an eye out for that.

And I might as well disassemble my 30 u-joints while they are out of the car. I am sure the grease would be fine for awhile, but I might as well do it right.

Again, thanks for the added info.

Tom

p.s. A good thread for the FAQ forum might be 'Useful and unusual tools and techniques'

Dave. Is there a special name for the oilers that you fit to the Kingpins and do you know if they are available from anyone such as Restoration Stuff?
Failing this can the oil be poured into the Kingpin aperture albeit slowly considering the thickness of the oil.
Thanks
Terry

As sold they were plugged, a standard pipe thread plug I would guess, never seen one. It's an assumption that just regular old Alemite grease fittings were used to replace the plugs for the purpose of lubrication. Packard suggested the plugs then be replaced which I doubt anyone did very often. I use right-angle ones on the kingpins to make them easier to get at. As mentioned earlier, the needle tip on the oil gun just enters the hole in the fitting as moves the ball check aside so the passage is open for oil. You don't want to pour the oil in, you want to force it in and thru the assembly until you see it at the bottom. Then over time, I assume the balance of the oil gradually moves down under the force of simple gravity to continue the process.

Owen>>>the oil fills a reservoir which then gradually over time feeds fresh lubricant; the driving force for the king pins is gravity, and for the universal joints is centrifugal force. Grease on the other hand is not mobile and cannot continue to provide fresh lubrication.

Perhaps related to this, is the Central lube system of the pre-war Mercedes, which I have some knowledge of. There is a plunger down by the clutch pedal. The manuals call for pushing on this once every 500 miles. On the firewall, there is a magnesium cannister (which contains 90 weight hypoid oil) (which is actually fairly thin)... the action of the plunger feeds various lines going to steering knuckles and tie rods. The fluid actually goes into a reservoir (a junction box with separate caps) and under some pressure lubricates these parts. I think the oiling of these pre-war front suspension parts prevents less wear and adds to some eternal functionality many years later. Wear comes from the friction of 2 metal parts without lubrication.; the oil provides a film causing less wear.

Is this Mercedes Lube description similar to the Packard Bijur Chassis Lube system?

Yes, sounds similar. Bijur was used on Packard thru the 14th series senior cars (last year with beam axle and mechanical brakes). Quite a few other makes of Classics used Bijur as well. Postwar I believe that Lincoln used it for one year only, possibly 1956. Generally it lubed 12 spring shackle pins plus the trunnion block when so equipped, several points on the mechanical brake linkages, the pedal shaft, and the clutch throwout bearing. It didn't of course do moveable things like tie rods, drag links, universals, etc. If you browse the literature and manuals on this site you'll find some detailed info on Bijur servicing. The original Bijur oil is somewhere between SAE50 motor oil and SAE80 gear oil. It was fed through a network of copper lines, junction blocks, etc., each terminating in a "drip plug" which was sized to the individual lubrication requirement of that specific point of the chassis.

The early Bijur was a "push daily" knob to initiate the oil flow, then later (1932?) if went to an automatic pump system based on variation in manifold vacuum to operate a small piston pump.

Bijur when they were still in New Jersey in the 60s serviced my unit, then they moved to New Hampshire, they then gave up servicing the auto units, though Bijur continues to make units for printing presses, other large stationary equipment, and some heavy contruction equipment. They are still very much in business.

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Actually, the knob said 'Pull Daily' - see the picture for my avatar. You pull the knob, which draws oil from the reservoir on the firewall into a dashpot. You then release the handle and a large spring draws the handle back in, pushing oil into the copper lines.

The 7th series was the last series to have the manual type. The system first debuted in 1925 in the third series Six and the 2nd series Eights. Initially 45 points were lubricated, being reduced to around 21 points by 1930.

Tom

EDIT: The system was dropped starting with the 15th series in the fall of 1936 (37 year model).