# My differential has no grease zerk !



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

On my older 1032 J.D. walk behind blower, the differential has no obvious way of lubrication. On other similar models I've seen a grease zerk installed. Does anyone know how the differential is lubricated? Also, do you think it feasible to drill a hole in the exact location as the ones I saw on other J.D. units and ilnsert a zerk for greasing the gears inside? Let me know what you think. thanks.


----------



## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

Copper


----------



## Vermont007 (Mar 29, 2015)

Something like this ?


----------



## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Your JD must not be made by John Deere as those 1032 use 5w20 in the gearbox.


----------



## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

545456


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

I thought that may be the case. In the video he was working on a smaller machine... and maybe a few years difference. Hard to say. I'll have to do that... I've done one similar to this years ago... it sure beats running the chance of wearing out the gears from neglect. Thanks.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

Exactly... why it wasn't done at the factory is beyond me.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

Vermont007...... that appears to be the impeller/auger gear box. I'm talking the differential gear box in the back by the friction disc, chains, etc.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

the tag is John Deere with Serial # P032J 124599 M


----------



## Sid (Jan 31, 2014)

Carefull when you grease um up, don't push out a seal.
Sid


----------



## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

noppppi


----------



## Sid (Jan 31, 2014)

I think I get it. It's like an older car diff, Only gets action when turning the blower, so it mostly goes straight ahead, and very little turning "action", so it does not require much lube, the gears in the picture don't show any wear. Is that the story?
Sid


----------



## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

lknj


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

Thanks Sid... I'll keep that in mind.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

jtclays said:


> Actually, frequently the story is the axles lock together and the diff does nothing. When people take them apart they discover no lube and a block of rusted spider gears to 3 pieces of axle assembly inside the case. Fitting a zerk allows you grease it up until it comes out the ends so you know there's some in there without removing the whole assembly which is a PITA.
> The ends of parts D and F along with the middle of part H are all inside the case halves.


jtclays.. you're right on with that. Any moving part needs some kind of lube. That gear box is in a location where it gets a lot of abuse, wear and tear. I'm going to pull that apart and check it out. I'd rather be safe than sorry.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

I drilled a hole using a #3 drill bit... tapped it with a 1/4 X 28 tap and put a zerk in... and pumped some grease in. I'm not sure what's inside... but adding grease can't hurt. I pumped in a lot and no grease has yet to seep out around the axles. Now I noticed the axles don't want to turn independently without apply some force to the wheels. I checked the wing nut and components and they seem in decent shape. 
I attempted to remove the pins that hold the axles in.. the right one is moving but the left one, closest to the differential appears to be a solid pin. I tried quite a while to pound it out with a punch but it won't budge. I'm soaking it with P.B. Blaster but so far no luck getting it to move. I bent a new punch on it already to. I don't have anything but a propane torch but it's pretty close to the differential so I'm not sure if heat is a good idea either.
Anyone have suggestions on how to get that pin out? Thanks.


----------



## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

Without opening the case you have no idea what's going on inside. The wing nut on the left axle may work and spin nice but if your internals look like this, greasing isn't going to help. If the pin is not coming out, I'd guess you have more rust than anticipated. Rust inside the "tube" and right side axle will be a very intense few hours the rest of the family should not be around for, in my experience:grin: You may need to drill out the pin, or at least get it low enough to the shaft that a drift can knock it out. Some models had a bolt through there, so drilling slightly bigger is an option.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

I'm with you jtclays... Thankfully I was alone in the barn at the time. I whacked on that pin or bolt shank... what ever it is... for some time and it hasn't budged. I may see if I can get at least some MAP gas for my propane torch and try that... I did grease the differential but I may just remove the casing while still on the machine to see what condition the gears are in. I'd hate to see a handful of metal dust come out. 
The far right ROLL pin is coming out so I'm good there... it's just the one left side pin/bolt shank I'm having trouble with. Drilling it out is iffy... those axles don't look that H.D. and drilling it out may weaken that area of the tubular axles. I'm sure I can get them welded up if that does happen. It doesn't help when you discover that there were never any zerks installed on the axles in the first place. NO lube in the differential... NO lube fittings on the axles...and NO lube fittings on the auger shafts.... What was J.D. thinking?


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

I've been heating it up with MAP gas but no luck. I even got out the air hammer with a pin point... still no movement. I may have to seek professional help on this one. I don't want to damage the shafts and make the situation worse than what it is.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

Well, I finally bit the bullet and brought it in to a local small engine shop. They charge $58.00 an hour for labor.. not bad I figure considering other shops wanted up to $100.00 an hour. He said it won't take more than an hour. 1.5 days l later, they call and said it's ready and it'll be $38.00. They told me it didn't take long so a reduced rate. Wow...that's good service. I pick it up Friday and we'll see if I can get the axles separated and then if I do... I'll open up the differential and see what I can see. Hopefully it'll be good news.


----------



## GoBlowSnow (Sep 4, 2015)

That's awesome service right there.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

I picked it up early and pulled the axles. I then opened up the differential. The gears were in great shape considering there was little if no original lube inside. I've cleaned up the axles and will grease them or use anti-seize compound when i reassemble them. Too bad this job took longer than the snow was willing to last... but it'll be ready and able come next winter here in Michigan. 

Question: Does anyone know why J.D. would use a roll pin on the right end of the axles and a solid pin in the axles next to the differential? I'm considering replacing the solid pin with a new roll pin like is on the opposite end near the right side tire.


----------



## Copper116 (Jan 24, 2015)

Well guys... I put everything back together after the axle pin issue and getting the axle shaft separated, cleaned and lubed... so now everything is working fine again. I'm glad I drilled and tapped the differential housing and threaded in a grease zerk. Seeing another video of some dried out gears convinced me to install the zerk. So glad I did. 
Thank you guys for all your help.


----------

