Greasing the drive shafts - how in sam #ell?!

[Jameson Clark]

i use this. its dedicated gun and grease for the bearings, you can buy just the hose as well and attach it to any gun

That won't get in there. That's what I have and there is not enough clearance. Got to have the 90 degree attachment for the hose.

 

[GoVols01]

Hopefully this will do the trick, it is on the way from Amazon!

Negative! That'll be too big to fit in the space and onto the zerk.

This is what you need.
https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Lubrication-5883-Slotted-Coupler/dp/B000G76OMA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1528396064&sr=8-7&keywords=90+degree+zerk+fitting&dpID=41csrhB0UcL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

[Jameson Clark]

Negative! That'll be too big to fit in the space and onto the zerk.

This is what you need.
https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Lubrication-5883-Slotted-Coupler/dp/B000G76OMA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1528396064&sr=8-7&keywords=90+degree+zerk+fitting&dpID=41csrhB0UcL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

I saw those but the other kind got better reviews so I got it instead... ooops. I wonder why if they were going to put them back there, why not put a 90 degree fitting in so that any grease gun would work!! Maybe that's what I'll do is go pick up a 90 degree fitting and swap it out.

 

[GoVols01]

I wonder why if they were going to put them back there, why not put a 90 degree fitting in so that any grease gun would work!! Maybe that's what I'll do is go pick up a 90 degree fitting and swap it out.

I don't think you'll have enough room to screw on the new 90 degree zerk onto the housing. Not a bad idea otherwise.

 

[haknslash]

Yea it's gonna be tight no matter what you do unless you use a whip extension. Even then you're still going to be draped over the engine. FWIW I don't use a 90 degree fitting. Only an 18" whip and straight fitting.

 

[Hector]

Yea it's gonna be tight no matter what you do unless you use a whip extension. Even then you're still going to be draped over the engine. FWIW I don't use a 90 degree fitting. Only an 18" whip and straight fitting.

Same here

 

[Slfmde]

That won't get in there. That's what I have and there is not enough clearance. Got to have the 90 degree attachment for the hose.

Works fine it’s what I used. 2017 AR240.

 

[swatski]

My 2012 and 2016s had no tubes. Just the zerk, which has a cap/cover that needs to be pried off.

And be careful not to crush the flanges that keep the engine covers up.

--

 

[Jameson Clark]

Works fine it’s what I used. 2017 AR240.

Like discussed earlier in this thread a few times. Not all of these are in the same spot. With the style that me and @GoVols01 have on a 2017 212x, that will absolutely not get in the 2" clearance that Yamaha gave us!

 

[Daron]

I'm pretty sure the newer 1.8l motors don't have that easy access zerk fitting. Like @GoVols01 mentioned the zerk fitting is down on the bearing.

Other than a flexible hose on your grease gun instead of rigid pipe, I'm not sure how to get a grease gun on the fitting.

I just did my first 10 hour break in oil change this weekend. While I was down in the engine compartment I was looking for the zerk fittings and only saw a tube coming out where I see everyone else having the fittings directly on the shaft housing. After scratching my head why it would be different I followed the tube and I'll be dog on I was surprised to see a relocated zerk fitting. Made me happy to see and know I wouldn't have to crawl way back in there. I had never seen this type on pics on this forum before so I thought it was a new 2019 mod thing, apparently it isn't. I just brought this up because afterwards I came onto the forum to search info about that relocate tube, I saw your comment and just thought I'd point out to all interested that I have a new 2019 242 LSE and it DOES come with the relocate tube. Is this considered the "old" style or the "new" style? Pro's - con's to it?

 

[Matt Phillips]

Both my 09 and 17 have had the dirks up on the hose. I believe someone said this may be a California boat thing, but I'm not sure. I do know that it makes it way easier to get grease down there.

Note though that sometimes those hoses aren't filled from the factory so it can be a good idea to remove it at the lower connection point (it's just held on there by a zip-tie) and then pump it from the top until you see grease coming out of the lower portion of the hose. Then reconnect and put a couple of pumps of grease into the zerk. it doesn't take much.

 

[CrankyGypsy]

My two cents: don't waste your time with it - as @Cobra Jet Steering LLC eluded to, being proactive may cause worse issues. I'd personally even go so far as to tell service providers to omit this *ahem* "preventative maintenance" once the warranty is close to being up so they don't inadvertently damage anything. Dare I say it, but the manual is doing a disservice in recommending this procedure because of the poor housing design. The best method is the one Jeff explains: remove the fitting and use a big syringe to fill it - it may not fully fill any dead spaces, but it definitely won't pressurize the housing.

I rebuilt my coupler housings and found that the housing design is flawed: there is no way to completely fill the internal space with grease since there is only one way in and one way out, so it will trap air and it will pressurize. Therefor, even if there is dead space in there, it will never actually accept and retain any more grease - you'll just keep over-pumping it in every year and then it will all come back out, leaving the same air pocket. As mentioned, the grease is only an additional barrier against water since I found these bearings are actually fully-sealed units (you're not literally "greasing the bearings" in here). A better-designed housing would have a bleed hole 180* to the other side, but that would still not guarantee a complete fill of the empty space. When I rebuilt mine, I found the best thing to do was load it with grease and then press the outer seal on, letting the excess out of the fill hole. Once this is done, you could cap off the fitting hole with a bolt so no grease ever comes out - if it can't escape, there would be zero loss and no need to "refill" it.

 

[Matt Phillips]

Interesting perspective I never thought of.

I did notice about mid-way through each season on my '09 that the engines at idle would sound a little more rattly (kind of like they sound when out of the water) when idling through the marina to/from the lake. After putting a pump or two into the grease fittings, they always quieted down.

 

[CrankyGypsy]

After putting a pump or two into the grease fittings, they always quieted down.

hmmm, that is also interesting! appreciate that info.

 

[Cleveland Steamer]

I'm totally confused about what I should do......................

I purchased a new 2018 AR240 last year. When I picked up the boat the salesman gave me a long speech about bring the boat back every so many hours. I thought be was full of B.S. and was just looking to suck more money out of me. I mean, heck, we don't bring our new cars back in for service after 10 hours so why would I bring a boat in? So I ran my boat all last summer. It's still in storage so I can look at the ticker but I'm guessing I have every bit of 25 hours run time on it. I never took it in for it's first service. I changed the oil at the end of the year and thought all was good.

Now I read this thread and I'm torn between taking it to the dealer for a service, putting 1-2 pumps of grease in the fitting (as not to over fill it) or just leaving it alone.. Grrrrr, I don't know what to do. I hate feeding dealerships money for service that I don't exactly think I need.

 

[Daron]

I'm totally confused about what I should do......................

I purchased a new 2018 AR240 last year. When I picked up the boat the salesman gave me a long speech about bring the boat back every so many hours. I thought be was full of B.S. and was just looking to suck more money out of me. I mean, heck, we don't bring our new cars back in for service after 10 hours so why would I bring a boat in? So I ran my boat all last summer. It's still in storage so I can look at the ticker but I'm guessing I have every bit of 25 hours run time on it. I never took it in for it's first service. I changed the oil at the end of the year and thought all was good.

Now I read this thread and I'm torn between taking it to the dealer for a service, putting 1-2 pumps of grease in the fitting (as not to over fill it) or just leaving it alone.. Grrrrr, I don't know what to do. I hate feeding dealerships money for service that I don't exactly think I need.

So you never did your first 10 hour break-in oil change?

 

[Cleveland Steamer]

Nope, just changed it at the end of the year.

 

[mwalker4]

I just did my first 10 hour break in oil change this weekend. While I was down in the engine compartment I was looking for the zerk fittings and only saw a tube coming out where I see everyone else having the fittings directly on the shaft housing. After scratching my head why it would be different I followed the tube and I'll be dog on I was surprised to see a relocated zerk fitting. Made me happy to see and know I wouldn't have to crawl way back in there. I had never seen this type on pics on this forum before so I thought it was a new 2019 mod thing, apparently it isn't. I just brought this up because afterwards I came onto the forum to search info about that relocate tube, I saw your comment and just thought I'd point out to all interested that I have a new 2019 242 LSE and it DOES come with the relocate tube. Is this considered the "old" style or the "new" style? Pro's - con's to it?

View attachment 94158

My 2019 SX190 also has the relocate tube.

 

[Chris Kasz]

I have a 2018 AR190 and also did my first oil change myself. Haven't greased anything as of yet and am currently at 15 hours.

 

[Gene Rains]

2017 Yamaha 212X New here, appreciate the good info.

Although I bought the boat new in 2017, I did not attempt to grease the bearing zerks until last night. Very disappointed in the Yamaha design to say the least. While the 24 foot boats seem to all have the easy access grease hoses leading to the bearing housings, the 2017 212X (at least mine) does not. Instead, for no other reason than what I can only assume is their lack of caring, you have to be a committed contortionist to get this done.

Decided to post this because I solved the issue differently than anyone else here. Instead of buying a 90 degree fitting for my flexible grease gun, and then trying to position my body in a way to be able to push it down hard enough to seat properly on the zerk without breaking something else....I decided to pull the electronics mounted on the black plastic frame just above the zerks by backing out the 4 attachment bolts....laying it aside, and drill access holes into the plastic just above the zerks. Worked like a charm and should be easier next time!