Problems with NF QA42 Snowthrower
 

I seem to be having an issue getting grease into the bearing of my snow thrower. I have it mounted on my 126. There are two zerks on the front left side of the snow thrower on the left and right of the chain. The right zerk will not allow grease to pass thru it into the bearing. I am at a loss here as when i pulled it out (3/8 box wrench) and put the grease gun to it, it pushes grease thru no problem but when mounted on the thrower the grease will not go in but rather around the fitting. I dont see any obstructions in the orafice...do i need a new fitting or what?! Help!! I refuse to run this machine without grease and I could definatly use it right now:bash2::bash2::bash2:

Sounds like the bearing has turned or slipped off to one side.

The hole in the outer race of the bearing is very small, if the outer race of the bearing were to turn, you would be trying to pump grease into the shallow hole of the aluminum sprocket mounting bracket.

Is this a sudden problem or is this thrower new to you and this is the first time greasing them? I would pull the zerks and dig out everything you can in the adjuster bracket. Once it's clean shine a light in there, you should see a small hole in the bearing race to allow the grease into the bearing. Make sure that hole is not plugged with dry grease. It wouldn't hurt to try a new zerk, or swap in one that is working to test. I have a few zerks I need to push and hold my grease gun on tight while greasing to force the grease in.

If this thrower is new to you, I am wondering if the po replaced the bearings with ones that don't have the grease hole in them.

Bill

Edit: or the bearing could have spun like Mark said.

The things that Bill said could very well be true too.

Try switching zirks like Bill said and see if that makes an difference (easy enough to check and it's free).

If that doesn't help, get in there and dig around and see what you can find out.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies guys! I def didn't think of switching the fittings around. I did try but it seems they are different sizes. The one on the left won't fit on the right? ?? Anyone know what size they ought to be? As a spun bearing l, I doubt it. The tractor ans blower have been in the family since new and has newer bearings in it. It works great!

As already stated, if the bearings have been replaced, they may not be the correct bearings or installed properly. There should be a small hole in the outer bearing race that lines up with the grease fittings. If it were me, I would purchase two new bearings asap just in case. Be sure they have the hole in the outer race. If you throw them in the freezer overnight, they will be easier to install. In the mean time, remove fittings and blow out all the grease. you should be able to look into hole and see if there is a hole in bearing race. A small pick may help. If there is no hole, then the bearings are wrong, were installed wrong, or have spun. If they spun, you will probably need a new tensioner, as the bores will be damaged and new bearings will probably spin too. I personally would not try to remove bearings until I had new ones ready to go. I would removed pto shaft and pin from bearings and grease them manually to get by if a need to use thrower.

Also, I just put new bearings in mine a month ago and learned this. The holes in the bearing race if very small. if your grease gun is stored in a cold garage/barn, the cold grease will not want to flow through the tiny hole. Worn out fittings may just let the grease leak between gun and fitting. If you inspect the set up and find the grease holes in race are in fact lined up with fittings, replace the fittings and put your grease gun somewhere warm for an hour or so. Pump grease in slowly to give it time to get through tiny hole in race.

I will look into the bearings and tear down to get to them I suppose. What's the easiest way to do the tear down to get to them? Also where can I find replacement bearings or parts? My local dealer siad they are discontinued. I would love to find a new scraper blade for it as well! As to the grease moving slow - the garage is heated so that's not a problem. I have tried pumping this particular fitting slow and fast while holding it on and it just leaks out the sides of the grease gun.

I think the zerk size should be 1/4-28. So you can get grease in one zerk but not the other? Something sounds fishy about the different sizes, maybe a pic would help. Since they are different sizes, maybe a zerk from the tractor might fit and get some grease in there. Would hate for you to tear it apart if it's a lousy zerk.
Easiest way to get to the bearings is to pull the adjuster off the thrower, then remove the shaft and bearings on a bench. PM Yosemite Sam (Mark Hellrung), or use his link at the top of the page, he has the bearings. I'm not sure about sourcing a new scraper. They are double sided, I turned mine around because the front corner was wore down. Hopefully I can get another 30 yrs out of the second side. :beerchug:

Bill

Here are some pix as requested. Please mind the grease from my failed previous attempts to grease the bearing. My grandfather put the bearings in and he is very mechanical so I doubt they are wrong but anything is possible. The side (right) missing the zerk is the problem.

Jim

As advised before, get a pick of some sort and feel around in the hole for the hole in the side of the bearing. If you find the hole in the bearing then get a zirk a little bigger than the one that was in there, they also come on metric sizes.

If you can't locate the hole in the bearing, the next step is to take it apart and find out what's going on in there.

Thanks for the reply! I will do that when I get home wed. The orig zerk got lost and fell off somehow way back when. I have been trying to find one that does fit from some I had lying around but I am not sure of the actual size to have a starting point. The ones I do have don't seem to fit right.

Zerks are sized the same as fine thread bolts (I think). Take a bolt (any thread) and try to thread it in, find out what size bolt will start to thread, I would guess 1/4" or 5/16" maybe 3/8" (if it's been repaired in the past). Then you can pick up a zerk to fit.

Bill

Okay time for an update. Tore into the blower a bit. ..I can't seem to locate the hole in the bearing so it seems it spun and that means teardown. So I took the pin out of the shaft on the chain side...stuck a wedge (See pix) in to try and move the shaft over but it only moved a little and became hung up - won't go any further. AM I missing something? I was studying the shaft and there's some sort of collar/threaded nut at the end of the drive shaft going towards the motor...do the fins on that nut have to be pryed up perhaps?...this way I can move the drive shaft the rest of the way over for disassembly


Jim

I think if were me I would disconnect the chain and drive shaft then pull the pin that holds the whole bearing assembly to the thrower. Put it up on a work bench were you can get a better look at things. I think there is either a coiled spring pin or a set screw holding drive shaft yoke on the shaft.

The drive shaft yoke is keyed to the sprocket shaft, and has 2 set screws on it. Also, on some there is a cotter pin so if all that fails, the yoke still cannot come off the shaft till the cotter is removed.
As mentioned, remove the the adjuster assy pivot pin, and slide the spline apart on the drive shaft
( you can align the splines in the felt retainer and slide it apart without bending the tabs like on a 5 gallon paint bucket)
then you can put it on the bench/vice and drive the coiled pin out of the sprocket so all will slide apart.
Note: when sliding the drive shaft together on re-assy, be sure to align the universal joints properly.
Take a pix before you slide it apart, or look under a vehicle @ the drive shaft if you are unsure.
the shaft will vibrate if it is not aligned properly.

Find the splice on the chain and take the whole darn thing apart, get it into a parts cleaner or bucket of solvent and clean everything up so you can see what you are up against.

Print off the parts blow up from the manual site and everything should be self evident as to taking it apart further.

Is it me or does the assembly that the sprocket rides in look like it's at an angle? I would think it should run parallel to the auger.

The chain is off the sprocket in the pics.... I think it makes it look crooked. :bigthink:

Look at post #10

Oh, yeah.... your right.

Looks like the mount is broken. Right here:

Attachment 61842

Made some more progress - it's a tad bit slow but plugging away as time allows. Can't seem to remove the two pins (please see attached). Any help?:bigthink:

did you remove the set screw on the sprocket?

Wasn't aware there was one? Please elaborate