[Healeys] Steering idler bits

Thu Aug 4 22:29:07 MDT 2016

How would you go about purging the old oil/Grease to replace it with the John Deere stuff?  
Mike MacLeanSan Bernardino (where it is 106 degrees plus on some summer days here)

Sent via the Samsung GALAXY S® 5, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone

-------- Original message --------
From: Earl Kagna <kags at shaw.ca> 
Date: 8/4/2016  8:06 PM  (GMT-08:00) 
To: Healey List <healeys at autox.team.net> 
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Steering idler bits 

Jim - ouch that's hot!  But I'll bet that the Penrite - or John Deere corn 
head grease, which seems to work just as well (according to others) will not 
run at those high temps.  I used the Penrite because I managed to ahold of 
it, otherwise based on what others have experienced, I would have gone with 
the John Deere stuff.

One 500 ml bottle easily filled both the steering box and the idler

-----Original Message----- 
From: healeymanjim
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2016 7:46 PM
To: Earl Kagna
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Steering idler bits

earl, living here las vegas not only penrite, but even CV joint grease will 
leak out if the seal is not snug.  115 here last
week and the grease in my grease gun was almost liquid.

>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: Earl Kagna <kags at shaw.ca>
>  To: Simon Lachlan <simon.lachlan at homecall.co.uk>, Healey List 
> <healeys at autox.team.net>
>  Subject: Re: [Healeys] Steering idler bits
>  Sent: Aug 04 '16 05:57
>
>
>
>  Hello again Simon – greetings from British Columbia, Canada!
>
>  Can’t wait to hear who wins the race between you and your nephew
>  when he eventually gets his Healey over the water.
>
>  You’ve got it a bit wrong with the idler assembly: The oil seal is
>  normally not visible – it’s up in a recessed cavity inside the
>  lower part of the idler body when all is assembled. Your photos are
>  showing the lower part of the idler body itself – give it a bit of a
>  clean and you’ll find that it’s steel. The item below it that you
>  have identified as the ‘bush’ is actually a dust cover keeping the
>  huge pieces away from the seal itself. It’s made of some sort of
>  foam rubber – usually white. If memory serves, the same part is used
>  on the handbrake shaft as a dust / hot air excluder to (theoretically)
>  keep such things from the inside of the car.
>
>  The bush is illustration # 16 - P/N 1B6257 in my parts book - and
>  serves to keep the idler shaft snug and working in the body. That way,
>  the oil leaks out of the bottom where it should.
>
>  It’s worth noting - the oil seal is quite thin - most rebuilders use
>  two of them stacked. There’s plenty of room in the idler body. This
>  gets at least one seal lip onto a virgin part of the shaft.
>
>  If you had the whole works dismantled and on the bench, it would all
>  be immediately obvious to you.
>
>  I fixed such a leak in situ in my tri-carb years ago by doing a sneaky
>  drain, and refilling it with Penrite steering box lube - the stuff is
>  purpose designed for these old beasts, and is quite thick - it
>  doesn’t dare leak!
>
>  If that’s what you are trying to do, there are a couple of little
>  tricks that will help.
>
>  Cheers ----
>
>  Earl Kagna
>  Victoria, B.C.
>  BJ8, BT7 tri-carb
>
>  FROM: Simon Lachlan
>  SENT: Wednesday, August 03, 2016 11:31 AM
>  TO: Healeys at autox.team.net
>  SUBJECT: [Healeys] Steering idler bits
>
>  One for the experts........
>
>  1) I hope that I’m right in my belief that I’ve labelled the
>  correct same parts in the three attached pics??? I ask because they
>  certainly don’t look the same; ie if you go from the parts book
>  diagram to the two photos, the rubber bush looks to be twice the size
>  and the seal bears very little resemblance to that in the diagram.
>
>  2) Leaving aside that the whole area is covered in oil and filth –
>  the residue of a leak incurred while fixing the trafficator – I
>  think we can agree that the bush looks pretty well shot?
>
>  3) Am I right in thinking that the seal and bush function to keep oil
>  in as well as dirt out? ie that its condition matters??
>
>  4) On the assumption that the bush needs replacing and that I’m
>  going to do it ASAP, is the seal something that needs to be replaced
>  as well or is it reusable?
>
>  5) Yes, I have a fair collection of manuals to which I always
>  refer.......But, is this one of those jobs, simple at first glance,
>  which is full of hidden snags? I’ve not seen the dreaded words
>  “Taking special tool” but I can’t be surprised any more by the
>  unexpected in Healey land. Is this a job requiring big sockets and
>  long bars or is there a hidden snag or two?
>
>  Thanks,
>
>  Simon
>  -------------------------
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