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MG TD TF 1500 - MG TD Steering Lubricant

Hey all. My first post here.

I have inherited my father's '52 TD. He was ill for the last couple of years before his passing in October so the car didn't get as much attention as it should have.

While the car is up on stands getting the brakes done I would like to change out all the fluids and lubricate the other stuff. I am kind of confused about the steering lubricant. The manual states "A greaser is provided on the rack housing, and this is accessible underneath the front apron from under the front of the car. The nipple should be used to replenish the rack assembly with oil every 12,000 miles (2,000 km.)." When it says oil does it really mean grease? I have never put oil through a grease nipple before.

Hope to get her back on the road in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks

Stuart
S Grimm

Stuart, The rack takes oil, a 90 weight gear oil works well. There are various ways to put the oil in and I'll leave that to others. Make sure you install new bellows on the ends of the rack. PJ
Paul S Jennings

Stuart - the archives have a good deal of info on how to fill the steering rack, all of it useful.

This forum is great for answering questions.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Welcome, Stuart. See http://www.ttalk.info/RackOil.htm from my Ttalk website for a bit about this topic. It has a link to a site about creating an oiler. Bud
Bud Krueger

Hi Stuart,

As you turn the steering wheel the rack bellows concertina. This pushes lubricant from one side of the rack to the other. Grease isn't fluid enough to flow and you run the risk of starving one side of lubricant or exploding the bellows.


Jan T
J Targosz

I use out drive gear oil for boats. Regards, tom
tm peterson

Stuart,
First, welcome to the Forum!!!!

A piece of neoprene tubing also works well. Remove the Zerk fitting and the fitting that is screwed into the rack. Get a 12 inch long neoprene tubing that fits into the threaded hole in the rack, and over nipple of the plastic 90W Gear Lube bottle. Carefully squeeze the bottle and fill the rack.

Will we see you at the New england MG "T" Register Gathering in Strausburg in Sept??

Steve
SPW Wincze

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will try the neoprene tubing first (I'm cheap) and see how that goes. I'm not sure how much lube is in the rack to begin with. I'm hoping it's not filled with grease. Be a bit but I will let you all know how it goes.

Thanks

Stuart
S Grimm

Steve

You probably won't see me at any of the upcoming events. That pesky thing called a job keeps interfering with my fun time!

Stuart
S Grimm

I'd be amazed if you got anything into it. Grease fittings get grease, and it's likely gotten a shot or many over the last 60 years... because nobody reads the book. Really dumb putting a grease fitting on it in the first place.

I got my TD through a dealer on consignment. Every grease fitting had fresh grease on it. It's nice they roll a car out freshly serviced, isn't it?


Not the end of the world if it's been greased. If grease caused damage we'd all be looking for new rack and pinion shafts by now.

..
MAndrus

Haven't figured out yet how the new racks from Moss are packed with grease. PJ
Paul S Jennings

After 12 different nipples for the Zerk and 4 different quality grease guns I finally got a combination that fit tight enough to easily oil that miserable fitting.
Mort
Mort 50 TD

In the WSM for my Morris Minor oil is specified for the rack. BMC changed their specification on later racks of similar design to grease. This has been a topic of discussion in the Morris Minor world for years and the general consensus is now to use grease as it does not run away and hide in the gaiters.
Regards
Declan
D Burns

Declan,

If grease is used how do the inner ball joints get lubricated? IMHO using oil is igenious because it uses the gaiters as a built in oil pump.


John
J Scragg

At GOF South, Glenn Leonard said they have been using a synthetic grease for some time on T-series racks. Of course all moving parts of the mechanism would have to be initially lubed while disassembled for this to work. The problem with the old grease was that it would turn to solid non-lubricating crud after a while. The new racks are likely lubed with something like this. George
George Butz

No need to even use the zerk fitting to lube. Instead remove the damper cap at the top of the rack and simply pour in the OIL. Don't lose any of the shims though, and replace the cap. Job done!
LD Palmer

John,
To be honest I was not aware of inner ball joints as I have never taken a rack apart but the Moggy guys are firm believers in grease as opposed to oil. It is certainly easier to handle although access is not really an issue on the TD.
Regards
Declan
D Burns

Stuart, this has certainly been a vexed subject for years - newbies like me a couple of years ago soon learn to absorb the combined wisdom of those who have been around longer, and those who have done more "stuff", such as Dave Braun whose website you will be directed to frequently. It seems to me that the steering rack would benefit from something like coconut oil ... runs like oil when warm, but hardens up a bit when cools down. Plus it tastes nice! Just joking, mate. I use EP 90 gear oil succesfully in TC (modified steering rack added by PO), TD and YA, filling from the top. Regards, John.
J P Hall

This thread was discussed between 09/06/2015 and 12/06/2015

MG TD TF 1500 index

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