VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 How often to grease distributor.

How often do you folks crank in the distributor grease cup on your cars? I only drive my 48 a couple hundred miles a Summer, so, I'm sure I'm overdoing it. What kind of grease do you recommend?

Regards:
Oldengineer

I give a turn every time I check the oil level...Or just popping the hood for look/see...Can't hurt...Better more than less...Prevents shaft wear...I use white lithium grease...But, I supposed most grease will work...Just don't forget to give a spin...Grease is cheap...Rebuilds are not...

I do about 600-1K in a season and I crank it every oil change about 1/2 turn. I use regular chassis grease. Its messy but its what was in there. No issues so far with anything

I believe the manual calls for chassis or 'similar' grease and a refill every 1000 miles. Hope this helps.

Back in the day,they had cup grease. I have a can on the shelf but it's so old I don't think its good. I use regular chassis grease.

I use high temp bearing grease because the thought of the distributor shaft turning inside a cast iron sleeve sounds like a sleeve bearing application to me.

Just my Rube Goldberg take on the situation. ;-)

Cheers, Dean

For the 1929-32 distributor the grease cup is turned down every 500 miles of driving.

A smooth white cup grease that works great in distributors is available from your local auto parts store.

Thanks guys for the info. I'm doing the same thing as the rest of you basically. Been filling the cup with my grease gun, and, giving it a turn when I check my engine before heading out to cruise-in or show.

Regards:
Oldengineer

Never. Not because I think it doesn't need it but because, owing to age, I can no longer remember to do it.

If I could remember to do it, I think every regular oil change would be enough. Regular is the key word here and meaning every 3K miles or every 6 months, whichever comes first. For the folks up north, who only drive their old cars in the late Spring and Summer, I would think once a year would be sufficient, depending on total miles driven or oil changes. (I think I'm starting to ramble. Sorry.)

Charlie

On the later models, like 1934 and up, the manual says with each grease job. That would be every 1000 miles.

Ok, Gene, that sound about right and much more often than I would have thought.
Thanks,
Charlie

I,m sure many went much farther than taht including the grease jobs....and with no problem.
And yes, more is not always better like over oiling the generator.

I wonder if on those old lubrication charts (ESSO, Texaco, Gulf, etc) if it indicated that the distributor greaser should be turned and how much. This should have been something for the "grease monkey" to do when doing a lube job.

I doubt that Gomer or Gubber would have done it or that Andy would have asked about. There were so many grease fitting on a 41-48 (can't remember how many) that it would have been easy to miss or ignore the distributor lube, even if it was on the chart.

I don't have one of those old charts but it would be interesting to check one to see if that grease fitting was mentioned.

Charlie

My chart for 32-33 Master and 33-35 standard list turning the cup three turns every 1000 miles.