For those just joining us, I accidentally broke a Zerk fitting off during my do-it-yourself oil change last weekend. See that little tiny spring, covered with blue grease? That’s part of the guts of the Zerk.
Well, I got it out of there, with the help of a bolt extractor bit, known to many as an “EZ Out”. In my case, it actually was pretty easy!
First, I removed the spring; it pulled right out of there. Here’s the E-Z-Out, held with a small pair of vice-grips, inserted into the Zerk. Then just turn it counter-clockwise…GENTLY.
And in a case like this, where the problem is NOT a frozen fitting, it comes loose easily.
Here’s the vice-grips, the extractor bit, and the threaded portion of the broken Zerk:
Here’s how the extractor bit works; it’s reverse-threaded, and it tapers, so it gets tighter and tighter as you twist it into the hole. Since you’re twisting counter-clockwise, at some magic moment the bit stops turning in the hole, and the broken fitting starts turning in its threaded hole. That’s the theory, anyway, and I’m just glad it worked in my case!
The replacement Zerk has been installed:
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I’m sure glad the “EZ Out” worked for you. When you have something genuinely frozen, and the EZ out snaps off, leaving a chunk of hardened steel in the hole, it becomes a “Seriously Difficult Out.”