Lubrication Overview

Some vehicle drivetrains have complex mechanisms, such as running gear, that need to be actively lubricated in order to function properly. This is prevalent in steam locomotives .

Such vehicles typically carry oil in an onboard storage. The available reserves are shown on the left meter of a device called an automatic lubricator .

This device lubricates some of the bearings that it can reach, while the rest needs to be lubricated manually .

If a vehicle has been sitting parked for a while, it is likely to have dry bearings, due to leaks.

If any of the lubrication systems are lacking oil, the drivetrain will produce unpleasant screeching noise. If no action is taken it may quickly result in catastrophic damage to the drivetrain.

If the oil storage runs dry it needs to be refilled .