Experimental Grease Solves Automobile Industry Problem

Nye Fluorocarbon Gel 875L-MS was developed for one of the largest automobile manufacturing companies in the United States. Intended for sliding surfaces where a combination of good film strength and low-breakaway force is needed, Nye Fluorocarbon Gel 875L-MS is a rust-inhibited, non-melting, high film strength grease.

An unacceptable vibration of an intermediate steering shaft assembly was occurring during final road testing of the company’s completed vehicles coming off the assembly line. This severe vibration was traveling through the shaft to the steering wheel and the driver. The automobile company quarantined its vehicles off the assembly line that exhibited this steering vibration.

The malfunctioning steering component was designed to operate without lubrication and was installed on a new automobile platform that was, at the time, just being introduced to the market place. The automobile manufacturer would not release the vehicles until a solution from the steering manufacturer was proposed. This is where Nye came into play. We were contacted by the steering manufacturer and asked to formulate a grease that would provide a solution to the vibration issue.

Nye immediately sent samples of our current damping products to the steering manufacturer for evaluation, but the products would not lessen the vibration to an acceptable level. Based on the direction from the customer, Nye’s technical department went to work to develop a product that would solve the problem. Samples were sent to the steering manufacturer and were evaluated in a test rig at various temperatures and sliding forces. The experimental grease, now known as Nye Fluorocarbon Gel 875L-MS, seemed to solve the problem. The next step was to apply the grease to the actual steering assemblies and deliver them to the car manufacturer for testing.