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LubeletterThe World Leader In Synthetic Lubricants Volume 28 Number 1

UniFlor Unveiled as “Compelling Choice”for Auto OEMs and SuppliersThe show invitation mailed to more than15,000 automotive engineers by NyeLubricants just prior to SAE 2000 wassimple but provocative. It said, “Good-bye,Krytox®. Hello, UniFlor™.”

“We want to get the automotive world’sattention,” explained Brian Holley, Nye’snational sales manager, who also headsup Nye’s Detroit team. “And here’s ourmessage: if you want a completely inertlubricant, one that’s safe on any rubber orplastic component, one that survivesextremely high and low temperatures,you’ve now got a choice — a choice webelieve is verycompelling.”

Hello UniFlor.UniFlor is the newtrademark for Nye’sfamily of fluorinated oils and greases. LikeKrytox®, UniFlor products are formulatedwith perfluoropolyether (PFPE) oils. TheUniFlor product line, however, goes onestep further. It includes PFPE lubricantsformulated from not one, but from each ofthe world’s PFPE oils — which makesUniFlor the most comprehensive line offluorinated oils and greases in the world.For manufacturers who find value in

single-source suppliers, the breadth anddepth of the UniFlor line is one compel-ling reason to take a closer look.

Several manufacturers around theglobe manufacture PFPE oils, but “allPFPE oils are not created equal,” Brian

explained. “Each does offer excellentrubber and plastic compatibility, but

there are important distinctions. Becauseof different base materials and polymeriza-tion processes, each oil has a differenttemperature range, volatility, viscosity,Viscosity Index, and wear prevention

ability — all critical considerations in thefield of lubrication. So, one thing thatmakes UniFlor unique is, it’s never ‘one-size-fits all.’ A customer gets the PFPE oil— or a grease formulated from that oil —that’s best for his or her application.”

“For example,” Brian added, “we’ve nowgot a PFPE oil that can survive tempera-tures down to -90°C. We also have what’sprobably the best metal-on-metal PFPEavailable. With an operating temperaturerange of -70C° to +250°C, it’s ideal forbearings in alternators, water pumps, and

superchargers. Noother line offluorinatedlubricants offersthis kind ofchoice.”

Old, new, improved. While the UniFlortrademark is new, Nye’s experience informulating PFPE lubricants goes back tothe early 1970s, just a few years after PFPElubricants were first introduced. In fact,Nye was the first company to have acomplete family of fluorinated greasesqualified under military specification. Sincethat time, the Company has worked closelywith design engineers from every industrythat uses PFPE lubricants. In the automo-tive industry, Nye designed PFPE bearinggreases for some of the first exhaustpumps. Soon after, it formulated a brake-fluid-resistant PFPE grease that is stillspecified for antilock braking systems.Today, more than a dozen automotivecomponents — including switches,connectors, potentiometers, sensors, evendoor-lock tumblers — use PFPE lubricantsby Nye.

“We want to continue to work withautomotive engineers on the high-end

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An Extra Special Issue

The Lexus 470 SUV claimed top spotoverall in Machine Design magazine’sfourth annual Best Ride Competition,co-sponsored by Nye Lubricants, Inc.

Welcome to our first annual“SAE/Best Ride” edition of theNye Lubeletter!

We’ve expanded our traditional two-page automotive edition to four forseveral good reasons — to celebrateSAE 2000 and our long history ofpartnering with automotive engineersto boost component life and perfor-mance ... to highlight our co-sponsor-ship of the Best Ride competition ... toannounce breakthrough lubes thatOEMs are calling solutions to BSRproblems ... and to tell you aboutUniFlor — the only family of lubricantsyou’ll ever need for long-life, broad-temp, fuel-and-fluid-resistant, plastic-compatible, automotive applications.

Let us know what you think —and what you need. Call NyeAutomotive at (248) 597-0007.

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Turning Over a New – and Quieter – Leaf Spring

NyoGel 774VH-MS, Nye’s new leafspring grease, is silencing squeaks inDaimlerChrysler’s Dodge Ram pickups.

A staple on horse-drawn buggies, the leafspring is probably the oldest vehiclesuspension system in use. Popular in abevy of autos in the heavy-car 60’s and70s, today leaf springs are usuallyconfined to larger vehicles, pick-uptrucks, SUV’s — and Technical ServiceBulletins. Like in the Wild West, leafsprings still squeak.

It’s the nature of beast. Lay severallengths of steel on top of each other, andno matter how tightly they’re bound, onthe road (or off-road!) unlubricated metalon metal eventually is going to makesome noise. And in a marketplace thatwants even its pick-ups quiet, a little leafspring squeak can be a particularly peskyBSR problem for service dealers andvehicle owners: Leaf spring squeaks arenot easily repeatable. Nonetheless, leafsprings are a proven, rugged, economicalsuspension system, and fairly inexpensiveto repair — which makes the search for asqueak cure a good investment inperceived quality.

Generally, squeaks are caused byfriction. So, plastic inserts have beeninserted between the steel layers of someleaf springs, to dampen metal-on-metalnoise and reduce metal wear. They’requieter, but even with fortified-nyloninserts laced with slippery PTFE, squeakshappen.

DaimlerChrysler decided to tackle theproblem head-on. Friction is usuallyminimized with a lubricant. Could alubricant also dampen the noise? Nye’sregional engineering manager RogerCady said yes, as long as the lubricant isdesigned for the job.

A leaf spring lubricant would have to bea very heavy, sticky grease to stay inplace on plastic inserts, especially underheavy load and shock conditions. It also

New Addition at Nye Automotive

Rick Trecapelli

Rick Trecapelli joined the Nye team inTroy, Mich., in November 1999. Rickbrings several years experience in theautomotive industry, having worked for amajor control cable supplier.

“Rick knows first-hand the need forautomotive suppliers to meet highperformance standards cost-effectively— and how our lubricants play a criticalrole in achieving that goal,” said Nyenational sales manager Brian Holley.”

Rick will serve as the primary contactat Nye for GM engineers, as well asmanage lubricant business related tocontrol cables, shifters, sunroofs, andseat components.

would have to resist dirt, as well as waterand salt-water washout. Roger recom-mended a modified version of one of Nye’sheaviest damping greases.

Damping greases were formulatedabout 50 years ago to build fine toleranceseconomically into microscopes, tele-scopes, and binoculars. Applied tofocusing threads, they also delivered silentoperation. In the mid 1980s when Nyeintroduced the first broad-temperature lineof damping greases, automotive switchmanufacturers were among Nye’s firstcustomers. Applied to detents, a daub ofdamping grease quelled the annoying clickof plastic switches. Today, dampinggreases are used in more than 30 automo-tive parts, including window visors, lumbaradjustment knobs, sunroof motors, parking

brakes — and now suspension systems.Nye’s new leaf spring grease, a modifieddamping grease called NyoGel 774VH-MS,was a winner at DaimlerChrysler.

“The engineers were pleased,” Rogersaid, “There was an immediate noisereduction, warranty issues went away, andthey gave the grease a part number. It’sthere to stay. And the solution wasrelatively inexpensive too — pennies pergram.”

Ford suppliers interested in turning overa new leaf can e-mail Brian Cichoski(cichoski@nyelubricants.com). GM folksshould e-mail Rick Trecapelli(ricktrec@nyelubricants.com). Either canalso be reached at (248) 597-0077. Evalua-tion samples of NyoGel 774VH-MS areavailable at no charge.

Burma Road, made up of softball-size rocks, is a grueling test track for leaf-spring squeaks.Squelch those squeaks with Nye Rheolube 774VH-MS. Photo courtesy of Machine Design.

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THREE

875MS

New Grease May Change Rack & PinionManufacturing Process

Fluorocarbon Gel 875MS, Nye’s newrack-and-pinion grease, reduces wear,dampens noise — and eliminates theneed for polishing racks after heat-treating.

A bonus, the grease also allowedgreater tolerances when securing theyoke plug. The viscous grease adheresto moving parts, so mating surfaces don’ttouch. They actually move withinthe grease itself. At the yoke and rackinterface, this not only silences noise, iteliminates the need for expensive insertsbetween the yoke and the rack.

Nye Fluorocarbon Gel 875MS will be innext year’s Mazda. Lincoln LS andThunderbird are still in testing, but basedon results to date may convert for theupcoming model year. Notably, a Visteonengineer reported that he was using only12 grams of Fluorocarbon Gel 875MS inthe Mazda rack-and-pinion system, andwas getting better performance than hegot with 50 grams of the old petroleumgrease.

The story doesn’t end there, however.Visteon uses two yoke styles, the ovaland the Y-shaped. After heat-treating theY-racks, Visteon traditionally hand-buffseach rack to remove scaling andasperities. With the former grease,polishing the rack helped reduce wear.Brian suggested a wear-test on unpol-ished racks with the new Nye grease.To everyone’s amazement, unbuffedoutperformed buffed racks!

No one has yet calculated the costsavings that could result from eliminatingthe labor-intensive, rack-polishingoperation. But with more than 600,000 Y-racks manufactured each year at Visteon,Nye Fluorocar-bon 875MSmay do a lotmore thanreduce wearand noise.

Rack-and-pinion steering is a mainstay intoday’s vehicle fleet. Over time, excessivegear wear or noise can also make it awarranty issue. That’s what an engineer atVisteon Automotive Systems wanted toavoid — and he got more than he bar-gained for.

All rack-and-pinion systems consist of atoothed rack that mates to a pinion gear.When the steering wheel turns, the piniongear rotates, which moves the rack to theleft or right to steer the car. The Visteonengineer needed a lubricant to minimizewear on the gear teeth.

A separate but related wear and noiseissue had to be addressed. On the smoothside of the rack, a spring-loaded yoke isused to keep the rack teeth mated to thepinion gear. The yoke is inserted through atapped hole on the rear of rack-and-pinionhousing. A plug, screwed into the hole,compresses the spring and holds the yokein place. Under mechanical shock (testlabs, potholes, railroad tracks, for ex-ample), the rack would bounce, jar theyoke, cause a knocking sound, andexacerbate wear. Typically, an insert,sometimes an expensive composite plastic,was added between the yoke and thepolished side of the rack to reduce wear onthe rack and yoke. But even inserts worequickly if the proper amount of torque wasnot applied to the plug. In addition tosteering problems, too much torque on theplug hastened insert wear throughexcessive pressure. Too little torquehastened wear because it allowed toomuch play between the yoke and the rack.

Nye engineer Brian Cichoski soon foundout this application called for a custom-formulated grease. Nye’s technicaldirector located a new, high-viscosity oil.Combined with a lubricious thickeningsystem, extreme pressure, and antiwearadditives, it turned out to be exactly whatVisteon wanted. Applied to the gear teethand the yoke-rack interface, the new Nyegrease, Fluorocarbon Gel 875MS,passed gear and yoke wear testswithout knocking — and itgave a smooth, qualityfeel to the wholesteeringsystem.

The Case of theSquealing HVACA Tier One supplier wanted an oil forpowdered metal bearings in an HVACmotor — to prevent wear and to stop thesqueal when the car heater was turnedon at 10°F. It wasn’t simply a matter offinding the right lubricant.

The customersent “dry,” i.e.,unlubricatedbearings to Nye for pre-application testing. However,through a soxlet extraction process, Nyewas able to remove oil from the bearings— not lubricating oil, but residual processoil used in the manufacture of thebearings. Process oil left in the bearingscan pose two problems. First, it takes upspace, thereby reducing the amount oflubricant the bearing can hold. Worse, ifthe lubricant of choice is apolyalphaolefin, ester, or polyglycol, theprocess oils, with their poorthermooxidative stability, exacerbatedegradation of the lubricant.

Nye, therefore, recommended morethan a lubricating oil for the sinteredbearing. It recommended a completeimpregnation process: extract processoils; use a UniFlor oil to assure good low-temperature performance; ensure a fullcomplement of oil within the bearing byimpregnating in a vacuum chamber for 24hours @ 100°C. Outcome: noise problemgone, operating life extended.

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FOUR© Nye Lubricants Inc. 2000

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Nye Automotive 360 E. Maple Rd. Suite K Troy, MI 48083 USAPhone 248-597-0077 Fax 248-597-0078 URL: www.nyeautomotive.com

(continued from page 1)

UniFlor Service TypicalSeries Temp. (°C) Applications

8100 -54 to 250 The economical BSR/NVH lubricant. No-worry,plastic and elastomer compatibility. Also suitable forgears, slides, and light-duty bearings. Second-source forKrytox® GPL 105, 205, 225.

8500 -54 to 250 Popular, general purpose, wide-temperature automotivegrease for underhood tin/lead connectors, lightly loadedbearings, switch mechanicals, lead screws. Used in ABSsystems. Ford and GM spec (under former product name).

8700 -70 to 250 Broad-temperature, high-load bearing lubricant, ideal foralternators, idlers, water pumps, compressors, andsuperchargers.

8900 -90 to 250 Extreme temperature lubricant now used by First Tiersuppliers for underhood and fuel tank sensors, especiallywhen low temperature and low torque are critical.

Krytox® is a registered trademark of DuPont.

A Quick Glance at UniFlor for Automotive Applications

components that can benefit from PFPEs,”Brian commented. “With our newlyexpanded stock of PFPE oils and greases,we can offer even more than we didbefore. But we also want to talk toproduction engineers — and purchasingagents. Each time a PFPE grease is usedon the assembly line or at a dealership toquiet squeaky rubber or plastic compo-nents in the cockpit — and there’s a ton ofit used each year — UniFlor can improvequality and cut costs.”

Custom lubes, private labeling — aspecialty. Nye’s other chemistries coupledwith its value-added services make UniFloreven more attractive. Nye is committed toproviding the best lubricant for eachapplication. For many applications, it’s nota PFPE. To achieve this goal, Nye stocksand designs lubricants based on allcommercially available synthetic oils,including synthetic hydrocarbons,polyglycols, esters, silicones, andpolyphenyl ethers.

If an application does call for a PFPE anda good match can’t be found in the current

UniFlor line, Nye engineers can custom-formulate a new PFPE lubricant to meetcustomer requirements.

“Our custom-lubricant services take onnew meaning with UniFlor,” said Nyetechnical director Paul Bessette. “To beable to select the best PFPE base fluid forthe task at hand gives us the unsur-passed capability of putting the bestlubricant forward.”

Nye also offers a full range ofspecialty packaging services,including private labeling. If ourcustomers want UniFlorpackaged with “a GM VehicleCare, Mopar, Motorcraft, orGoodwrench label, we can doit,” Brian said. “We can alsoassemble service kits, completewith instructions, for immediatedistribution to dealerships.”

New brand, new challenges.With the world’s most complete

full line of PFPE lubricants, the challengenow is not aggressive product develop-ment. It’s introducing more engineers andpurchasing departments to UniFlor — andthe advantages of working with Nye.

“With UniFlor, we make life easier forcustomers, said Nye president and CEO Dr.Gerald I. Madden. “They can now get boththe raw material best suited for theirapplication and extensive lubricant designexperience from a single source. Andthat’s a message we know means a lot tothe automotive industry.”

Water or salt-water washout is not aproblem for Nye’s Fluorocarbon Gel 880under conditions that challenge movingparts in any suspension system. Photocourtesy of Machine Design magazine.

Nye CapturesQS 9000, StartsBaldrige ProcessIn December 1999, Nye Lubricants becameone of two synthetic lubricant companiesin the US to earn QS-9000/ISO 9001 — andthe only one that offers all commerciallyavailable synthetic fluids.

Registered with the British StandardInstitute, Nye is now reviewing require-ments for ISO/TS-16949, a new world-widequality system announced late last year.In addition, the Company has initiated aprogram which leads to competing for theMalcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.While ISO promotes rigid process stan-dards, the Baldrige criteria focus onperformance excellence, in strategicplanning, customer and market focus,business results, and several other catego-ries. The Award was established by theNational Quality Improvement Act of 1987.