Should I go back to Moly grease?

[greaseguy15]

Then I was lied to and it makes sense, they told me their rotary screw oil was group 4 and my Atlas Copco air compressor gelled up the oil in 60 hrs for a 8,000 hr oil and permanently clogged up a heat exchanger as if it was a group 3. What are your times?
Is the base oil acceptance back into the carrier base correct?

Maybe not lied to just provided a less detailed answer to paint a picture. The air compressor oil very likely is a group IV but they may not have enough group V to keep things in solution and prevent sludge and varnish formation. It would be like running an engine oil without a detergent package in a modern turbo charged engine. It may work for a while just not a long while.

The production times for greases vary widely considering batch size and exact makeup of product but you definitely aren’t making any grease in 45 minutes and no an Aluminum Complex doesn’t take days to make.

I’m not as well versed in Aluminum Complex as some but no thickener that I know of “accepts” oil back into it. Once the oil has bled out of a grease it’s not going back where it came from. Otherwise you’d hear of people “oiling” there aluminum complex greases instead of pumping in fresh grease.

 

[facility1]

they may be referring to the reversibility of the grease??,making a aluminum complex grease does take a bit longer to manufacture am told. not sure of the time factor of the blending/heating and cooling process.may vary from the manufacturing/brand

 

[Jetronic]

Just an FYI, but Lucas has switched their red grease from lithium complex to calcium sulphanate. Not a big deal as the calcium type of compatible with lithium complex. Since that plant burned down, lithium materials have apparently been hard to obtain.

I wouldn't consider calcium a downgrade either, but it's good to know what you're getting.

 

[Not Sure]

Moly grease is fine to use (you should be using it) in U joints. U joints are not high speed rolling element bearings! You absolutely need to use at least a 5 percent moly grease preferably a calcium sulphonate grease in all chassis joints. I use Cat extreme application grease in a #2 grade in all my vehicles chassis parts from ball joints, to tie rods, to ujoints, to drive shaft slip yokes, to sway bar end links, to spring shackles, to S cam bushings.

Keep it away from slack adjusters and any high speed rolling element bearings like wheel bearings.

My Jeep used to eat ball joints like crazy (30k miles or so), until I started using Cat EA grease. This set (same brand as the last set) now has just over 100k miles on them and has only seen Cat EA grease. I keep jacking it up and checking them expecting to see play and to my surprise they are still tight. I wouldn’t use any other grease after trying this stuff!

That same Jeep used to eat front axle U joints as well again this set has lasted me over 100k by using that grease.

You can get it at your local Cat dealer or at some auto parts stores that stock Cat filters and stuff.

 

[facility1]

how does the Cat grease perform in cold/very cold temps, made mostly designed for heavy equipment, I would be careful in certain automotive situations with this grease,

 

[Not Sure]

how does the Cat grease perform in cold/very cold temps, made mostly designed for heavy equipment, I would be careful in certain automotive situations with this grease,

What is your definition of cold/very cold temperatures? Around here it rarely gets much below 0 degrees F and typical low temperatures are in the teens 90 percent of the winter with highs in the 20s and 30s. Hardly what I would call cold weather let alone very cold weather. The Cat extreme application grease in a #2 performs fine in these temperatures although it can be hard to pump when it’s below 20 degrees. You may want to use it in a #1 grade in the winter. According to the tube of EAG #2 its operating range is from +5 to 284 degrees F.

Cat also makes an Arctic version of this grease that has an operating temperature range of -58 to 266 degrees F. As well as a desert version that goes from +14 to 284 degrees F.

As for being careful with certain automotive applications sure as I said before don’t use it in high speed rolling element bearings, slack adjusters, ect. It’s perfect for low speed heavy loaded metal on metal applications like ball joints, and other front end components. As well as all other chassis components.

Have you seen the numbers on this stuff? Find me another grease that has an 800KG 4 ball weld test, .39 inch 4 ball wear scar, and a .6 percent hot water washout number. This is the absolute best grease for ball joints in my opinion and experience. I am absolutely amazed at how long my current set has lasted compared with previous sets due to switching to this stuff.

 

[martinq]

What about a grease that uses a better moly? My benchmark for a good, general purpose grease is Red Line CV-2. It performs exceptionally well in CV / U-joints as well as bearings.

https://www.redlineoil.com/Content/files/tech/cv-2_grease_prod_info.pdf

"Contains an organic moly for chassis lubrication and high temp/high speed industrial equipment"

"Red Line CV-2 Grease contains a red moly compound which is a superior lubricant to black moly disulfide lubricants."

 

[Not Sure]

What about a grease that uses a better moly? My benchmark for a good, general purpose grease is Red Line CV-2. It performs exceptionally well in CV / U-joints as well as bearings.

https://www.redlineoil.com/Content/files/tech/cv-2_grease_prod_info.pdf

"Contains an organic moly for chassis lubrication and high temp/high speed industrial equipment"

"Red Line CV-2 Grease contains a red moly compound which is a superior lubricant to black moly disulfide lubricants."

Look at the numbers on it, the 4ball weld is only 400kg vs 800kg for EAG and the 4 ball wear scar is larger then the Cat EAG at .46 vs .39. Red line doesn’t even publish water washout numbers for this grease.

Generally if a grease is suitable for both chassis and high speed rolling element bearings it is a piss poor EP grease with a low percentage of moly but a decent high temperature bearing grease.

I wouldn’t hesitate to use this Red Line CV-2 grease in wheel bearings and it’s probably an excellent choice for that application.

l’ll stick with Cat Extreme Application grease for my ball joints and other low speed high pressure and shock applications be they automotive, heavy equipment, marine, or any other application.