when grease attacks!!??!

[cryptokid]

hi
my 1996 kia ball joint and tie rod end boots are dissolving. they are not hard or cracking, they are dissolving! i can pull off parts of them and squish the rubber into a gooey ball and pull it apart like silly putty, its really weird. they are FACTORY boots and grease never touched by anyone but the assembally line. whats the deal here? kia use some freak anti-rubber grease?
i checked some other kia ball joints and tie rod ends off kias in the junkyard and each one is identlcal in that the rubber is dissolving into a silly putty like substance that can be balled up into a gummy sticky ball. i have to get new boots from FLAPS which is fine, but what grease should i use? i will take off the balljoints and tie rod ends and clean them in solvent to remove anytrace of the old grease.
also, i have the option of getting polyurathane boots for my ends, if i chose to do so, what grease is compatible with polyurathane and sutable for tie rod ends?

 

[Pablo]

Not sure what KIA used for rubber or grease - so it's hard to tell. My guess would be both are inferior, but the rubber is real junk.

That said the stock rubber boots may be chewed on by normal OTC greases....maybe. Can you buy aftermarket boots? If so try those with a good synthetic grease.

Can you access the factory maintenance info? What kind of grease do they call for?

Of course I use nothing but Amsoil Series 2000 racing grease (for applications requiring NLGI #2, GL/LB) - but even if I suddenly quit being a site sponsor and dealer, I still would buy this stuff.

 

[cryptokid]

wow thanks for the quick reply.
i dont know what type of grease or rubber they used, as a maintence manual isnt available for kias unfortunately,
i do have the option of buying aftermarket boots, from napa, tehay carry universal boots which is what i was talking about in my previous post. they have em in rubber and poly.
im thinking of going poly for long life.

oddly, the grease in the ball joints and tie rod ends, appears to be OK, it looks as good as new grease, except its gonna get dirty quick now that i been pulling off pieces of the rubber boots, so i gotta get this done before they get dirty and wear out.
i really never seen grease attack before. you think its the fault of the rubber? craprubber? i know kia cv boots wear out every 10K, they split but dont crack. aftermarket boots are better, maybe kia rubber is bad..
brake lines are OK, syspension bushings are ok too.
thanks

 

[Pablo]

Poly boots, bushings, etc are much more resistant to attack by greases and oils. (I missed your mention in the first post) So, yes that should cure your problem.....I guess why IS someone selling aftermarket poly boots that fit KIA? Are these univeral - and are they a good fit?

 

[cryptokid]

yah their universal kind.but their not split down the side or anything. i am going to buy one and test it and if it fits really good ill use it. if theres the slightest discrepency of not fitting properly, ill have to order new balljoints and tie rod ends i guess. i hope i dont have to do that.
the universals come in many different sizes so i hope i can find one that fits.

 

[BOBISTHEOILGUY]

Crypt,

If you need a grease for that application, you do not want to use a standard grease in this application. 1st problem is on a CV joint, the grease must stay on the joint. The purpose of the rubber boot is not to hold the grease but to keep water and dirt intrusion from happening. As a CV joint spins, any grease normal grease applied will sling off, therefore ulitmatly ends up on the boot instead of lubricating the joint.

Most CV joints appear to use a moly type of grease, normally with a heavy enough tac so to stay on the joint and not sling off. There really isn't so much a heat issue on here but an extreme pressure problem where all the wieght of the vehicle is moved through this joint creating the extreme pressures simular to what a rearend would have. The synth portion of a grease is only in the oil and hasn't got anything to do with how well it will hold on or how it will hold up for extreme pressures. The synth oil will help in maintaining oxidation levels to a min on the oil itself.

IMO, I'd look for a grease that has the moly in it and if possible, consider an alum complex #2. This way, if for some reason the boot does deteriate again, the grease will withstand water washout as it is a water proof grease unlike a lithium. Also, the Alum complex is compatible with the current grease.

[ February 12, 2003, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: BOBISTHEOILGUY ]

 

[Neil Womack]

Crypt

I can't tell you about CV joints or what makes rubber turn to goo.

I can tell you that I had a problem was lithium grease flinging out of my power take-off u-joints and causing me to disassembe shields and re-grease every 4 hours in hot weather and every 8 hours at temps below 85*f.

At my last Schaeffer's order Bob talked me into buying some Schaeffer's Aluminum complex grease Prod.#238. He said his grease would reduce my maintenance time.

The stuff works just like he said. U-joint greasing now sits at every 16 hours. Unlike the lithium it does not fling out of the joints, it does not dissolve or emulsify in the rain ( PTO joints are exposed to the weather ) and it does not seem to squeeze out of the other tractor pivot points as easily as the lithium did. And it has not caused any reaction with the old grease.

If you can go for the Aluminum Complex.

 

[cryptokid]

well the aftermarket boots would not fit correctly.
i am using the old balljoints and tie rod ends untill they wearout and then i will replace them.
i have a couple months on the old balljoints as you can tell, from the dates of this thread.

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