my father was told by the local dealer that using a non caterpillar grease in the new 420f series backhoes can void the warranty? i dont believe this and neither does he, does this have a merit? can a warranty really be voided due to using a non oem product?
Well any grease is better than none! Secondly it is in your best interest to use a grease of a high quality, no matter whos label it has. Besides any good grease will have the spec numbers and oem compliance crap on tube, case, or barrel. Worst case you can get it from the supplier. As for warranty problems, if it did void your warranty it would only void the items that grease pertained to. i.e. pin and bushing issues. I would think as long as your using grease of the same or higher spec you will be fine.
The Magnuson-Moss act of 1975 applies to these situations and this specifically comes under the heading of a tie in warranty. Basically the manufacturer cannot limit the effectiveness of a warranty by requiring the purchase and use of only their support product. Basically GM can't limit the warranty on their car to only if you use their branded oil filter if other manufacturers of oil filters can supply a part that will work just as good. The catch to this happens when a problem occurs and there are other parts involved that may have contributed to the failure. Using your grease scenario we will say that particular joint has a pin failure from premature wear and you admit you were using XYZ grease. If XYZ grease doesn't conform to the minimum standards set by the manufacturer then they will likely deny your claim for warranty coverage. The onus basically goes back to you then to prove the grease is adequate for the purpose at your expense. And after you prove it you will still have to sue in civil court in order to force collection. So use whatever you want. Just remember that there may be problems if something bad happens. Check out an explanation of the law here. http://www.mlmlaw.com/library/guides/ftc/warranties/undermag.htm
I would love to see the Cat dealer come and scrape a grease sample into an SOS bottle and send it away to check if its cat grease !!! lol. It would be the same as oils - doesn't have to be Cat oil just oil that meets or exceeds the minimum standards specified by the OEM.
Ask the local dealer personnel to point out where exactly in the Cat O&M Manual it says you must use Cat products. Sure, in some cases (hydraulic oil for instance) the recommended change interval increases if you use a Cat fluid over something else from the market, but apart from that - NO.
i figured it was something like that i had him read this and he is going to talk to some one and get this resolved. because its not grease cost problem for us, our fuel guy sells greases and oils so its way easier to order fuel grease oil in one shot and have it at our door delivered than to drive to the dealer an hour away to buy stuff