Water resistant grease composition

A grease composition comprising

• (a) from above about 50 to about 90 wt. % of a lubricating oil,
• (b) from about 6 to about 12 wt. % of a thickener based on a lithium soap, a calcium soap, their complexes, or mixtures thereof,
• (c) from about 0.1 to about 2 wt. % of a copolymer of ethylene and at least one other alphaolefin monomer, wherein the copolymer comprises intramolecularly heterogeneous copolymer chains containing at least one crystallizable segment of the methylene units and at least one low crystallinity ethylene-alphaolefin copolymer segment, wherein said at least one crystallizable segment comprises at least about 10 wt. % of said copolymer chain and contains an average ethylene content of at least about 57 wt. %, wherein said low crystallinity segment contains an average ethylene content not greater than about 53 wt. %, and wherein said copolymer has a molecular weight distribution characterized by at least one of a ratio of M.sub.w /M.sub.n of less than 1.5 and a ratio of M.sub.z /M.sub.w of less than 1.5 and wherein at least two portions of an individual intramolecularly heterogeneous chain, each portion comprising at least 5 wt. % of said chain, differ in composition from one another by at least 10 wt. % ethylene,
• (d) from about 0.1 to about 2 wt. % of a copolymer which comprises the reaction product of
• (i) an ethylene copolymer comprising from about 15 to about 90 wt. % ethylene and from about 10 to about 85 wt. % of one or more C.sub.3 to C.sub.8 alpha-olefin wherein the copolymer has a number average molecular weight ranging from about 5,000 to about 500,000 and is grafted with an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid material containing at least one ethylenic bond and at least one carboxylic acid groups or anhydride groups;
• (ii) an alkylene or oxyalkylene amine having at least two primary amine groups selected from the group consisting of alkylene polyamines having alkylene groups of about 2 to 7 carbon atoms and 2 to 11 nitrogens, and polyoxyalkylene polyamines, wherein the alkylene groups contain 2 to 7 carbon atoms and the number of oxyalkylene groups will be about 3 to 70;
• and,
• (iii) a long chain hydrocarbyl substituted succinic anhydride or acid having 50 to 400 carbon atoms, and
• (e) from about 0.1 to about 0.4 wt. % polyisoprene.

A method for increasing the water resistance of a grease composition containing

• (a) from above about 50 to about 90 wt. % of a lubricating oil, and
• (b) from about 1 to about 15 wt. % of a water insoluble thickener,
• which comprises adding to said composition
• (i) from about 0.01 to about 4 wt. % of a copolymer of ethylene and at least one other alpha-olefin monomer, wherein the copolymer comprises intramolecularly heterogeneous copolymer chains containing at least one crystallizable segment of the methylene units and at least one low crystallinity ethylene-alphaolefin copolymer segment, wherein said at least one crystallizable segment comprises at least abut 10 wt. % of said copolymer chain and contains an average ethylene content of at least about 57 wt. %, wherein said low crystallinity segment contains an average ethylene content not greater than about 53 wt. %, and wherein said copolymer has a molecular weight distribution characterized by at least one of a ratio of M.sub.w /M.sub.n of less than 2 and a ratio of M.sub.z /M.sub.w of less than 1.8, and wherein at least two portions of an individual intramolecularly heterogeneous chain, each portion comprising at least 5 wt. % of said chain, differ in composition from one another by at least 7 wt. % ethylene, and
• (ii) from about 0.01 to about 4 wt. % of a copolymer which comprises the reaction product of
• (A) an ethylene copolymer comprising from about 15 to about 90 wt. % ethylene and from about 10 to about 85 wt. % of one or more C.sub.3 and C.sub.28 alpha-olefin wherein the copolymer has a number average molecular weight ranging from about 5,000 to about 500,000 and is grafted with an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid material containing at least one ethylenic bond and at least one carboxylic acid groups or anhydride groups;
• (B) an alkylene or oxyalkylene amine having at least two primary amine groups selected from the group consisting of alkylene polyamines having alkylene groups of about 2 to 7 carbon atoms and 2 to 11 nitrogens, and polyoxyalkylene polyamines, wherein the alkylene groups contain 2 to 7 carbon atoms and the number of oxyalkylene groups will be about 3 to 70;
• and
• (C) a long chain hydrocarbyl substituted succinic anhydride or acid having 50 to 400 carbons atoms.