Dana launches first eco-friendly cylinder head cover

Dana Holding Corporation is supplying cylinder head covers made of recycled material on Ford Motor Company’s 3.0-liter Duratec engine, used in the 2010 Fusion and Escape vehicles –providing significant cost and environmental benefits.

Manufactured using EcoLon® nylon, the cover is the first automotive product of its kind manufactured from post-consumer recycled nylon. Dana partnered with Wellman Engineering Resins, a compounder and supplier of high-quality nylon resins – to test, develop, and supply the material.

To repurpose nylon, Wellman grinds used nylon carpeting into fiber and recaptures the material through a proprietary process. The resulting product is a high-quality nylon resin, which Dana then uses to mold into cylinder-head covers through its injection-molding process.

The covers provide greater fuel economy due to weight savings of nearly 20 percent when compared with aluminum die-cast cylinder head covers.

Dana developed and is manufacturing the cylinder head covers at its Composite Sealing Center in Paris, Tennessee.