AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

The Lead Poisoning of Transport

17th December 1943
Page 15
Page 15, 17th December 1943 — The Lead Poisoning of Transport
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

JUST at the time when transport by road is being used' to an increasingly large extent, in fact, almost to its full capacity, and -when the calls on it may become even greater with activities in connection with new Fronts, it is experiencing a form of " sabotage " which is having drastic effects. .

We refer to the lead poisoning of engines by the use of the new M.T.80 fuel, apparently con' taining a large proportion of the• doping constituents which are intended to improve its. anti-knock qualities, but4which, with this one advantage, have brought grave difficulties in its train, ' • The use of this fuel has been described to us as the most striking example of, we hope unintentional, fifth-column work which has ever occurred in connection with any form of transport.• Very few' types of commercial vehicle have escaped engine trouble, which has occurred, mainly, in the form of burnt exhaust valves, but, in some instances, also as burning of the sides of the seatings and even of pistons,, but it appears that the valve trouble is by far the most pronounced. It is ridiculous to blame the trouble on to the engine makers, or, even on to the Materials used for the valves.

Reduced Engine Life Despite Precautions Many palliatives have been suggested. Some have given a measure of success in certain cases, '. varying with the power unit concerned, its age and condition. -At the best, however, operators must not expect that their engines will achieve anything like the same life between valve— . maintenance or replacement, periods as was the case before this disastrous epidemic afflicted us.

We are told that the best way-out of the difficulty is to make far more frequent inspections, so that any trouble can be nipped in the bud as , quickly as 'possible, and to adopt various' expedients, many of which have already been . descvibed in this journal. All these require additional labour ; not only that, but such labour must be fairly highly skilled, yet every operator was experiencing difficulty before, with the shortage of maintenance staff, and this extra burden is almost overwhelming. For some reason or other the, authorities concerned state definitely that it is impossible, at this stage, to return to the` grade of petrol which was being supplied to us during the war until this valve-blighting fuel arrived.

We must say that we are not convinced. Admittedly, we may have large stocks of the leaded fuel, but, surely, now that the shipping position has altered so much for the better, we should be able to return to the more suitable fuel. We are certain that if Mr. Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt realized the terrible consequences of this change they Would quickly force the necessary action. Perhaps the drastic effects have been hidden from them in the welter of other important matters with which they have to deal ; but, at least, the importance of our industry ..is so great that a proper inquiry should be instituted.

Disastrous Effects of Latest Fuel One has only to examine commercial power units to see ;that employment of this new leaded fuel is utterly unecipornic. Many of these valves are made of first-class material which gave very little trouble in the past, but now often fails in three Weeks. Despite the efforts being made to supply special alloy steels, we are extremely doubtful as .to whether these will extend the life of the valves to any, considerable extent, for it is almost impossible to find a metal which will resist burning if a, valve be already off its seat and with most of its surface exposed to the flaming gases when they are in their hottest condition; in any case, an engine could not run for long in this condition, even if the valves were not affected.

It would be very interesting to know who were the brilliant " experts" responsible for the conception of this idea of one fuel for all purposes except aeroplanes: In some countries, they would have been severely punished for making such a colossal blunder, but in Britain they hide behind a shroud of anonymity while the consequences of their folly show themselves in the faces of harassed transport managers and maintenance engineers, and in the tremendous reduction of the general road-transport efficiency of the Nation.

Tags

People: Churchill, Roosevelt

comments powered by Disqus