For DRIVER, MECHANICS & FOREMEN.
Page 25
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A PRIZE OF TEN SHILLINGS is' awarded each week to the sender of the best letter which we publish on this page ; all other.' are paid for at the rate of a penny a line, with an allowance for photograph:. All notes are edited before being published. .Mention your employer's name, in confidence, as evidence of good faith. Address, D., .11. and F., "The Commercial Motor," Rosebery Avenue, London, EX. I.
Lamps Alight.
On Saturday, December 27th, light your lamps at 4.24 in London, 4.15 in Edinburgh, 4.19 in Newcastle, 4.29 in Liverpool, 4.28 in Birmingham, 4,34 in Bristol, and 5.12 in Dublin.
The Ford Oil Pipe.
The sender of the following communication hos been, awarded the Ms. prize this week.
[2,040] "Practical" writes :—" The lubrication system of the Ford engine, like most of the details of that ubiquitous chassis, is peculiar: Mainly it is splash, but there is a supplementary feed from the rear of the engine case to the front, which, from time to time, is troublesome, given a combination of untoward circumstances. The main reservoir is in the crankcase itself, but this is fed, or re-fed, if there is such a word, from the transmission case, by a pipe which receives oil into its flattened end from the flywheel and delivers it thence, under the influence of gravity, to the timing • case, whence after oiling the timing gears, it overflows into the front end of the crankcase again, and helps to keep the oil sump fulL Now, in the event of the pipe becoming stopped up, which sometimes happens, particularly if the transmission bands are of the type which is made of Wire-woven fabric, as the wire wears off as fine metal dust, -which gets into the oil pipe and clogs it, then trouble will follow. The oil, of course, soon ceases to flow to the liming case, and the big ends then become entirely dependent on the supply, which is actually, in the crankcase. So long as there is an abundant supply of oil in the ease, and if no long hills are encountered in the course of the day's work, all is well. But if the oil supply is allowed to get low, if, for example., it may show all right as running froin•the bottom tap, but may he a long way from the top one, and if, while this ..state of things exists, a long hill is climbed, sufficient lubricant is not then available to ensure that the big ends are receiving their proper supply of it, they become dry, and the driver is immediately made aware of the dekiency by the too patent fact that one of the big enes has run out. .
"The next step is taken in the dry dock, where the trouble is generally correctly but not, completely diagnosed as shortage of oil, the. bearing is remetalled, the driver duly admonished and warned to be more carehd in future, and the vehicle is turned out upon the roads with the real root cause of the inj iffy untouched.
"Quite naturally and inevitably the same thing happens again in a short time the length of the intervening period depending largely on the amount of hillclimbing which the ,car or van is called upon to per
form. This time, when the garage man gets hold of it., if he has had any real experienee of the _Ford chassis, he has an inkling of the real cause, and promptly takes down the engine with a view to clean ing out the offending pipe, as well as the transmission and crankcases. This time, of ,course, the repair is satisfactory, and, to a. reasonable degree, permanent. However, there is a better, cheaper, and quicker way of achieving the same end.
cc Instead of ,taking down the engine and approachiug matters from the rear end of that unit., commence by removing the radiator. Then take out the pin which secures in position the belt pulley on the crankshaft, and remove the pulley. Carefully note the position of the commutater cam and roller, and then remove them complete with case_ Take. off the timing case cover and slowly crank engine until the zero marks on the timing wheels are together, then take off the large gearwheel. The front end of the offending oil pipe is now exposed to view.
"Next, give the engine a vigorous cranking—you will do it no harm, since the camshaft, not being geared to the crankshaft, will not revolve—and notice if any oil trickles from the open end of•the pipe. You will probably find that none comes. This in a way is good, since it at least shows that you are on the track of your trouble, and have not had your work for nothing. It is a simple matter to pass a piece of soft annealed wire down the pipe till it runs out at the reservoir end. Alternatively you may couple up the tube of the garage foot pwnp-te the pipe and clear it out by giving it a vigorous pumping. This will generally dislodge all the foreign, matter in the pipe, and should be supplemented-by swilling the case and everything connected -with it out with paraffin. Drain off all the paraffin and pour in three quarts of fresh oil. Replace the parts which have been removed from the engine, put up th.e radiator, and the job is done. All told, it does not occupY anore than a couple ef hours, which is about one-tenth the time which would be required to. take down the engine and carry out the work in the old fashioned way."
A Water-Pump Repair.
[2,041] " A.W." (Leeds) writes:—" I have experienced a lot of trouble lately owing to the covers of water pumps corroding, and in one or two cases I have replaced the casting by a cover built up of Sheet brass, which seems to stand better than the cast iron of which the pumps are made. I enclose a sketch— [We have had this redrawn.--.--En.]—to show the design of the pump, which will help the reader to understand how I made the new covers.
"The outer part is cut from a sheet of brass a quarter of an inch thick. It is :net'ely a plain disc of the correct diameter. For the short cylindrical part next to the flange I utilize a strip of brass 3-16 in. thick and equal in width to the depth of the cover. This has to be bent into a ring to fit inside the pump, and then either welded or brazed. The whole is then trimmed up in -the lathe and bored ous to receive a piece of tube which serves" as the inlet pipe."