MOTOR BEARINGS

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 3 September 1932, Page 12

MOTOR BEARINGS

GOOD OIL ESSENTIAL

Trouble with hearings melted out is not common with modern cars, but sometimes an engine becomes a frequent offender. Often this is due to oil-changing having been neglected at seme tinie, or to a leaky cylinder heaa gasket having allowed water to reach the sump, where it formed sludge with the oil. . . Nearly all modern engines are lubricated by forcing oil to the bearings through passages drilled through the crankshaft webs, or oil pipes fixed to the sides of the webs and supplying hollow crank pins. Whichever plains adopted silt from the oil tends jm time to he deposited at,-bends, and mav eventually’ reduce dangerously the supply’ of oil passing to a hearing. Whenever a bearing overhaul is carried out the precaution should be taken of cleaning out the oil passages thi'ough the shaft. . In the case of drilled passages, their ends are closed by plugs, which, can readily’ be unscrewed -to allow the oil passages to be cleaned. External oil pipes can be removed. Actual pump failures are not common. They sometimes occur when the pump is mounted above the oil level, instead of being submerged, worn gears ■or casing being the usual cause, ihe pump intake is always surrounded with a wire gauze screen, and this should alway’s Tbe • cleaned when the oil is changed. Trouble has been caused through the mesh of the gauze being too fine and preventing a free flow of oil to the pump in cold weather. Plenty of oil in the sump is necessary, properly to safeguard the bearings'when driving fast for long distances. Though a comparatively small amount of oil may serve to maintain full pressure, the large volume will ensure that the oil is cooled before being circulated again, and so retains its lubricating quality and is capable of cooling the bearings. To improve the cooling of the oil to cope with higher engine speeds many’ manufacturers are now returning to the use ■of aluminium instead of pressed stee for the sump, and are also fitting oil radiators.