Your Car [KENNETH ULLYETT] COLLINS NUTSHELL BOOKS

COLLINS NUTSHELL BOOKS
Your Car
KENNETH ULLYETT
With Photographs and Diagrams
COLLINS LONDON AND GLASGOW
FOREWORD
That invincible racing Bentley driver Sir Henry ("Tim") Birkin, who along with other immortals such as Babe Barnato, Sammy Davis, Glen Kidston and Jack and Clive Dunfee strove to place Britain victoriously in pre-war motor racing—and who made Le Mans almost a British dominion—once said to me: "I wish I had the words to utter my belief that a car has a life of its own."
It was part of his credo, and he believed that a racing car is a thing of latent power, and needed only Man to bring it to life. Of course this romantic philosophy is not likely to be accepted by millions of "bread-and-butter" car drivers who regard their vehicles simply as an automatic shuttle from A to B, and to whom car servicing is only a wearisome expense.
To many more millions, however, the routine maintenance and hotting-up of automobile machinery is a joyous extension of childhood mechanical ambitions. Not for one moment do we deceive ourselves that "Do-it-yourself" is always better than professional service from a well-equipped garage; indeed there are very many tasks the ordinary amateur motorist cannot hope to tackle without risk of failure, costly damage, or danger. But of course there is an inherent pleasure in "tinkering with the car," and many servicing jobs—even those greasy, routine and dirty chores—are tinkerings which, like virtue, bring their own reward.
"Don't let Tinker die," pleaded Sir James Barrie. There is little chance of the car tinker dying; in fact his number is legion and daily increasing at about the same rate as are professional service charges.
This book aims at helping the ordinary handyman to service his car and carry out minor repairs and adjustments, and shows where the line must be drawn between jobs for the amateur and tasks where special tools and specialised professional knowledge are vital.
In the compilation of this book I am indebted to a very large number of people, in particular to The Dunlop Company Ltd., Hepworth and Grandage Ltd. (Mr. W. G. Rogers), Joseph Lucas, Ltd., The MG Car Company Ltd., The Nuffield Organisation (Mr. A. L. H. Dawson), Rolls-Royce Ltd. (Mr. D. E. A. Miller-Williams), Standard Triumph International (Mr. K. B. Hopkins, Mr. D. A. Twiss and Mr. N. Macginnis) and Woodhead Monroe Ltd. for the use of helpful Works Manual text and illustrations.
Kenneth Ullyett The Royal Automobile Club

CHAPTER 1 Servicing Your Car
Back in spacious Edwardian days, the great Viscount Northcliffe—as Mr. Alfred Harmsworth — was one of the pioneers of motoring, or "automobilism" as it was then called.
"A good motor carriage, of course, requires constant care and attention and skill," he wrote in The Badminton Library volume Motors and Motor-driving, at the turn of the century. "I was talking recently to the owner of several very good cars on which he had spent some thousands of pounds. They had been turned over to the care of a coachman, with the result that though the poor fellow did his best, the vehicles began to be regarded as a mere nuisance..."
Moving on 60 years from those spacious days, we come to the service-station mechanic immortalised on television by Bob Hope, who told a customer: "If 1 was you, buster, I'd keep the oil and change the car. . . ."
Somewhere between these extremes I think you will find the happy mean of car maintenance. You probably have no coachman to whom you can depute the menial chores; on the other band you certainly have a more sentimental regard than the garage-man for your car, which is not only a status-symbol and a valuable possession, but also represent to most of us a sizable part of our earthly heritage.
With high labour costs, added to industrial difficulties of maintaining stocks of factory-reconditioned spares, there is every inducement for the motorist to do his own routine maintenance. And time and money spent on a few good tools will prove a very sound investment in the long run, as well as bring peace of mind in knowing that the car is really well serviced.
Amateur engineering jobs and routine servicing comprise an enjoyable hobby in themselves, and there is in-finitely more satisfaction to the mechanically-minded man in doing maintenance work at leisure, and really well, than there is in having to undertake on-the-road trouble-shooting because somebody else neglected to service the car properly.
A great deal of money can be saved by having certain routine jobs done regularly, and many of these can be done in the home garage or even at the kerbside, given sufficient basic tools. An engineer of the Royal Automobile Club has confirmed for me that with the average 10 h.p. car no less than 27s. can be saved every 1,000 miles if the owner-driver does his own greasing, checks sump, engine and axle oil levels, checks steering, sprays springs and gives minor attention to the electrical system. And as much as £3 may be saved every 3,000-5,000 miles if home servicing can be given to such important details as brakes, the carburetter and fuel system, coachwork details, shock-absorbers, oil filters and tyres.
Of course, with limited equipment the cautious owner will obviously not try to do jobs outside his capabilities; but even if the work itself cannot be completed, a sound how-it-works knowledge can save money. If you go to a garage and say: "My car won't go; please do something," you can hardly blame the mechanics if they spend their time and your money finding the trouble, then more time and more money in repairing the fault. But if you can put your thumb on, say, the distributor and assert: "No spark here; the condenser has shorted," you will—by doing the diagnosis part yourself—be called on to pay only for the repair.
At the outset, therefore, you should have at least an elementary understanding of the way in which your car functions. Then it is possible to determine what tools are needed for the sort of jobs within your capabilities (for it is a fatal error in car mechanics to take components apart if you cannot get them back together again), and finally a plan of campaign can be made for all the maintenance you can undertake in coming months.
While driving tuition and a pass of some sort is necessary in the L-test, it is really to be regretted that there is not demanded by law even a slight knowledge of motor mechanics, for the blunt truth is that the man who understands his car is likely to be a safer driver. Certainly he will drive with a surer knowledge of the physical and mechanical limits of the machine he controls. And while the Ministry of Transport has set certain minimum standards for mechanical condition insofar as it affects some aspects of car safety, it is a pity that similar standards are not set for the motorist's mechanical appreciation of his car.
It is different, of course, for the pupil learning to ride, for the best schools encourage beginners to know their horses by care and attention and even a degree of stable work. Much the same applies to military training, where recruits usually spend far more time listening to lectures on firearms, and cleaning them with pull-throughs, than in target-practice.
Many years ago Rolls-Royce Ltd. initiated courses of instruction for chauffeurs and others, and the larger schools of motoring run courses in mechanical instruction; but the unfortunate truth is that although some motoring enthusiasts talk of advancing the timing, polishing ports, fitting stronger valve springs, or raising the compression, the vast majority of road-users have only a hazy idea of what these things imply.
A good beginning is to open the bonnet and gather an overall appreciation of salient mechanical features.
For this purpose, let us take a typical car. With modern design there are really quite a number of variants. From the quite early days of motoring the radiator was out in front, the engine was mounted in front of the driver, and a transmission system connected the power unit with the rear wheels. There were alternative arrangements, with the engine at the rear, or in some cases under the seat. They were considered oddities. Today design is coming round the full circle. Mini-cars of the Mini-Austin and Mini-Minor type have the engine in front but placed transversely across the frame, driving the front wheels. Very many Continental cars such as the VW, Porsche, Fiat and Renault have the engine at the back, driving the rear wheels. Nor can we be dogmatic about the "typical" engine, for whereas most conventional engines have valves to admit the intake of petrol vapour, and for discharge of the exhaust, an almost valveless type of engine known as the two-stroke—once almost entirely confined to the motor-cycle world—has become popularised in cars such as the Auto Union, Goggomobil and Saab; and as the latter has won the Monte Carlo Rally and the R.A.C. Rally on two occasions it is no longer reasonable to regard the two-stroke engine as unconventional.
However, for our purpose let us take a water-cooled car with the engine at the front, driving through a transmission system to the rear wheels. (Fig. 1). This may certainly not be apparent when we open the bonnet, for at first glance it may be difficult to distinguish the engine at all. In the general conglomeration of machinery we shall see the rectangular black moulded case of the battery, with its lugs and filler vents, the large hose-piping of the car-heater system, and a big drum or cylinder with gauze openings. This is the mouth of the engine, the air-cleaner, its job being to filter dust from the incoming air. As we all have good cause to know, cars burn petrol (except again, of course, those less conventional vehicles with diesel engines, which consume a light diesel-type oil), but whether it is diesel oil or petrol, every car burns a great deal more oxygen from the air than it does fuel from the rear tank; and an engine will stop if deprived of a ready supply of air just as effectively as it will stop when it runs out of fuel.
Air is drawn through the gauze mesh of the air-cleaner (this gauze usually being dipped periodically in a petrol-oil mixture, or kept clean with paraffin, or perhaps changed periodically to avoid clogged elements), and this considerable rush of air is drawn into the engine at certain downward strokes of the pistons in the cylinders.
This cylinder-and-piston action is rather like that of a bicycle pump, which will be familiar to most, but whereas the bicycle pump has a leather washer to get an air-tight joint, a car has an alloy piston travelling up and down a cast-iron cylinder, and the piston is fitted with steel rings— usually three or four—which provide a gas-tight joint and also minimise wear between the piston and cylinder.
If the car's piston were simply moving up and down pumping air, the compression-pressure would be found to he about 120-150 lb./sq. in., and in fact service-station engineers do take such a "compression-test" on each hen checking the overall condition of an engine.
At, as we all realise, petrol vapour is burned in the cylinder, and it is this rapid burning (popularly but not quite accurately described as an explosion) of the petrol-air mixture which is the fundamental source of power. With only one cylinder we should get a rather jerky series of "explosions." Certain small Continental cars such as the Heinkel and and Isetta have only one cylinder; others such as the BMW 700 have two. But the majority of engines have four or even six cylinders, and many luxury cars and also a great proportion of American automobiles have eight cylinders. In past years there were 12 and even 16-cylinder engines. In every case the reason for multiplicity of cylinders is to provide smooth torque, or turning-power. Because of the "double-action" of the two-stroke principle, present-day two-stroke car engines such as the Auto Union and Saab have three cylinders, an arrangement which at first may seem odd, but which in fact gives smooth torque equal to at least a six-cylinder engine of the alternative or "four-stroke" type.
This expression "four-stroke" arises because you can regard the whole cycle of burning as starting when the piston is at the top of the cylinder, the inlet valve is open, and the piston travels down drawing in a new petrol-air-vapour charge. This is the inlet stroke (1).
Next the piston rises on the compression stroke (2), and at the peak of this stroke the sparking-plug gap is given a very high-voltage electric charge, a spark jumps the gap, and the mixture is ignited. In a diesel-type engine only air is compressed, and at the climax of the compression stroke fuel is injected, which automatically ignites. Diesel and semi-diesel engines, therefore, do not have ignition sparking plugs.

Fig. 1. This exploded view of a typical four cylinder engine (in fact, the Mercedes Benz 190 SL) shows the position of all the major parts as follows:
1. Distributor
2. Spark plugs
3. Oil filler
4. Timing chain
5. Camshaft
6. Valve springs
7. Valves
8. Pistons
9. Carburetter
10. Water passages in block
11. Gearbox
12. Gear lever
13. Gear selector
14. Universal joint
15. Gear clusters
16. Clutch
17. Starter ring
18. Big ends
19. Oil pump
20. Oil filter
21. Dipstick
Force of the burning pushes the piston down on the so-called "explosion " stroke (3), and on the following exhaust stroke (4) the piston rises, discharging the still-burning gas out through the exhaust port. The inlet valve now opens, a fresh charge is drawn in, and the four-stroke cycle begins all over again. In practice it all takes place very rapidly indeed, and an engine "ticks over" at somewhere around 500-600 revolutions a minute, runs at touring speed in top gear between 1,500-3,000 r.p.m., and may have an all-out, full-throttle speed of over 5,000 r.p.m.
Of course we would not get any useful power from an engine in which pistons moved up and down cylinders without any connection, so each piston is connected by the connecting rod to the main-power focal centre, the crankshaft. Naturally there is a bearing at top and bottom of each con. rod, the top being the "little-end" or gudgeon-pin bearing (probably a steel and lead-indium type of bearing, for the actual gudgeon pin is the short rod spaced across the centre of the interior of each piston, which takes the whole thrust on the piston crown), and the lower end is the "big-end" bearing. The crankshaft gathers the power transmitted by the 4, 6, or 8 con. rods, and in even the cheapest car the crankshaft is certain to be a very fine piece of engineering indeed, of forged steel, running in massive bearings probably steel-backed, lead-indium-plated.
To get useful power from the burning, we have to compress the fuel-air mixture, and the overall compression-ratio may be anything from 6 to 1 to as high as 10 to 1. A great deal of mechanical science is devoted to selection of a suitable compression-ratio, but here we need only concern ourselves with the two facts that (a) the higher the ratio, the more power we may get from the engine, but it may be tricky to get smooth, non-pinking (no knocking) running, and (b) the higher the ratio, the more expensive (higher-octane) petrol we shall be forced to use.
As all 4, 6, or 8 pistons move up and down, they suck in a fixed quantity of mixture, compress it and discharge it, and of course it is quite an elementary job to measure the amount of mixture, or what is sometimes called the "swept volume." Naturally, this gives us some indication of the engine's power output, for the more mixture it can draw in, the more power it should deliver.
In Europe this "swept volume" is usually measured in cubic centimetres; in the United States, in cubic inches.
Engines range from about 300 c.c. for mini-cars to over 7,000 c.c. for luxury eight-cylinder cars. A typical sports car will have an engine of about 1,500 c.c, or some 90 cu. in. Of course it does not matter in this respect how many cylinders and pistons the engine has. The swept volume will be determined by the overall capacity of each cylinder when the piston is drawn to the bottom of its stroke.
You can see at once if the engine has four, six or eight cylinders from the number of spark-plug leads visible outside. But you cannot see anything else. The cylinders are all enclosed in the water-jacket which prevents the engine from over-heating and seizing solid due to the extremely high burning temperature, and the crankshaft and con. rods are enclosed in the sump, where they are lubricated by the engine oil at a pressure of 20 Ib./sq. in. or more.
On the side of the engine connected to the big air-cleaner, however, you will see the carburetter—perhaps two of them, in a high-efficiency car—which is fed with petrol from the rear tank. Part of the carburetter is a float-chamber, a small cylindrical storage tank with a float rather like the ball-valve system of a domestic water-supply, to keep the liquid at a correct working level. The other part y.c. of the carburetter is much more intricate, and contains a jet or series of jets through which fuel is sprayed into the air-stream. As more fuel is needed for a cold start, a "choke" valve is pulled over the air intake, just as one pulls a damper over a grate when starting a fire. This choke may be operated by a hand control inside the car or, like many other functions of a modern car, may be thermostatically controlled, quite automatically, for correct settings at cold start or normal running temperature.
Just how much charge the engine is able to receive depends, however, entirely on the driver, who keeps his foot on the accelerator pedal which is linked by cable or rods to the throttle—a fairly simple flap-valve inside the carburetter. The charge is then drawn at very high speed through the inlet manifold, direct into the cylinders past the inlet valves which open in turn to admit it on the inlet stroke. In sports and high-efficiency engines the inlet ports and even the whole inlet manifold may be given a mirror-like polish, so that minimum resistance is offered to the passage of the mixture.
Valves are tulip-shaped, normally held closed by coil springs. If the valves are mounted at the side of the engine, they are usually directly operated from the cams through the tappets, with an adjustable gap to compensate for expansion of the valve mechanism when hot. Your instruction book will state if valve clearances are to be checked with the engine cold or in normal hot, running condition. When valves are mounted above the engine, there may be a rocker mechanism for each valve; in high-grade sports-type engines, the camshafts themselves may be above the cylinder heads, operating the valves directly or through levers.
Some engines have their four or six cylinders arranged in line. Eight-cylinder engines are usually arranged in two banks of four, placed in V-formation, and therefore known as a V8. Some engines have their cylinders disposed in facing pairs, horizontally. The BMW 700 is an example of the modern "flat-twin," while the ubiquitous Volkswagen is a classic example of the "flat-four," with two pairs of cylinders facing each other. Of course even an "in-line" engine does not have to be mounted vertically. The famous Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, for example, has its engine tilted at an angle of 30°. And, incidentally, this is an interesting variation on the petrol engine as we have so far considered it. The engine of the 300 SL, like certain other models, has what is known as a direct fuel-injection action, which has also been used with success on Jaguar and other racing cars. The engine has no electric ignition. The pistons compress air, and at the climax of each compression-stroke petrol is injected through fine jets into each cylinder in turn, at a pressure of some 600 lb./sq. in., and it is instantly flashed into an ignitible mixture.
Whatever ignition system is used, obviously each cylinder must fire its charge in turn, and the order in which it does is known as the firing order. This is not in sequence 1, 2, 3 and 4, as this would cause a "couple" so far as crankshaft rotation is concerned, would cause lumpy laming, and would place an unnecessary strain on rotating parts. For smoothness of power output the firing order is staggered, and under modern practice is likely to be 1,3,4,2 for a four-cylinder engine, and 1, 4, 2, 6, 3, 5 for a six-cylinder engine, starting with No. 1 as the front cylinder. Firing order for V8 engines is not so standardised, but in the classic Rolls-Royce V8 engine used in the Silver Cloud and Phantom V the order is Al, Bl, A4, B4, B2, A3, B3, regarding the right-hand bank of cylinders (facing towards the front) as block A.
It is very important not to make a mistake about firing order when doing certain engine jobs, for if the leads are wrongly connected a plug may spark on the inlet stroke of one cylinder, accidentally firing a charge in the manifold and causing a carburetter fire.
It is the practice of some drivers to change over plug leads as an anti-theft precaution when leaving a car. At best this will cause a loud explosion in the exhaust system, through a plug firing a charge at random, and this may deter a would-be thief. However, a fire in an unattended car is a much more serious hazard.
At the radiator end of this typical car you will see a large belt, driven from a pulley low down on the nose of the crankshaft. This belt may drive a small drum-like component which is a vane-type impeller pump aiding the flow of cooling water through radiator and engine. The same belt also drives the dynamo, which you can easily distinguish because of the stout lead connecting it to the main electrical-cable harness. The dynamo is likely to be mounted on a hinged bracket, so that a simple adjustment enables you to keep the belt taut to a slip-free degree. A number of hose-connected pipes at the radiator end are the water connections to the cooling jacket surrounding the cylinders, a connection from a temperature-controlled thermostat which tends to prevent water circulating through the radiator until the engine has thoroughly warmed up, and perhaps also there will be a small-diameter radiator overflow pipe, and connections to the car heater system. A fan, driven by the dynamo and water-pump belt, draws air through the radiator matrix grille; in some sports cars the fan may be quite independent of the belt drive, and will have a small electric motor of its own—again thermostatically controlled so that the fan is idle until the engine gets really warm.
Plug leads sprouting from one side of the engine are grouped and taken to the ignition distributor, a component gear-driven from the crankshaft via the camshaft which opens the valves in turn. The task of the distributor is really two-fold. In the centre section of it is a set of contacts opened and closed by a lobe-cam and spring. This opening and closing of the circuit results in a spark at the output of the secondary winding of the ignition coil—and this high voltage charge (generated in the coil, which you will doubtless find mounted on some convenient part of the engine or dash, away from engine heat and water thrown up by the road) is taken back to the distributor by the main HT (high-tension) lead and literally "distributed" by a rotating distributor arm to each plug lead in turn—the plug leads then being connected to the plugs in the firing order. This distributor mechanism is immediately under the cap of the distributor itself, the make-and-break contact (opening the contacts to about a hundredth of an inch for each spark) is underneath, and in the lower part of the distributor may be a pair of centrifugally-operated weights which advance or retard the precise instant of spark according to the speed of the engine. Or linked with this, on the outside of the distributor, you may see a small diaphragm device known as the vacuum-advance unit. The diaphragm inside this unit is sucked by the engine (by vacuum depression in the carburetter manifold), and is an additional aid to ensuring that the spark takes place at the correct moment, with regard to engine running conditions.
On one side of the engine you will doubtless see another drum-like container which is the filter for the engine-oil. At stated intervals the interior element of this filter will need to be carefully flushed in petrol or paraffin, or the element may be the variety which is simply discarded and replaced. If all the engine oil in the main flow goes through the filter (with a little spring-loaded bypass valve to cut out the filter should it become completely choked through neglect) it is known as the "full-flow" type; on the other hand some filters are so connected in the oil circuit that they take, as it were, a small sample of the engine oil in circulation, and filter and purify it from carbon and suspended grit. The engine sump, which is the storehouse of this oil, naturally has a drain nut so that the sump can be periodically drained out; some cars have a bronze or brass drain-nut to which is attached an internal electro¬magnet, the purpose of this being to attract ferrous scraps and particles collecting in the oil, and to keep them out of harm's way in the lubricating circuit.
Either from an open-bonnet view or by looking under the wings you will see the steering and front-suspension system on which the whole of the front of the car is supported. The steering wheel is connected via the column and the steering box, a device which may contain a large thread-and-nut arrangement or perhaps a sort of rack-and-pinion, by which the rotation of the steering wheel is converted to an almost non-reversible push-pull motion, which in turn is directed towards the front wheels through rod and joint linkage. (Fig. 2).
Front wheels themselves turn on hub-bearings supported on stub-axles which also support the stationary section of the front-brake gear (drum or disc brakes), and the stub-axles in turn pivot on king-pins, held in bushes.
Each side of the front suspension rides on a large road spring, with a link to a tubular component which is popularly but wrongly called a shock-absorber. Strictly this very important device is a spring damper, placing a varying degree of restriction on the free bounce of each road spring, and giving a controlled and smoother ride. The whole assembly on either side is supported between pivoted arms, the usual layout having what is termed an upper and a lower wishbone assembly—the shock-absorber bracket and fulcrum being quite separate from the wishbones (named, of course, because of their similarity in shape to a chicken's wishbone)—brackets which support

the stub-axles. In this sort of layout, each front wheel is independently sprung, and this arrangement is known as independent front-wheel suspension. It came into vogue in the middle 1930's, and replaced the solid front axle on which both front wheels rode together. This is one of the many doubtful improvements which have taken place in automobile engineering, as every owner of a vintage car knows that the "cart-type" axle gives a firm, positive and safe ride, that tyre wear is greatly reduced, and that unless one intends to drive over potholes or up and down kerbs at high speeds, there is no special advantage in having the front wheels independently sprung. However, this vogue was taken up by U.S. manufacturers, and with the fabulous Phantom III even Rolls-Royce abandoned the solid front axle in 1936. Today we simply have to tolerate the extra tyre wear and the many problems arising with steering geometry in well-worn i.f.s. layouts, and must be content to realise that "fashion" is just as dictatorial in automobilism as it is in women's fashions, and sometimes as pointless. Fortunately, the current trend is towards the use of rubber bushes, Nyloc nuts and various types of plastic bearings and bushes on front assemblies, and when wear takes place it is sometimes possible to fit replacements.
Flexible pipes run from the brake drums to the brake master cylinder, which carries a fluid absolutely free from air bubbles and which is therefore incompressible. As pressure is applied to the pedal of the foot-brake, the piston in the master cylinder applies force to the fluid, and this force is distributed equally to all four wheels. On better-quality cars there are duplicate master cylinders, with a separate set for front and rear brakes. In most cases the handbrake or parking brake acts on rear wheels only, through a cable system.
Some cars, notably the Triumph Herald, have inde-24 pendent suspension of rear wheels, as well as front wheels, but with most cars the rear assembly is supported on cart-type leaf-springs with a shock-absorber control somewhat similar to that at the front. At the centre of this assembly is the rear axle, an alloy casing containing gearing which serves a double purpose. The main job, of course, is to receive the drive from the engine and transmit it at right-angles to the two halves of the rear axle and wheels; the second job is to enable the two rear wheels to rotate independently of each other when necessary.
The inner gearing which achieves this is the "differential," so called because it ensures that while both wheels receive the total torque coming from the engine, and transmitted down to the axle via the propeller shaft, there can be a difference of speeds between the two wheels. This is very necessary when a car turns a corner, for obviously the inner wheel travels along a smaller arc than the outer wheel. If both wheels were locked to a solid axle, one wheel would have to slip to enable the other to rotate, and of course this would cause severe tyre wear and loss of power ugh friction.
All rear-axle suspension components, springs, shackles, shock-absorber mountings and so forth, have to be kept regularly lubricated with grease, as is the case with the front suspension. But, again, current use of plastic bushes reduces the number of grease points, and helps towards easy servicing when bushes wear.
You may need to lift a floorboard, or peer under the or, to see that immediately behind the engine sump is a rather larger cover housing the flywheel (you may be able to see through an inspection hole the teeth on the flywheel rim, with which the self-starter pinion engages when one touches the switch), and in the centre of the flywheel is the clutch—another car component which surely could not be more incorrectly named.
As every driving tyro knows, the job of the clutch is not to "clutch," but to provide a very smooth take-up of power as pressure on the left foot is relaxed. However the name clutch has stuck to this assembly since the beginning of motoring; but in a few years this, too, may be an almost forgotten term, for many cars today have a form of automatic transmission in which, once the lever is set to the "D" or Drive position, variation of pressure on the accelerator pedal is all that is necessary to control speed. And when the brakes are applied, the car comes to rest without any need to de-clutch.
Whether there is an "automatic shift" or a hand-operated gear-change, there is always a gearbox placed in the transmission line between the engine and the driving wheels; and until the day comes, if ever it does, when the gas-turbine replaces the piston engine, the gearbox is an absolutely essential component. The reason is that the petrol engine differs from a steam engine in one important respect. With steam, all the energy comes from the burner and furnace, and steam is available at full pressure even when the pistons are moving extremely slowly. The petrol engine generates its own power through conversion of the burning petrol-air mixture into heat, so of course when the petrol engine runs slowly there is much less power developed.
In order that an engine can run fast and develop more torque (turning power) while the road wheels are still rotating slowly, there is a gear-selection device; and this can be worked from the gear lever, or automatically in an automatic-transmission drive. In either case the gears run in oil, the casing has a drain-nut and level nut, as also does the rear axle. Routine maintenance jobs always include checking the level of oil in the engine sump, gearbox and rear axle, or perhaps draining and re-filling. As engine oil is continually being contaminated by water condensation, carbon and other products of combustion, and of course is subjected to considerable heat, engine oil has to be changed very much more frequently than does the oil in the gearbox and axle.
Follow instruction book or works manual advice regarding intervals at which sump and gearbox should be drained. In some modern cars, such as Ford, there are transmission components (e.g., the rear axle) which are factory-filled for the life of the car In winter weather, or if a car is used for a number of short journeys, the engine will need oil changes more frequently due to condensation and dilution resulting in oil deterioration. Some types of engine oil filter have replaceable elements, others use wire-gauze which can be washed in paraffin, dried with a non-fluffy cloth and replaced.
After this brief outline of your car's internals, some thought can be given to the tools and precautions necessary for servicing.
Most men learned carpentry at school, and can handle woodworking tools. But when it comes to metal-work they are apprehensive of using anything other than a spanner. Naturally the tools needed for metal-work in general and car repair work in particular are heavier, tougher than those for carpentry, and the technique of handling some of them is rather different too. But metal-work is really very satisfying, provided you have the right implements.
Have your own set of tools, keep them in good order— cleaned from brass filings and metal scraps after each use, and smeared with a little oil or Vaseline to prevent rusting —and get used to the feel of your own tools. Never borrow, except perhaps on the special occasion when you need some particular tool not in standard equipment, and available perhaps from the distributors of your make of car, who have access to specialised equipment. However, most garages wisely display a notice: "The Man who Lends Tools is Out!"
If most of your car work has to be done out of doors, at the kerbside, you will need a strong, partitioned, metal tool box. If you have garage space, small tools such as screwdrivers and a few spanners can be kept in a similar portable tool box, but the best time-saving plan is to hang them on a painted hardwood board fitted with pegs or Terry steel clips. It also saves time at the end of the day if on replacing tools you can see at a glance which are missing. Paint the tool board a pale colour such as grey or blue, and have the silhouette of each tool marked in black or red.
You may decide to keep your better tools on such a board, say your more expensive, precision-finished chrome vanadium spanners, which are an exact fit on the flats of nuts; on another board or in a box you can keep the older, more worn sets of tools, which will not be liable to damage if you have to use them on paint-covered or rusty nuts.
It is very difficult to do many quite ordinary jobs without a small metal vice. Keep it covered with a rag when not in use, and the jaws closed. It is a good plan to store a set of oil-cans and perhaps a pressure-spray gun in a large tray, of the sort used to hold an oven joint. There is always a little seepage from oil-cans, and an oily surface on the bench can be dangerous. You will need one oil-can for fine machine oil, another for engine oil (say SAE 30), and 1 find a garden-type brass pressure canister spray extremely handy in addition. I make up a mixture of paraffin, engine oil and colloidal graphite; and provided such a mixture is used with care (it must not be sprayed on electrical components or terminals, for instance, as graphite is a partial conductor) it is a boon for freeing rusted parts, and for protecting surfaces against corrosion.
There are several types of these pressure-sprays, normally used by gardeners for insecticides, but for motoring use the Dron-Wal is very suitable, as it is of seamless brass, can be pumped to a high pressure for oily mixtures, and has a movable spray nozzle.
A grease-gun probably forms part of your car's tool kit, and this will likely be of the simple push-piston type. To avoid getting the hands dirty, the gun may be recharged from a canister made to press a knob of grease direct into the barrel. Greater pressure can sometimes be obtained from screw-type grease-guns, while there are also special high-pressure guns such as the Wanner which make light of home servicing around grease-nipples. Whichever type of gun is used, always store it with the nozzle clean and covered; and wipe a paraffin-soaked rag over each nipple to free it from road grit before the gun is applied. It is better to let a joint go dry than to lubricate it with dirt.
Separately from the tool rack should be stored a good -in. electric hand drill, one of the most useful accessories for any car work. There should be a generous length of factory-quality rubber flex, at least 30 feet without joins or connectors, and the drill must be properly earthed and TV-suppressed. A similar lead should be available for an inspection lamp, and there is a great deal to be said for the fluorescent strip inspection lamp in moulded rubber housing, fed from a similarly moulded step-down transformer.
Telling a man what tools to buy is rather like trying to advise a woman on the choice of a hat. My own basic tools include the following:—set spanners 3/8 in. to 1/2 in., and metric equivalents; ring spanners 3/16 in. to \ in., with a variety of handle lengths; two or three adjustable spanners (if you are fortunate to find any stockists of "Masterspanners," of a design now unfortunately no longer made, you will find many repair tasks facilitated); a set of box spanners (especially in the smaller sizes from 3/16 in. upwards); screwdrivers (including two heavy drivers which can be hammered, as well as a Philips-type, for cross-head screws, and two insulated-handle tools); pliers and grips; a 4-lb. hammer with rubber handle; a set of wire (brass and steel) brushes; and a really good set of 12 point bi-hexagonal sockets from 3/16 in. to 9/16 in. Whitworth, and unified and metric equivalents. I have a Bugatti and one or two modern Continental cars to service, so metric sizes are essential, but on British cars there is increasing need for unified threads. Even Rolls-Royce have now adopted them. Reversible ratchet handles save time, and so do double-ended keys of the Whedon type, fitting a number of drain and level plugs.
A set of feeler gauges, a 14-in. Stillson wrench, three different types of hacksaws, many files, pin and centre punches, a heavy-duty soldering iron and a set of Collet connectois and crimping tool, a set of drills in a stand, from 1/16 in. to 1/4 in., buffing and polishing mops ... all these I regard as essential. Dozens—perhaps hundreds—of other labour-saving tools you can see in any hardware store window, and although some are quite expensive, many do represent a real investment. Anyway, they never get cheaper, and secondhand tools are useless, Dies and taps with stock and wrench, blow-lamp and brazing equipment—these things are probably for the more expert mechanic. At the outset it might be better to save money on these so that there is a margin in hand for any special tools recommended by car manufacturers, such as sprocket and hub pullers.
In a large enamel or plastic tray you can store tubes and jars of chemicals such as Jenolite, Plus-Gas Formula A or Rust-anode de-rusting preparations, and a pair of domestic-type rubber gloves can be kept for occasions when you have to handle chemicals that might harm the hands. Another enamel tray should be set aside for the battery hydrometer and for battery electrolyte or distilled-water containers.
Many jobs on the car really cannot be done unless you can get underneath and still have room to work. Always carry a plastic sheet or even an old plastic mackintosh in your toolkit, against the day when you may have to jack up the car in the rain to change a wheel. But in the garage you need something even cleaner and more comfortable. There are portable ramps, up which a car can be pushed or driven so that you have some 18 in. or so more space in which to work.
Never work underneath the car when it is propped up only by the ordinary jack that comes with the tool-kit. Far too many people start repair jobs under a car when the only thing separating them from serious injury or even sudden death is a flimsy screw-type jack. It is almost as dangerous to prop a car on bricks, for ordinary Flettons easily crack. For work at home, use a good hydraulic jack with a wide base (a trolley hydraulic jack is a sound investment), and always support the car on sound, seasoned wood such as sections of old railway-sleeper. Anything less secure can be literally suicidal. It is surprising how careless some people can be, actually shaking or hammering a car while lying underneath it, a ton or more of metal only a few inches above their heads.
It is also dangerous to start any extensive car work without taking elementary precautions against hand injury and skin infection. A good barrier cream of the cosmetic or industrial type should be rubbed into the hands before commencing greasy jobs, but unfortunately flushing components with petrol or paraffin tends to wash away the protective cream on the hands. The best plan is to wash the hands fairly frequently between jobs, using an antiseptic jelly detergent such as Dirty-Paws, Swarfega, or one of the Chemico cleaners. These remove grease from the skin safely, even with cold water, and help to obviate skin-cracking resulting from too frequent immersion of the hands in petrol.
Fire precautions must always be taken when doing car repairs, for the risk is ever-present in a car with a hot engine, a charged battery and petrol in the tank. If you plan to do fairly regular maintenance at home, check your insurance policy to ensure the house is covered if accidentally damaged by a car fire started by you. Most tariff companies accept this under the ordinary All Risks type of policy; but some insist on an additional Explosion Risk clause being accepted (at a small extra premium) where there is frequent repair work on a car in running trim with petrol.
Now, all set with tools and safety precautions "at the ready," you can plan your maintenance work; and the operative word is plan. Don't do any job unless you keep a record of it. Don't rely on memory to tell you that the sump was last drained three weeks ago, or that the axle and gearbox can wait another month. Pocket-diary notes are apt to be overlooked.
Keep a book or file record of all essential jobs done, with a note of date, speedometer mileage, and cost of spares and materials such as oil. This record may help with income tax and other reliefs. Obviously you cannot stop in the middle of a greasy job to enter up figures in a book, so keep a child's school slate hung in the garage, marking up temporarily jobs done with white chalk, and urgent jobs to be done with red chalk. A more professional method of display is a Perspex panel mounted on a board covered with white card, a Chinagraph (wax-type) pencil being used to enter dates and speedometer readings. The card can be ruled or given Indian-ink headings such as "Sump Drained," "Tyre Record," "Battery Topped Up," "Brakes Adjusted," and so on.
"Faster, faster!" said the White Queen in Alice Through the Looking-Glass, and some may think too much preoccupation with routine jobs is dull stuff. All that matters is tuning to improve acceleration and speed, they believe. This sort of tuning pays dividends in economy and in motoring enjoyment, but it has to start with the essentials; and the first essential is the electrical system, which is the heart of any car. In the following chapter we shall see how to get this right before starting on the basic steps of tuning.

Перевод:
COLLINS NUTSHELL BOOKS
Ваш Автомобиль
КЕННЕТ ULLYETT
С Фотографиями и Диаграммами
COLLINS LONDON AND GLASGOW

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Участвующий в гонках неукротимый водитель команды Бентли [Bentley] сэр Энрай ("Тим") Биркин [Henry ("Tim") Birkin], который наряду с другими бессмертными гонщиками, такими как Бейб Барнато [Babe Barnato], Саммай Дэвиса [Sammy Davis], Глен Кидстон [Glen Kidston] и Джек и Клайв Данфи [Jack and Clive Dunfee] стремился возвысить победами Великобританию в довоенных автомобильных гонках - и кто сделал Ле-Ман почти британским доминионом, однажды, сказал мне: "мне жаль, что я не могу выразить словами свою веру в то, что автомобиль имеет собственную жизнь".
Это была часть его кредо, и он полагал, что гоночный автомобиль - вещь скрытой мощи, и нуждался только в человеке, чтобы ее притворить в жизнь. Конечно эта романтичная философия, вряд ли, будет воспринята всерьез миллионами водителей "бутерброда", которые считают свои транспортные средства просто способом передвижения от пункта А к пункту Б, и кому обслуживание автомобиля является только утомительным занятием.
Однако, еще многим миллионам, регламентное обслуживание и ремонт автомобильных машин - радостное продление детских механических амбиций. Но с течением времени мы осознаем что обслуживание, которое проведено самостоятельно не всегда является лучше, чем профессиональное обслуживание, в хорошо-оборудованном гараже со смотровой ямой; действительно есть очень много задач, которые обычный автолюбитель не сможет выполнить, рискует нанести еще более сложные повреждения, или просто опасны для его здоровья. Но конечно есть специфическое удовольствие в "переделывании автомобиля, " и многие сервисные работы, даже сальные, грязные и тому подобные хозяйственные работы - являются несложными, но которые, подобно хобби, доставляет особое наслаждение.
"Не позволяйте жестянщикам умирать", - умолял сэр Джеймс Барри. Есть небольшой шанс на смерть автомобильных мастеров, но, фактически их число - легион, и ежедневно увеличивается в приблизительно той же самой пропорции, что и оплата профессиональных услуг.
Эта книга написана что бы помочь обыкновенному мастеру обслуживать собственный автомобиль, выполнять мелкий ремонт и регулировку, и показывает где проходит линия между работами для выполнения любителем и задачами требующими специальный инструмент, особого подхода и профессиональных знаний.
В написании этой книги я обязан очень большому количеству людей, в особенности The Dunlop Company Ltd., Hepworth and Grandage Ltd. (Mr. W. G. Rogers), Joseph Lucas, Ltd., The MG Car Company Ltd., Организация Nuffield (г. А. L. H. Доусон), Rolls-Royce Ltd. (Mr. D. E. A. Miller-Williams), Standard Triumph International (Mr. K. B. Hopkins, Mr. D. A. Twiss and Mr. N. Macginnis) и Woodhead Monroe Ltd в использовании полезного текста Руководства Работ и иллюстраций.

Кеннет Уллиетт, Королевский Автомобильный Клуб
[KENNETH ULLYETT The Royal Automobile Club]

ГЛАВА 1. Обслуживание Вашего Автомобиля

Вернемся в просторные Эдвардианские[Edwardian] дни: великий Виконт Норсшлиф [Viscount Northcliffe] – как и мистер Альфред Хармсуорт [Mr. Alfred Harmsworth] - был одним из пионеров моторизма, или "автоиобилизма", поскольку это тогда так называли.
«Хорошая моторная конструкция, конечно, требует постоянной заботы, внимания и навыка» - написал он в издании «Моторы и Моторное движение» [Motors and Motor-driving] библиотеки Бадминтона [The Badminton Library] изданном в начале века. - «Я разговаривал недавно с владельцем нескольких довольно хороших машин, на которые он потратил несколько тысяч фунтов. Они небыли сделаны для водителя, так что хотя бедняга приложил все усилия, но транспортные средства были расценены как куча неприятностей…»
Спустя 60 лет с того момента, мы приезжаем к механику станции тех.обслуживания, увековеченному по телевидению Бобом Хоупом [Bob Hope], который сказал клиенту: «Если бы я был Вами, лучше я добывал бы нефть и переделывал автомобиль…»
Между этими крайностями, я думаю, Вы сможете найти золотую середину в обслуживании автомобиля. Скорей всего у Вас нет водителя, который можно было бы передать все грязные хозяйственные работы; с другой стороны Вы имеете более трепетное отношение по отношению к своему автомобилю, чем человек со станции , который не только символ положения в обществе и ценное имущество, но также представляет большинству из нас значительную часть нашего земного наследия.
В связи с высокими трудовыми затратами, добавляемыми к промышленным сложностям поддержания запасов отремонтированных заводом запчастей, есть стимул для каждого автомобилиста, чтобы делать обычное обслуживание самостоятельно. И время и деньги, потраченные на несколько хороших инструментов окажутся, в конечном счете, очень хорошей инвестицией, так как принесут спокойствие духа в знании того, что автомобиль действительно хорошо обслуживается.
Любительская техническая работа и обычное обслуживание включают в себя приятное хобби, и приносит бесконечно большое удовольствие в выполнении на досуге обслуживания склонному к механике человеку. И действительно это лучше, чем заниматься на дороге поиском неисправностей, из-за того, что кто-то забыл обслужить автомобиль должным образом.
Много денег можно сэкономить делая определенные нехитрые операции регулярно, многие из которых могут быть выполнены своими руками в гараже или даже на обочине имея достаточное количество основного инструмента. Инженер Королевского Автомобильного Клуба [Royal Automobile Club] рассказал мне, что в среднем 10 галлонов {37,86 л} топлива сохраняется менее чем за 27 секунд обслуживания автомобиля на каждые 1000 миль {1 609,34 км}, если владелец-водитель производит его смазку, проверяет масляный фильтр, уровень масла в картере двигателя, проверяет его регулировки, смазывает пружины, а также уделяет небольшое внимание электрической системе. И целых 3 фунта стерлингов можно сохранить каждые 3000 - 5000 миль {4 828,03-8 046,72 км}, если обслуживать в домашних условиях такие важные механизмы как тормоза, карбюратор и топливная система, деталям кузова, амортизаторам, топливным фильтрам и шинам.
Конечно, с ограниченным набором инструментов осторожный владелец, очевидно, не будет делать работ на которые он не способен; но даже если работа не может быть выполнена, но небольшое знание того "как это работает", может экономить деньги. Если Вы приходите в мастерскую и говорите: "Мой автомобиль не работает, пожалуйста, сделайте что-нибудь…" Вы не можете обвинять механика в том, что они тратят свое время и, как следствие, ваши деньги, в поисках неисправностей, таким образом, уходит больше времени и больше денег в восстановление поломки. Но если Вы можете указать пальцем, например, на коммутатор и утверждать: "Здесь плохая искра, конденсатор имеет замыкание», то Вы будете, делая часть диагностики самостоятельно, обращаясь с просьбой, платить только за ремонт.
Поэтому, в начале, Вы должны иметь, по крайней мере, элементарное представление о том, как функционирует ваш автомобиль. Тогда возможно определить, какие инструменты необходимы для работ на которые Вы способны (потому как самая фатальная ошибка в автомобильном ремонте это демонтаж компонентов, которые Вы не можете вернуть на место), и, наконец, составить план работ для всего обслуживания, которое Вы планируете выполнить в ближайшие месяцы.
При обучении вождению и проходя выпускные тесты, к сожалению, не требуется, согласно закону, даже небольшое знание автомобильной механики, хоть и известно о том, что человек знающий свой автомобиль, будет более безопасным водителем. Ведь он будет двигаться с уверенным знанием физических и механических пределов машины, которой он управляет. И в то время как Министерство транспорта установило определенные минимальные стандарты для механического состояния автомобиля, поскольку это затрагивает некоторые аспекты автомобильной безопасности, жаль, что подобные стандарты не установлены для механической оценки автомобилистом его автомобиля. Это отлично, конечно, для ученика, учащегося ездить, поскольку лучшие школы поощряют новичков знать их автомобили заботой и вниманием, и даже степенью устойчивой работы. Почти такое же отношение к военному обучению, где новички обычно тратят гораздо больше времени, слушая лекции по огнестрельному оружию, и чистя их с усердием, чем в учебной стрельбе.
Много лет назад Роллс-Ройс Лимитед [Rolls-Royce Ltd] начал проводить инструктажи для водителей, а также большие школы начали проводить курсы по автомобильной механике, но, к сожалению, несмотря на то, что опытные энтузиасты автомобилей говорят об углах опережения, полировке каналов, более упругих пружинах клапанов, или подъему степени сжатия, большинство обычных водителей имеет только туманное представление о том, что подразумевают эти вещи.
Хорошим началом будет открыть капот и сделать полную оценку существенных механических особенностей.
Для этого возьмем обычный автомобиль. Сейчас существует много вариантов. С самых ранних времен автомобили не имели радиаторов
В первых днях автомобиля радиатора впереди не было, двигатель был установлен перед водителем, а трансмиссия передавала мощность задним колесам. Были альтернативные решения, с двигателем сзади, или в некоторых случаях под сиденьями. Они считались причудами. Сегодня проект приходит полный круг. Миниавтомобили типа Мини-Остин [Mini-Austin] и Мини-Минор [Mini-Minor] имеют двигатель впереди, но помещенный кузова, и вращающий передние колеса.
Очень многие Европейские автомобили, типа Фольксваген [VW], Порше [Porsche], ФИАТ [FIAT] и Рено [Renault] имеют двигатель в задней части, и привод на задние колеса. Но при этом, мы не можем принимать за догму о "типичном" двигателе - обычные двигатели, имеющие клапаны, чтобы впрыскивать пары бензина, и для выпуска выхлопных газов, так как почти бесклапанный тип двигателя, известного как "двухтактный" фактически использовавшийся только в мотоциклах - стал популярным в автомобилях, типа Авто Юнион [Auto Union], Гогомобиль [Goggomobil] и СААБ [Saab] и поскольку последний выиграл ралли Монте-Карло и ралли Королевского автомобильного клуба, то, в связи с этим, не разумно расценить двухтактный двигатель как нетрадиционный.
Однако, наши цели позволяют нам взять двигатель с водяным охлаждением расположенном спереди и приводящим задние колеса (Рис.1). Это, возможно, не очевидно, потому что когда мы открываем капот, с первого взгляда может быть трудно отличить двигатель вообще.

При рассмотрении нескольких машин мы в них увидим, прямоугольный черный ящик батареи, расширительный бачок, большой трубопровод системы охлаждения, большой барабан с отверстием закрытым сеткой. Это рот двигателя – воздухоочиститель, его задача очищать от пыли входящий воздух. Поскольку все мы хорошо знаем, что автомобили сжигают бензин (кроме тех транспортных средств с дизельными двигателями, которые используют легкую нефть дизельного типа), но независимо от того используется ли бензин или дизельное топливо в каждом двигателе происходит его горение, при этом сжигается гораздо больше кислорода из воздуха, чем поступает топлива из бака; двигатель может остановится если лишить его эффективной подачи воздуха, поскольку это равносильно тому, что закончилось топлива.
Воздух проходит через ячейки воздухоочистительного фильтра (этот фильтр периодически промывают бензином или керосином, либо просто заменяют, чтобы у него не было забитых элементов), этот значительный объем воздуха втягивается в двигатель при определенных нисходящих движениях поршней в цилиндрах.
Движение поршня в цилиндре похоже на действие велосипедного насоса, который Вам наверняка очень знаком, но тогда как велосипедный насос имеет кожаный поршень, чтобы получить воздухонепроницаемое соединение, автомобиль имеет поршень из металлического сплава, который двигается вверх и вниз по