Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-05-19
S|MPLIF|ED LESSONS IN
CARE OF AUTOMOBILES
Intimate Talk on Working Units OF
Motor Car in Language Clear
TO Lnyman.
III PUZZLED, ASK GUERRLlCH
Disc Clutch Troubles and Their
Remedies Described by Expert,
Who Will Answer Questions From
All Interested Readers.
Copyright, 1917. BY Frederick C.
Gucrrlich..
,.fn M

we saw how The action OF the cone
clutch was due TO the friction between
the leather on the clutch cone and the
inside of the nywhecl, the cone with
lis leather being pressed against the
inside OF the ilywheel by spring.
Now this spring cannot be too pow
.crful, as il must be pressed back. when
the clutch is d!sensaGed. by the foot
OF the operator. and the operator may
be weak woman. Therefore, IL must
be given Il leverage. and. in the case
of the cone clutch, this leverage comes
from the inclined plane" wedge
IKE" action due to the conical shape.
The d!sc clutch has number Of
discs pressed against one another by
the spring. hut these discs do no, have
the leverage action of tho cone. BY
having number OF discs. however Gin
some cars as many as twenty -one). we
really have number Of clutches. so
that the spring can be comparatively
weak.
The dlac clutch is made UP Of num-
Der Of discs. half " which revolvc with
the nywhcel o. the engine. while the
other half are connected 10 a gear In
the transmission. and so through the
propeller shaft and dincrentiai to the
rear wheels
The illustration shows the construc-
ton. In figure !. drum which is
boltcd 20 the engine is shown. In this
drum are Il number OF keys" Il. One
OF the driving discs is shown in figure
2. This, YOU Will notice, can be In
serted into the drum. its slots fitting
-on to the keys OF the drum. Figure 3
shows the driven member, which is
connected TO gear of the transmission
sand which has external keys. l.. On
TO this fit the driven discs OF figure 4.
You will observe that the discs OF fig
Nure 2. Will always rcvolve with the
| drum of the nywhecl, while those Of
Il her
| sshown in Hsure 3, or, TO put this more
/ correctly the member figure viii
have TO revolve with the discs Of fig
ture 4.
Figure s shows how the parts IL
Illustrated In figures !. .. , and are
ASSEMBLIES AS they now are. the discs
are not pressed together. there is no
friction between them. and SO. when
tho nywheel revolves, its discs Will
revolvc. but the others. with their
driven member. figure and No. OF
figure 8, VIII be stationary.
To make the driven discs revolve
swith the nywhccl. they must be pressed
against the revolving discs. Figure 6
| shows the FIRST step in this direction.
Here Ganse. -" has been put on
TO tho driven member and part. *.
added. II now we press the part *
toward the nange J there VIII be
sprcssure the discs. and the whole
econs,ruction VIII rcvolve as though
II were OF one piece.
The pressure must come from
tspring and the method OF adding the
tepring which is the most used. Is shown
in figure :. Here the spider IL" is
added and the spring is placed be-
stwccn II and the Inside Of the driven
member. by means OF the bolts NJ
rthe part * is pressed to the left by
the springs. and the lines are
epressed together.
; depressed, which will pull the part *
Ito the right, against the spring action
and take the pressure off the discs
Note how. in figure 5. the shaft -
: Is keyed TO the driven member OF the
clutch A. The right-hand end OF this
y shaft Is attached TO gear in the
transmission. while the left-hand end
Fruns in a bearing in the hywheel. the
bearing being support for It.
. l would call your attention to the
thrust bearing r. figure Z. When the
foot is off the pedal there will be no
spressure, and. therefore. wear Of
rthis bearing. When however, there IS
e pressure on the pedal there will be
aprcssure and therefore, wear of the
bearing. Now il is hard to luhrca re
nthis bearing. and so drivers should not
keep their foot on the :edal, at least
enot in such way as TO press the pedal
down slightly. as this will cause
Iswear of this thrust bearing. The
sabove mistake is much made cit APP
~plies to all types OF clutches). and SO
"a growing noise often develops at this
bearing.
7. Some makes OF disc clutches have
Z one set Of tho plates lined with ashes
tos material, such as Reybestos while
Gin other makes, the plates are all un-
lined steel. Again, some clutches are
; designed to run in il. in which case
they called wet-place clutches
hill NJ har Ir,-
. clutches.
~ want to correct a mistaken idea
that all lined clutches should run in oil
while the steel plates run dry. In
= some makes the lined plates run dry
while in others they run in oil. The
same Is true OF steel plates. OF course
where the discs run in oil. the friction
between the surfaces will be less; but
. this is taken care of by using greater
number OF plates or more powerful
spring. In the latter case. the pedal
mechanism is designed so that the foot
: is given a leverage. The eye cannot
tell the dry from the wet plate clutch
Z You must refer to the instruction book
> to find out II the clutch should run in
oil.
!. Dfsc-clutch troubles are much the
same as those OF the cone clutch; thus.
q there may be slipping, dragging grip
y ping spinning.
3E The Shining may be due TO n weak
spring, or to the spring adjusting bolts
snot being tight enough. This how
ever, excepting where the nuts have
turned OF their own accord or to n
. spring which has weakened with use.
swll he found new car or one on
which work has been done TO the
sclutcn.
8 OIL from the engine or transmission
sEcttng into the clutch IL usually the
cause or the slipping. The remedy is
sto pour n gallon two OF Kerosene
Into the clutch, and run the engine,
Throwing the clutch In and out DO
sthis for fifteen minutes and drain off
. the Kerosene.
4 dragging, and also gripping disc
clutch. Will often be due to gun1med oil
or grease getting between the plates.
1.-THE remedy for this is also the kero-
: sense treatment, as above.