Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-06-16
sINPL|F|ED LESSONS IN
CARE OF AUTOMOBILE.
Expert Guerrlich Goes Further Into
the Mysteries Of transmits
sion Troubles.
SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
solutions To Problems OF Motor Car
Owners Readily I'urnished-Rea-
sons for Difficulty in Shifting
Gcars-Cnuse OF Grinding.

Copyright. 1918. by Fred. c. Guerrlich.)
AUTO LESSON NO. o..
Most OF the annoying clashing and
grinding of gears when they are shift
ed INTO mesh is due. not to "A fault
in the transmission Itself, but to
fault In the act on OF the clutch. Thus.
{lf. when going from neutral to first
speed or reverse. or any other speed.
there is bad clash OF the gears. even
though tho clutch be held out for some
time before the shift is made. IL is a
Sign that the clutch is dragging. Again,
" the clutch must he held out for
some time before shifting. but II so
held out the shift can be pnade with
out noisc. ii IL sign that the clutch
is spinning.
When It Is hard to shift the gears
without noise while the car is run
ming. then. too. the dragging clutch
is TO blame. This. however, may also
be duo to tho clutch brake acting too
powerfully. In this case. the;5troubie
can often be avoided by not pushing
tho pedal down all the way.
The searshift lever on practically
all modern cars Is OF the ball and
socket type. Sometimes a little rust
will como on the ball. which will cause
the shifting to be diricult. In this case
tho lever will seem to stick as you be-
Gin to shift or when you pass across
at neutral. The remedy is to clean
tho ball with kerosene-soaked cloth
and then put a drop or two of oil on It,
1t need not be taken out.
Sometimes on new car the start
Of the shift will be dirlcult for a per-
son who Is not very strong. In this
case the shift can generally be made
easier by letting up on the locking
plunger springs.
These locking plungers. OF which
there nre two. act upon the shiftcr
rods so as TO prevent the gears com
Ing out Of mesh Of their own account.
They are shown in Fig. 2. BY loosen
. Ing on the screw Z the start Of the
SHAFT can be made easier II the gears
have tendency to get out Of mesh.
then Tightening this screw may rem
edy this trouble.
On old cars, where the hal-bear-
inGs are badly worn. or where the
gears are badly worn at the axle. the
gears will come out OF mesh. Rep.ac-
Ing either the bearing or the gears
is the only remedy.
For the fabrication Of the transmits
zion. you can use either a grease which
Will flow freely or heavy stcam-en-
|ginc oil. PC guided by your instruc-
ion book a. TO tho proper level of this,
or not having an instruction book.
have some one at"thc service station ~
tho car show you.----..-------..-----.--..-.-z.
In time. the grrasr-ur- M -TrrIv b-rrE
TO work out along the shaft To prcs
vent this. there !s usually furnished
n felt washer and a nut which viii
take up the wear Of tho washer. Fig.
shows how this nut generally looks.
no prevent the oil working out, re-
move the nut lock b and then screw
bn the nut about one turn. and replace
the lock.
To prevent the oil working out un-
der the covers, a paper Gasket Chiot-
ting paper Is excellenO is made. and
then coated with shellac.
Most of the noise OF shifting Is duo
Ito the operator. and. in the writer's
opinion. this is because the operator
is afraid OF making the noise. and so
hurries the shift. II the shift he made
calmly and deliberately, without either
flushing or hesitatinE during the shift
lit will be found easy. In most cars the
shift from first to second should be
RCoIllpaTdllNeiE SLOW. "Hlle from second
to high It can be made fairly fast
The beginner will find 1t harder TO
shift down: that Is. from :hird to sec
ond. or second to first, thar to shift
up. The little knack in doing this is
TO start the movement OF the lever at
the same moment or little ahead OF
the pressing down on the clutch pedal,
and doing the latter rather slowly.
'har
shift the gears until tho car has been
brought TO a complete stop Failure
o do this will put a great strain on
the entire car and may result In
stripped gear. /.
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