From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Issues with the automatic starting device, carburetter flooding, engine detonation, and gearbox operation.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 97\4\ scan0274 | |
| Date | 29th December 1938 | |
| -2- Mx.{John H Maddocks - Chief Proving Officer}15/N.29.12.38 Cont'd.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} The automatic starting device is not as effective as the present standard manual control of main jet orifice. Although the engine fires immediately, it will not continue to run and has to be frequently restarted. When the changeover from starter to main carburetter takes effect, the mixture is too weak, due to starter carburetter cutting out at too low a temperature. Flooding Carburetter. Gauze filters in the petrol supply line at carburetters are a necessity. Although trouble experienced was due in the first instance to foreign matter being disturbed by cleaning out main filter. Subsequent trouble was due to slivers of metal from the thread of float chamber petrol connection getting on to the needle valve seating. The float chamber lid{A. J. Lidsey} had to be dismantled three times in the last 100 miles of the trip. Detonation. This was very marked on any of the spirits obtainable in Belgium, Holland, and Germany, which included Benzol mixtures and Esso. The only spirit giving a reasonable freedom from detonation was Azur of 80 Octane, with this spirit results were about the same as a Series II Bentley using a straight No.1. spirit. The engine invariably ran backwards when switched off after a run. Gearbox. Synchro-mesh to direct and overdrive gears does not work. 1st. gear stiff to engage. There is always an uncertainty as to whether the correct gear has been selected when starting from rest owing to "stickiness" of change speed mechanism when sliding across the gate. Noise from overdrive gear seemed less pronounced at end of run. Most of the running was done on the overdrive except for starting from rest, the other gears were seldom used. Cont'd.... | ||