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).
Starter motor failure due to frozen engine oil and the proposed solution of undercutting the pinion bearing surface.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 82\4\ scan0221 | |
| Date | 7th January 1936 | |
| FILE. x200 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/FD.{Frank Dodd - Bodies}5/JH. 7.1.36. 3-B-4. Starter Motor Failure. The failure of the starter motor pinion to engage during the recent coldweather was due to frozen oil on the starter shaft. This was engine oil which had been thrown up from the rear bearing by the starter ring. We reproduced the sticking condition by leaving the starter motor complete in the ice chamber over night. The pinion and parts were dismantled and cleaned, afterwards being assembled with a smearing of sperm oil on the shaft. The starter was again put into the cold chamber, overnight and this time worked successfully. The pinion bearing is 1.1875 long and the clearance on the starter shaft is rather fine, we propose reducing the bearing surface by undercutting. We hope by so doing to reduce the friction on the pinion bearing, and so overcome the oil seal at the first application of the starter sswitch. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/FD.{Frank Dodd - Bodies} | ||