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).
Vehicle performance issues including high oil temperature, oil and water loss, and component faults following a 500-mile test run.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 1\4\ B001_X 100a-page032 | |
| Date | 12th November 1932 | |
| To Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} From G.W.H. Hotel de France, Chateauroux, FRANCE. 12.11.32. X4057. 2.PER.II. We received your telegram - ARRIVING LE-BOURGET 11-15 ON MONDAY PLEASE MEET. ROBOTHAM. We ran the 500 miles yesterday to ascertain any weakness and general behaviour of the car. The oil temperature is serious, 120°C being reached. We are not sure whether the adding of the Aniline to the oil has anything to do with it, or whether it was the more prolonged high speed. The loss of oil from the rear of the engine into the clutch pit is serious, there was a pool of oil in the tray also the flywheel has swished the oil round forcing it out of the breather holes in the clutch cover plate. We are running with the stated amount of oil in the engine, i.e. 1.25 gallons. The water loss is mystifying at the present. We lost 6 pints in the morning and 8 pints in the afternoon, with the cap fitted with the valve. We have reduced the outlet of the pump as reported. In the shop we cannot reproduce anything to account for it. To obtain some further data we have taken off the overflow pipe, blanking off the hole in the radiator and fitted a filler cap with a pipe projecting upwards 2 - 3 ins, so far we have lost no water driving the car in the usual way. We are continuing to run in this manner. The shock dampers are losing oil from the glands, otherwise they are free from knocks and keeping their load. The front, as reported, are not remaining firmly attached to the frame, evidently the bolts are stretching. The two bolt attachment is not satisfactory. Carburetter. We have tried all sorts of settings of the Jets but cannot get satisfactory slow running, or good acceleration. It has the same feature of luffing up as the Phantom, with the exception there are two more places with the same condition higher up, i.e. up to 50 mph. The high speed jet is very sensitive, it rather looks as if the thread is too coarse operating the sleeve. The flexible mounting of the engine still gives the best all round results, with no torque reaction dampers in action. Steering. Higher rated springs are required for the side steering tube to obtain the desired selectivity on | ||