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 drive noise, transmission rattle, and spark plug performance tests.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 1\4\ B001_X 100a-page146 | |
| Date | 14th December 1932 | |
| To Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} From G.W.H. 84057 Hotel de France, Chateauroux, FRANCE. 14.12.32. 2.PER.II. Re. CHUNKING IN THE DRIVE. We have endeavoured to locate the cause of the clanking. With the car jacked up, we found that on all gears no difference was made, but on second gear it appeared to be worst, and the gear change lever rocked to and fro as if there was a lot of slack in the drive. It looked as if it would come out of mesh, but we were unable to make it do so. Nothing definite can be seen inside the box. Underneath, the noise seems to be greatest on the splines of the short propeller shaft, i.e. where it enters the box. Holding the propeller shaft by the hand does not affect the noise, neither when applying the brakes lightly. There was no noise coming from the axle end of the propeller shaft. No doubt the slack in the pinion of the axle aggravates the trouble when on the road. Re. TRANSMISSION RATTLE. We are disappointed with the results obtained with the softer rubbers fitted into the clutch drive. We, as stated, fitted these solid with the exception of the slot in the top. It will be worth while to have one more go at it before we leave here, as we have had much better results. PLUGS. We have so far given a prolonged test on the road with the following plugs - New Set of nD.15 Lodge (856 miles). These did not show any sign of preignition at high prolonged speeds, and did not show for some mileage any misfires on acceleration. They became as bad as the first lot in this respect. They fired after being switched off at low speed, car stationary. K.L.G. 734 Plugs. 4000 miles. These showed no sign of preignition at high speeds. They were erratic in firing after switching off at low speed, sometimes there was no sign. They did not | ||