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).
Letter responding to a query about hydraulic lash adjusters and their issues.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 174\2\ img254 | |
| Date | 21th June 1938 | |
| Rml/R.{Sir Henry Royce} 21st June, 1938. V.C. Young, Esq., Messrs. Wilcox-Rich, Division of Eaton Manufacturing Company, 9771, French Road, DETROIT, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. Dear Mr. Young, Thank you for your letter of June 10th. The type of hydraulic lash adjuster that we were using was the General Motors Eccentric type as used on the Cadillac 16-cylinder three years ago. This particular engine is now out of production. It is true that one of the reasons why we abandoned this type of tappet was that under cold starting conditions if the engine did not fire immediately, the eccentrics tended to 'stick', hydraulic plungers followed them up, and the valves were held off their seat. Frankly, we do not see why your hydraulic lash adjusters should suffer from this trouble. We find it difficult to understand, however, why, when the engine has been standing, there should not be a certain amount of noise when the engine starts up due to oil being squeezed out of the tappets in the case of the valves which are open. Yours sincerely, | ||