Putnam's Automobile Handbook: The Care and Management of the Modern Motor-Car

by H. Clifford Brokaw; Charles A. Starr

Also underneath the floor boards are the levers and arms used for controlling the clutch and brake, the self-starter and the accelerator. All have bearings, used occasionally, but enough so that they should be kept lubricated or they will wear. This is especially true of the clutch and brake linkage, particularly in city running, where the clutch and brake are in constant use. Usually this linkage has no means of lubrication other than oil holes, into which a drop or two of oil only may be placed. Naturally it will not last long and oil should be dropped in the holes at least once a week.

This is also true of the brake linkage on the rear axle. Often at that point no provision whatever is made for oiling. It is simply a matter of flowing oil around the joint and letting it work in. If the brake linkage wears and weakens and it becomes necessary to apply the brake with extra force in an emergency, it will give way.

The spring shackle bolts usually are equipped with grease cups and they do not suffer quite as much as other points, but often the passages become clogged and one may screw down on the cup and only force the grease out of the thread of the cup, instead of into the bearing, for the grease-cup cap fits loosely upon the thread.

Many cars come from the factory with the grease holes clogged with enamel, or hardened grease, so that no great amount of grease could be forced through in turning down the cap. Cars are allowed to run so long sometimes in this condition that the shackles have worn through, allowing the body to drop down on the axle.

Very often complaint is made that a new car will develop a squeak very soon after it is tried out—an elusive sort of a squeak that seems to be first one place and then another. The owner who has this experience will probably find upon examination that the spring shackles have not been lubricated, either because the hole was clogged, or for some other reason. It is recommended that in such cases the car be jacked up and all the shackle pins be driven out and all the grease passages inspected and cleaned thoroughly; also that heavy grease be applied directly to the bolt when it is put back in place.

This will take a little time, but it pays, for it is a matter of experience that if the pins are not driven out and the holes opened up for inspection it will take a solid month to force the grease through by screwing down the grease cup, and until this passage is open there can be no lubrication of the joint.

Wheel bearings ought to run for six months if properly packed, but there is no way of telling when the bearing needs attention except by inspection and it is well to look them over regularly. When inspecting the rear-wheel bearings, if the construction is of the type where the wheel hub is keyed on to the shaft, it is well to inspect the key to determine whether it is tight. Out of four cars recently inspected three were found with a loose key.

There are two dangers when the key is loose. One is that the key way becomes rocked out of shape and the key cannot be fitted tight again. The other is that shaft and hub may become so worn that the taper is destroyed and a tight fit is made impossible, and of course the only remedy is to replace both. This condition will often account for a knocking or rattling, which will be felt throughout the car and the cause often be supposed to be located far from the real place. For instance, in one case the driver thought the knocking was in the gear case, until shown the loose hub.

The spring leaves need lubrication once a season. Tools are sold for separating the leaves enough to apply a lubricant made especially for that purpose.

Another part which shows hard wear quickly is the valve push-rod guide, especially in overhead valve construction the ones on the forward end of the motor. Dust blowing over the radiator collects on these forward guides and wears them rapidly. This condition is indicated usually when the crank case becomes covered with oil blown up from the loose joint. Modern designs have taken care of this to a large extent by enclosing the push rods in a casing, and many owners have put in housings themselves when they discovered the difficulty.