Another dumb quesiton RE: Short Two - Fluids and capacities.

[Cyclecars]

Sorry to bother again with such a silly question.
I am a little confused about the transmission lubrication needs of a Short Two. There is a fill cap at the top of the casing. I was under the belief that the oil was used for both engine and this transmission. I read (misread?) this from a document that does not match my car (later Jowett docs available elsewhere here). The placement of the cap on top the transmission case looks like a more common setup, but it confused me since I had read that the oil is used from the same source as the engine. So what is the cap for if not to fill the trans case?
I need to understand what fluids are required, and where. It's likely intuitive to most owners since it had fluids and they can look at other owners' cars. But since I got the car dry (no fluids in it at all), it is a guessing game for me.

Thanks to all for any info you can provide.
- Keith

[k. rogers]

You can indeed use the same oil in the engine as in the gearbox but they are separate from each other. The handbook states the level should be halfway up the layshaft, equating I believe, to about 2 inches on a dip stick.

[ChrisE]

Hi Keith.

there's some good stuff on my post about gearbox

viewtopic.php?t=6319

especially watch the video of the gearbox running. You can see how the oil works and especially why the oil you use must be non-foaming.

I simply filled the gearbod to 2" and made a dipstick from a bike spoke, that goes in though the breather hole. there is a mark on the top of the spoke because it can be dificult to feed it past the gear wheels and I nee dto know that it's gone all the way to the bottom of the box.

Remember too that the gearbox oil is used to lube the clutch plate as it moves on the mainshaft so often the first indication that the gear oil is low, is when the clutch becomes noticibly stiff to press the pedal and makes a squeeking noise when you do.

My banging noise by the way was the rear diff. It was totally dry!

Chris

[Cyclecars]

Better late than never, Chris and all. Thanks for the replies on this topic. Hopefully will ease my springtime jitteriness knowing I have the basic stuff right when I finally get to go for a drive. Thanks again.

[Brucegirvan]

Keith - did you get out and about? I have a few vintage and run 90 in the gearbox. As indicated earlier filling to the centre if the layshaft works and I too have length of stiff wire (a coat hanger) with markings for oil and to ensure the dip stick is bottoming out.

For the engine I only run vintage oils, not moderns, which are designed to keep debris in suspension whereas our engines need the debris needs to drop to the bottom because we have no filter to speak of.

If you are doing a lot of steep hill work, then a rule of thumb for me is to ensure there is at least 1” showing on the engine dip stick (2-2 1/2”is full) as much lower could mean the bearings get started of oil if on a steep section.

Are you heading to Llandindrod?

Kind regards

Bruce