Luvax Vane Type Dampers
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2019 11:19 am
My 1936 Rover 12 has Luvax Vane type dampers front and rear.
The front ones were empty, the rear were full of VERY thick treacly oil (thicker than Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup !). Rubber (or whatever) bushes on the dampers themselves were dry and giving huge amount of friction.
Having emptied the rear ones, I then removed the filler and adjustment screw from each unit, filled all with sewing machine / fork oil, oiled the exposed shaft / seal, and did as much manipulation as possible to clean out the internals.
The shaft / seal eventually freed off, and once emptied I filled all 4 with SAE 80/90 gearbox oil (as per the linked internet sourced document), and replaced the adjusting screws (backing each off by 1 turn). “Thick oil for Vane dampers, thin oil for piston dampers seems to be the rule”.
It took a couple of nights of settling, and more manipulation to clear all air from the internals, but finally all squish about and give immediate resistance as intended.
Front units have a definite feel of “damping” rear ones not so much, and are completely unresponsive to adjustment screw fully in or several turns out.
My gut feeling is that I should drain and refill the rear units with a thicker grade oil (on the basis that they may well be badly worn internally). Not really up to ripping them apart at this stage !
Not much that I can find online or in the forums, so am looking for guidance, links to Vane damper rebuild sites, or redirection to existing RSR forum / Freewheel articles. It would also be interesting to have confirmation on whether those used on Rover cars have internal “thermostatic control” ...
Finally, am I generally correct in choice of oil grade for these dampers ??
Here are links to pics and the article on the Luvax Vane dampers, and an extract (showing internals) from the 1937 ‘New Motoring Encyclopedia’:
https://imgur.com/a/hHwkHCc
https://imgur.com/a/xHZrxYZ
Any and all comments / advice appreciated.
The front ones were empty, the rear were full of VERY thick treacly oil (thicker than Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup !). Rubber (or whatever) bushes on the dampers themselves were dry and giving huge amount of friction.
Having emptied the rear ones, I then removed the filler and adjustment screw from each unit, filled all with sewing machine / fork oil, oiled the exposed shaft / seal, and did as much manipulation as possible to clean out the internals.
The shaft / seal eventually freed off, and once emptied I filled all 4 with SAE 80/90 gearbox oil (as per the linked internet sourced document), and replaced the adjusting screws (backing each off by 1 turn). “Thick oil for Vane dampers, thin oil for piston dampers seems to be the rule”.
It took a couple of nights of settling, and more manipulation to clear all air from the internals, but finally all squish about and give immediate resistance as intended.
Front units have a definite feel of “damping” rear ones not so much, and are completely unresponsive to adjustment screw fully in or several turns out.
My gut feeling is that I should drain and refill the rear units with a thicker grade oil (on the basis that they may well be badly worn internally). Not really up to ripping them apart at this stage !
Not much that I can find online or in the forums, so am looking for guidance, links to Vane damper rebuild sites, or redirection to existing RSR forum / Freewheel articles. It would also be interesting to have confirmation on whether those used on Rover cars have internal “thermostatic control” ...
Finally, am I generally correct in choice of oil grade for these dampers ??
Here are links to pics and the article on the Luvax Vane dampers, and an extract (showing internals) from the 1937 ‘New Motoring Encyclopedia’:
https://imgur.com/a/hHwkHCc
https://imgur.com/a/xHZrxYZ
Any and all comments / advice appreciated.