First, to the gentleman who suspects A-arm cracking, I can't say how to
determine cracks without dismantling the whole thing, but on the bright side,
the Spridget front suspension is pretty damn easy to work on. So I wouldn't
worry too much about the downtime that a competent shop would require,
provided you have the requisite parts beforehand.
And now, on to my own problems:
I was reminded of an issue with my Harvey over the weekend. Oil. First, what
kind are we using in our A-Series engines? I've been using 20W50, but this I
think is wrong. With the 20W50, however, my oil pressure gets a little
creative. At hot idle, it's about 30-40 psi, no problem. Off-idle hot, it's
a little over 60 psi, no problem. But if I'm braking heavily (i.e. not too
terribly much force, but as much as the crap tires on the car can handle) in
neutral (at idle speed), the O.P. gauge plummets to zero, then works back up
to 30-40 after I stop. If I'm braking heavily in gear and the RPM's are above
about 1500, then this doesn't happen. I'm assuming the oil in the head
gallery is slogging to the front, starving the gauge, but at higher speeds,
the flow is great enough to avoid this. Is this normal? Am I harming my
engine by braking hard in neutral? Can I install some baffle or other boffo
trick to avert this icky situation?
Thanks so much!
Michael T. Chaffee
mchaffee@sumter.cso.uiuc.edu
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