Viewing page 13 of 18

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE COLLEGE
INSTITUTE, WEST VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF AUTO MECHANICS

Tuesday Night

My dearest Charlene:

At this time last nite (7:00) I was sound asleep. I was really in a daze when I answered the phone when you called. How long did the phone ring? Seems that I talked for several moments before I realized that I was on the phone. T'was like talking to you in a dream. Am glad that it was not that way. Accumulated about 10 hours of "shuteye" last nite.

Called Pete at 7:00 this morning and asked him to drop by on his way to school. He and I discussed mom's car briefly and he was of the same opinion as I as to why it stopped Sunday. I asked him to call his buddy---the service manager---at Camp-Burdette. About 10:00 he phoned to say that he had done so and the answer was again the same: either there is a defective (sticking) valve in the transmission pump; a piece of grit was lodged in the valve and held it open; or there is some maladjustment of the shifting linkage. The ser. mgr. told Pete that he has known of similar cases. He said that sometimes shifting into reverse quickly, while drifting forward very slowly, will free the sticking valve. It is highly possible that there could be a sticking valve because those parts are fitted to extremely close tolerances. Your drive from Hagerstown could have caused sufficient expansion of the parts (from normal heat generation) to have eliminated the required clearance between certain parts and resulted in the malfunctioning. After the car sat for those several hours, the parts contracted, and when the car was again operated the part or parts which were binding became free again.

Again I should like to impress upon you and mom the necessity of insisting that the transmission he thoroughly inspected and repaired (dismantled if necessary) or replaced. Work through the district factory engineer if you can get to him. He is "Mr Oldsmobile" as far as you are concerned. The folks at City are primarily interested in protecting their investment and making a profit. When they received that car from the factory, they paid for it. All they spend on it now comes out of their pocket. The engineer, however, can order work done and the factory will re-imburse City Olds. After the warranty is out, City will be happy to repair it----at a cost of $150.00 or higher---or to replace it---a matter of about $300.00. Stay with them until you are satisfied that the car has been fixed. Dont just accept their word either. Take a couple of more trips under conditions the same as the one on Sunday. Put the cart under a load for brief periods (such as climbing a hill---or Gauley Mountain); get out on the parkway and shower down on it a few times (accelerate rapidly from 20 to 60; 30 to 60; 40 to 60; etc.); drop it into the passing gear and see how it shifts both on downshift and upshift. Dont be afraid of hurting the car. Remember if something is going to drop out of it, now is the time for it to drop (smile). In the classroom you dont just ask question which you know the kids can answer; you build your tests so as to make them s-t-r-e-t-c-h a bit and in this way you find out just how good they are. The same is true with the car. If you "baby" it until after 4000 miles, then when you are forced to call upon it to give that extra little bit in order to get out of a "cramp", you may find that the extra bit is missing. DONT RUN AT SUSTAINED HIGH SPEEDS however during the break-in. Rather, let-her-out for a mile or so and then slack off for a couple of miles. "After all, if you make the test too hard, the kids are sure to flunk"