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Help please !
On my sanction 4 LG 45 engine on the near side about half way along is a small square “turret”. It is cast as part of ,and integral to, the block – starting at the sump/block line and extending about 4 inches upwards. It is about 2 inches square and has a top secured with 4 studs and nuts. What is this for please ? Should there be anything ,like a gauze filter, inside. ? Is this any part of the maintenance schedule. ? I have taken the top off and there is nothing inside mine ! Should I be worried ? I have looked through David’s very helpful Manual but cannot find any mention of this.
any help much appreciated. Many thanks.
Any help please ? Or is it a mystery to everyone else as well ? !
Same on my LG6 engine, but with a fifth nut between and below the upper two. Unfortunately my engine is elsewhere so I can’t check any further. Maybe this was where the “Autokleen” arrangement was, on earlier versions of this engine.
Laurence
thanks Laurence. would still like to know a definite answer if anyone knows.
Hi Bill,
I am currently building up my sanction 1 engine and have recently done exactly the same as you in taking the top cover off and seeking to identify the purpose of the ‘turret’. Here are my findings from observation of a stripped engine and making a call to more knowledgable Lagonda owners than me!
The turret is part of the crankcase not the block. With the engine inverted (head off) and the sump removed it is evident the main oil pipe from the oil fiter loops over (under when upright) the crankshaft and feeds directly into the base of the turret. From here the oil fills the main oil gallery that runs the length of the crankcase and feeds the main/big end and camshaft bearings and rocker gear.
The flow of oil from pump via filter would be such as to fill the turret providing a ‘head’ of oil above the the main oil gallery. My belief is that Meadows realised the sump design (oil pump and pick up at the rear) would lead to occasional oil surge on heavy braking robbing the pump of oil. However, the turret full of oil sitting above the main gallery would keep the gallery full and a supply of oil would be maintained to the bearings until the pump gets its supply back. Davids manual states that no harm will be done if oil pressure (after heavy braking) returns within a few seconds and that is probably because the turret has done its job.
As regards to whether there should be a gauze filter inside the turret, I understand on the earlier (M45) Meadows there was a ‘basket filter’ in the turret, probably when the oil filtration system was an Autoclean. With the improved filtration of the LG45 it was I believe omitted and most early cars fitted with upgraded filtration during a rebuild have it omitted. I have never read anything about routine maintenance of the turret or ‘basket flter’ so assume when fitted it was assumed it would be cleaned when the engine was stripped for repair which as we know was quite a regular occurence in the 1930s
I hope the above makes sense and I welcome correction by those more knowledgeable than myself
Best Regards
Mark (Y2)
Our M45A engine is from September 1935 (twin Magneto, GN6 and Vertex) The turret cap has the words “Clean Often” cast in. There was a gauze cylinder inside which is still there doing whatever it does! We now have an additional spin on type that was fitted as part of the engines rebuild.
Interestingly the huge amount of sludge built up in the sump was rock solid, and took several weeks to disperse in a heated tank of detergent.
The later 1936 instruction book I have mentions the spin on filter and the need to change the element, but not the turret so presumably it was out of action by then.
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