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Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

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oldmgs
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:25 am
Location: Auckland

Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by oldmgs »

Greetings form New Zealand

I have recently purchased a 1954 Conquest. Apart from paint it is an original car with 75K on the speedo. I owned a Daimler V8 for many years, and in my youth in the 1960s a Lanchester 10 (at least I never got any speeding tickets in that!) so have returned to the fold.

I have three questions I am hoping someone might help with.

The steering box has an oil leak - I have tightened up the plate on the front which improved things a bit, but still leaking - however the steering is good. Reading previous posts on this topic I like the suggestion of replacing the oil with Penrite steering box lube, and have purchased some. But how much should I put in? Do I need to fill the box, or just apply it to the screw and rotate the wheel a few times to spread it out? Perhaps repeating from time to time. Also any suggestions for getting the old oil out - would I be able to get a tube in there and syringe it out?

First gear does not work although of course it pulls away fine in second. However my garage is at the bottom of a steep drive and getting up when cold is a bit hard. So would be nice to get 1st back. I have read up on the band adjustment process. When I select first the pedal comes all the way up. My understanding is that this means the band is too tight preventing toggling - is this correct.

Finally - are all the fixings on the Conquest BSW - or a mix of BSW and AF?

Thanks in advance.

Douglas

Douglas Ormrod
Auckland, NZ]
1954 Daimler Conquest
1660 Sun Wasp Scooter
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Daimler TM 1.jpg

Crossley Stephenson
Posts: 255
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:15 pm
Location: Victoria, Australia

Re: Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by Crossley Stephenson »

Hi Douglas

I think you will find that most of the n&b on a Conquest are UNC or UNF with a few BA and the odd BSW/BSF

Good luck
Michael

qantasqf1
Posts: 299
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2016 10:13 pm

Re: Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by qantasqf1 »

If reverse and top gear are OK then it’s fair to say adjustment of the external selector linkage is OK. As the pedal is travelling all the way up - I assume with some force - then it may be that the 1st gear strut spring has failed, preventing it from engaging the busbar. Not common, but it happens; at least it seems there’s a problem in this area. The strut can be replaced in situ if it’s anything like the DB18 box. (If the band adjustment is too tight as you suggested then pedal travel would be much reduced.) Of course, if the band adjustment is way, way out so the clearance between it and the annulus is so wide that the band simply can’t lock the annulus then tightening the pullrod nut by turning it a full turn (or more) clockwise may help if the strut is OK.
Steering box: the best way to locate the source of the leak is to clean the area up with petrol which will show where the oil is actually coming from. If it’s not from the bottom plate seal then it would almost certainly be coming from the rocker shaft oil seal. Top up with SAE 90 until the level comes up to the bottom of the filler orifice. No need to syringe the old oil out.
Steve

oldmgs
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:25 am
Location: Auckland

Re: Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by oldmgs »

Thanks for the info both.

Sorry about the long time to acknowledge - I though I would get an email when someone replied - but obviously not how it works.

Best wishes

Douglas

Pendle
Posts: 138
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 8:33 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by Pendle »

Douglas,

A couple of thoughts:

- with adding Penrite to the steering box, I took the cover off the box and filled more or less to where the oil level would have been.

- with the first gear issue, it is worth trying linkage adjustments first before getting into the gearbox. As a start, you could even try pulling the gear change lever up a little beyond the first position (but not into 2nd),and attempt to engage - if you are lucky, you may find that it does engage and that a simple linkage adjustment is all that is needed.
Chris Young
1954 DJ 250
1954 DJ 252
1957 DJ 254
1952 DB18 Special Sports

NZDaimler
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:59 pm
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Re: Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by NZDaimler »

Hi Douglas

On mine, for reverse I need to depress the gear change pedal 2-3 times and sometimes changing from 4 to 3, it will miss the gear, so now I move the lever from 4 to 2 to 3 and then gear change pedal. In the manual it suggests you can align the gears by running the car and depressing the gear change pedal 20 times in each gear. I did have one time that first gear wouldn't engage and required the cover off and adjustment ( a very difficult hill start, had to roll back to flatter) . Did Chris mention any issues with first gear ( I haven't seen the car for a few years).

We also have a club in NZ ... dloc.org.nz

Martin

Soundmike
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:54 am

Re: Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by Soundmike »

Hi Douglas. The most common source of leak is the drop arm seal. Penrite steering box oil is the story, NEVER use grease. The suggestion to try manipulation of the gearshift is the way to go. Otherwise, take the top cover off the gearbox (easy job) and inspect while selecting gears (engine off or it's very messy!) You will see how it works. If the spring on the selector is broken, it's an easy matter to remove the side cover which houses the selectors. I have a spare one, contact details on the dloc.org.nz website. Good luck and Merry Christmas, Mike.

Chris_R
Wise Man
Wise Man
Posts: 662
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 12:48 pm
Location: Twickenham

Re: Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by Chris_R »

oldmgs wrote: Thu Dec 12, 2019 9:42 pm Thanks for the info both.

Sorry about the long time to acknowledge - I though I would get an email when someone replied - but obviously not how it works.

Best wishes

Douglas
At the top (or bottom) of a thread is a "Subscribe Topic" box. If you click this box then you will get email notifications whenever someone updates the thread.

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John-B
Site Admin
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Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:10 pm
Location: Salisbury, UK
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Re: Conquest steering box leak and no first gear

Post by John-B »

Chris_R wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 8:04 am
oldmgs wrote: Thu Dec 12, 2019 9:42 pm Thanks for the info both.

Sorry about the long time to acknowledge - I though I would get an email when someone replied - but obviously not how it works.

Best wishes

Douglas
At the top (or bottom) of a thread is a "Subscribe Topic" box. If you click this box then you will get email notifications whenever someone updates the thread.
Yes, but you also have to check that your settings are set to do that. Click your username, top right, then User Control Panel, then Board Preferences, then Edit Notification Options and check that the email column for "Someone replies to a topic to which you are subscribed" is checked, and click Submit if you changed anything.

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