New car owner.

I need to know what oils I need to use in the crankcase and the cylinders of my White Model E (condensing) car?

Thank you

The oil that I use in my Whites is
Steam Cylinder --Morris' ST 1000 but I add 20 tallow(orlard)-Heated to melted and added to the warmed oil.
Crankcase ----Morris' Sentinel crankcase oil plus 20% tallow.

Before using this, I used the same oils straight. Arthur,Paul Morgan and myself all damaged our engines in the early 1990's when BSE was about and the lard part was substituted with rape seed oil. Some was put back in it -only a tiny percentage. Once the tallow is added the engine becomes quiet and sweet and I believe that one of the great attributes is that it cools down and sticks on the ball bearings in the engine,stopping them rusting.
In Edmonson's Manual 1910, when he tested the White engine (by far the most efficient steam engine in cars then) his comment on the oil was that it did not matter what the oil was but it neede 25% lardy-oil in it. Whites recommended W600 oil(Mobil I believe) but I have never found any for sale.
Whites did say that when you have the correct oil, stick with it.

This is very interesting. When I spoke to Arthur he said he uses tallow in the crankcase but not in the cylinder oil. The original manuals also give that information, and most information I have seen do not use tallow in the cylinder oil of condensing cars.

So, now I am confused a little with regard to the cylinder oil. Tallow or no tallow?

Thanks again

Bob,

Have you ever had any issues with the fatty bits from the oil gumming up the condensor?

Caleb Ramsby

Hello Caleb.
I do not worry too much about the condenser blocking. I have nevwr had that problem but have only been steaming my 1908 White for 20 years and about 12,000. miles. I think that if you have the steam hot enough it seems to send most of it through. I recon that it blocks the odd leak in the 1902 Whites condenser so welcome it.
You do get oil and the tallow coming through in the water tank. I put a sheet of Drizit in the tank each day and take the old one out, usually offering it to the nearest lady as a theraputic face flanel(surprisingly with no takers yet).

Arthur may well have a point in that the tallow thickens the cylinder oil especially on a cold day . I would like something a little lighter for the sake of the oil pump but it seems to cope without complaining. and you do find that the engine is sweet and all joints seem to be well clogged to stop leaking.

The oil can make the water quite milky - that must help the flowmotor piston to keep lubricated and probably helps the clack valves to seal. I flush out the water at the end of the day when I am at home to keep too much oil from going in the water.
Stanleys of course would damage their boilers around the tube plate with all this oil in the water.
If you blow down well from both ends of the coil, the White monotube seem to keep lovely and clean -perhaps the tallow stops them rusting too.

Hey Bob,

Thanks for the details, and your experiences I appreciate it.

Caleb Ramsby

Does anyone know the volume of oil in the crankcase of the Model E? The only reference I find does not explicitly give the required volume, but says that periodically the car should be drained and then rinsed with 2 quarts of oil prior to refilling.

But how much to refill with?

Thank you