1930 Cadillac Brochure Front Cover - GM Heritage Center

gauge should remain at zero, but as soon as the engine is started
and as long as it runs, the gauge should show pressure. If the
gauge does not show pressure when the engine is running, stop
the engine at once and determine the cause. Serious damage may
be done if the engine is run without oil pressure.
Ammeter
The ammeter should indicate on the "Charge" side most of
the time. Otherwise, more current will be taken out of the
battery than is put into it and the battery will eventually become
fully discharged.
Fig. 8. The ammeter indicates
the amount of electrical current
flowing to or from the battery.
Clutch Pedal
Ordinarily, when no lights
are in use, the ammeter should
show "Charge" as soon as the car
is running ten or twelve miles
per hour in high gear. If the ammeter
should show "Discharge"
with all lights off, either when
the engine is not running or
when the car is running more
than twelve miles per hour, the
cause should be investigated.
The clutch has two uses: First, to enable the car to be started
gradually and without jerk or jar; second, to permit shifting of
the transmission gears. The operation of the clutch is discussed
below in connection with the transmission control. Further
comment is unnecessary at this point, except the following
suggestions to the driver:
Do not drive with the foot resting on the clutch pedal. The
Cadillac clutch operates so easily that even the weight of the
driver's foot may unintentionally cause the clutch to slip.
[16]
Do not form the practice of disengaging the clutch whenever
the brakes are applied. Most occasions for use of the brakes
require only slowing down without stopping or even shifting
gears. A skilled driver will not touch the clutch pedal until the
car is just about to stop or until he is about to shift to a lower
gear. It is a mistaken idea that applying the brakes with the
clutch engaged is more severe on the brake lining. The opposite
is actually the case, proof of which is in the fact that in coasting
down grades, the resistance of the engine is used to assist the
brakes in controlling the car speed.
It will be observed in
operating the clutch pedal
that the pedal offers almost
no resistance until it has
been moved about one inch.
It is at this point that it
actually begins to disengage
the clutch. It is important
that the pedal have this
"lost motion." If the full
pressure of the clutch springs
is felt just as soon as the
pedal is moved, the control
rod should be readjusted.
Failure to make this adjustment
will result in the
clutch slipping.
Transmission Control
Fig. 9. A good driver uses the clutch
pedal only when shifting gears or about
to stop.
The operation of the Cadillac Syncro-mesh transmission is,
in general, the same as the operation of the conventional selective
sliding-gear type of transmission. The positions of the
control lever for the various speed combinations are the same
and the directions in which the control lever is moved are the
[17]