WHEELS AND TIRES3G- 61Cornering Tread WearThe modern independently-sprung automobile al-
lows the driver to negotiate turns at a high rate of
speed with a greater feeling of safety. This fact is
responsible for a comparatively new type of tread
wear that can easily be mistaken for toe or camber
wear.When a car is making a turn, the tires are supposed
to be rolling in a circle. When the turn is made at
high speed, however, centrifugal force acting on the
car causes the tires to be distorted sideways and to
slip or skid on the road surface. This produces a
diagonal cross type of wear, which in severe cases
will result in a fine or sharp edge on each rib of the
tire treads.
Cornering wear can be distinguished from toe or
camber wear by the rounding of the outside shoulder
of the tire and by the roughening of tread surface in
this section denoting severe abrasion. See Figure
3G-7.No alignment or tire pressure cahnge can be made
that will relieve cornering wear. Only the driver can
effect a cure and that is by slowing down on curves.
Heel and Toe Tread WearHeel and toe wear is a saw-tooth effect with one end
of each tread block worn more than the other.
The end which wears is the one that first grips the
road when the brakes are applied. High-speed driv-
ing and excessive “se of the brakes will cause this
type of irregular tire wear. This type of wear will
occur on any type of block tread design. See Figure3G-7.
Heel and toe wear is not so prevalent on the rear tires
because of the propelling action which creates a
counteracting force which wears the opposite end of
the tread block. These two stresses on the rear tires
wear the tread blocks in opposite directions and re-
sult in more even wear while on the front tires, the
braking stress is the only one which is effective. This
may be counteracted by interchanging tires.
A small amount of irregular wear, slightly
saw-toothed in appearance, at the outer segments of tires
is a normal condition and is due to the difference in
circumference between the center and the outer
edges of the tire tread. This saw-toothed appearance,
however, will be exaggerated by underinflation, im-
proper toe-in, or both.Cupped or Scalloped Type Tire Wear
Cupping or scalloping is associated with wear on acar driven mostly at highway speeds without recom-
mended tire rotation. Factors which promote cup-
ping include underinflation, incorrect toe-in setting
or camber setting, and steady highway speeds on
smooth, paved surfaces as opposed to gravel or
rough asphalt.
The following recommendations suggest action that
may be taken to help prevent cupping.
1. Rotate tires as recommended in Figure
3G-6.2. Frequently inspect front tires for irregular wear
due to underinflation, improper toe-in setting, or
camber setting. Regardless of the original cause of
cupped tread wear on either front tire, no alignment
or balance job, however perfect, can prevent future
excessive wear of the spots. Once a front tire acquires
flat or cupped spots, additional wear will continue at
a rapid rate. At the time of correction, however, the
cupped tire should be interchanged with a rear tire
on which the tread runs true. The cupped tire will,
to a certain degree, true itself on a rear wheel.
Although not normally the cause of cupping, the
following factors can contribute to the problem.
Looseness of parts in the suspension system, such as
worn steering knuckle ball joints, loose wheel bear-
ings, inoperative shock absorbers, and any excessive
looseness throughout the steering system all tend to
allow the front wheels to kick around and, if any of
the wheel alignment factors are incorrect, irregular
spotty tire tread wear of one type or another may
result.
Wobble or runout of a tire, either front or rear, due
to bent wheel or to tire being improperly mounted
will cause uneven wear.
MAINTENANCE AND ADJUSTMENTSDEMOUNTING AND MOUNTING
TUBELESS TIRESDue to “se of symmetrical rims, tires must be
mounted over the narrow rim shoulder i.e., over out-
side rim flange.
When demounting a tubeless tire “se care to avoid
damaging the rim-seal ridges on tire beads DO NOT
USE TIRE IRONS TO FORCE BEADS A WA Y
FROM WHEEL RIM FLANGES.
When tire is removed, inspect it carefully to deter-
mine whether loss of air was caused by puncture or
by improper
tit of beads against rim flanges. If im-
proper fit is indicated, check wheel as follows: Do
not reuse dented rims.
3G- 621973 OPEL SERVICE MANUAL
1. Clean rims thoroughly, using No. 3 coarse steel
wool to remove all oxidized rubber, soap solution,
etc. Remove rust with wire brush.2. Inspect butt weld and other areas of rim contactedby tire beads to make certain there is no groove or
high spot. Remove any groove or high spot by tiling
smooth.
3. Inspect valve stem and replace it if damaged.
Make certain that valve stem is properly installed to
provide an air tight joint.
4. Before mounting a tubeless tire on a wheel, mois-
ten a cloth with mounting compound or soap solu-
tion and wipe rim-seal ridges of both beads to remove
all foreign substances.
5. Moisten base of both beads with mounting com-
pound or soap solution to help beads snap into place
when tire is inflated. Start tire over rim flange at
point opposite valve stem.
6. Inflate tire until both beads are firmly seated
against rim flanges and temporarily over inflate.
Leak test wheel and tire assembly and if satisfactory,
reduce to recommended pressure.
SPECIFICATIONSWHEEL AND TIRE BALANCE
Wheel and tire balance is the equal distribution of the
weight of the wheel and tire assembly around the axis
of rotation. Wheel unbalance is the principal cause of
tramp and general car shake and roughness and con-
tributes somewhat to steering troubles.
The original balance of the tire and wheel assembly
may change as the tire wears. Severe acceleration,
severe brake applications, fast cornering and side slip
wear the tires out in spots and often upset the origi-
nal balance condition and make it desirable to rebal-
ance the tire and wheel as an assembly. Tire and
wheel assemblies should be rebalanced after punc-
tures are repaired.
Because of the speed at which cars are driven, it is
necessary to test the wheel and tire assembly for
dynamic balance. Dynamic balancing of a wheel and
tire assembly must be done on a machine designed to
indicate out-of-balance conditions while the wheel is
rotating on the car. Since procedures differ with dif-
ferent machines, the instructions of the equipment
manufacturer must be carefully followed.
General SpecificationsWheels
Opel 1900
- Manta and GT ,._......,,,._.................,...,,..............................~,,,.................... 5.J x 13
Tires
1900 - Manta __.......,,___.,...,,..,.....,,....,,...........,...,,.,,...,.........,,..................,....................... 165-13
GT . . . . . . . ..__........_..............,...,,........,,,...,,..........,....,..,,...,,........,..................,,,.....................165-13
Tire Size and Pressures (Pounds Per Square Inch
Cold)
ModelTire Size51.53.54.57
165-1357R.57L165-13
77
165-13Recommended(Standard
PressureInflation)
FrontRear24
PSI32PSI23
PSI26PSI
19PSI23
PSI
NOTE:
1.Tire inflation pressures may increase as much as 6 pounds per square inch
when hot.
2.For continuous high-speed operation (over 75 MPH), increase tire inflation
pressures 4 pounds per square inch over the recommended pressures up to a
maximum of 30 pounds per square inch cool for 4 ply rating tires. When the
4 psi pressure adjustment for sustained high speed with maximum vehicle load
WHEELS AND TIRES36-63would require inflation pressures above the maximum allowable, speed must be
limited to 75 miles per hour.
3.Cool tire inflation pressure: After vehicle has been inoperative for 3 hours
or more, or driven less than one mile. Hot tire inflation pressure: After vehicle
has been driven
10 miles or more at 60-70 MPH.
4.Vehicles with luggage racks do not have a vehicle load limit greater than
specified.
5. When towing trailers, the allowable passenger and cargo load must be
reduced by an amount equal to the trailer tongue load on the trailer hitch.
Torque SpecificationWheelNuts
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65lb.ft.
IFigure 3G-8 Wheel and Tire - Exploded View
5B- 121973 OPEL SERVICE MANUAL
A = BRAKE ON
THE RUBBER FLUID SEAL TIGHTLY GRIPPING PISTON
IS DEFLECTED IN DIRECTION OF PISTON TRAVELAFRICTION PAD
BRAKE DISCRUBBER FLUID SEALBRAKE
IICALIPER
IPISTON
I
CE BETWEEN RUNNING CLEARAN
FRICTION PAD AND BRAKE DISC
B = BRAKE OFFBTHE PISTON IS RETRACTED BY THE AMOUNT OF
RUBBER FLUID SEAL DEFLECTION. THIS AMOUNT
IS EQUAL TO RUNNING CLEARANCE.SBZZ
Figure 58-22 Rubber Fluid Seal -Automatic Piston Retractiondraulic pressure, and the friction pads and pistonsmove away from the brake disc, leaving a small run-
ning clearance. The brake disc can now rotate freely.
The amount of brake travel is dependent upon the
amount of running clearance. For this reason therunout of the brake disc should be checked, besides
bleeding of the brake system and adjusting the rear
brake shoes, when the pedal free travel is too great.during braking, the rubber seals in the annular
grooves of the brake caliper bores deflect laterally in
the direction of piston movement. See Figure
5B-22,View (A). The seal remains deflected for the duration
of the braking operation. After braking, the caliper
bores are relieved of hydraulic pressure and the rub-
ber seals resume their normal position, thus pulling
or retracting the pistons. The distance traveled by
the pistons is equal to that of the running clearance
between brake disc and friction pads.
The running clearance between brake disc and
fric-tion pads is attained as follows: When the pistons in
the caliper halves are moved towards the brake discThe shifting of the pistons in the direction of the
brake disc due to friction pad wear has no effect on
the running clearance. The running clearance re-mains the same in all piston positions.
DIAGNOSIS
DISC BRAKE TROUBLE DIAGNOSIS
ConditionPulls
Possible Cause
I. Incorrect tire
pressures.Correction1. Inflate evenly on both sides to
the recommended pressures (see
Owner’s Manual).
98-26 1973 OPEL SERVICE MANUAL
greater than the opposing pressure in the power ele-
ment. Therefore, the valve remains closed. When the
compressor is started, it will reduce the pressure and
temperature of the refrigerant in the cooling coil to
a point where the vapor pressure in the power ele-
ment becomes the stronger. The seat then moves off
the orifice and liquid starts to flow through the valve
orifice into the cooling coil.
The purpose of the power element is to help deter-
mine the quantity of liquid that is being metered into
the cooling coil. As the temperature of the low pres-
sure line changes at the bulb, the pressure of
the
vapor in the power element changes, resulting in a
change of the position of the seat. For example, if the
cooling coil gets more liquid than is required, the
temperature of the low pressure line is reduced and
the resultant lowering of the bulb temperature
reduces the pressure of the vapor in the power ele-
ment, allowing the seat to move closer to the orifice.
This immediately reduces the amount of liquid leav-
ing the valve. Under normal operation, the power
element provides accurate control of the quantity of
refrigerant to the cooling coil.
To employ our tire pump analogy once more for
clarity, it is the same situation that would exist if you were inflating a tire with a very slow leak. Providing
you pumped the air into the tire as fast as it leaked
out, you would be able to maintain pressure even
though the air would merely be circulating through the tire and leaking out through the puncture.
To Sum Up
So far, we’ve discussed only what each unit in an air
conditioning system does. We’ve learned that the
evaporator is the unit in which liquid refrigerant
soaks up heat from the air, the compressor is a pump
for squeezing this heat out of the vapor, the con-
denser is a radiator for getting rid of the heat, and the
thermostatic expansion valve is a device for regulat-
ing the pressure on the refrigerant. Now, let’s
find
out how the temperature of the cooled air is con-
trolled.
METHOD OF TEMPERATURE CONTROL
To achieve temperature control, the compressor is
run intermittently, automatically turning on and off
as necessary to maintain proper temperature.
Thermostatic Switch
The compressor can be started and stopped au-
tomatically through the use of an electro-magnetic
clutch and a thermostat affected by variations of temperature.
The job is usually done by a gas bulb thermostat (Fig.
9B-21).
Figure 9B-21 Thermostatic Switch Schematic
With the gas bulb type of thermostat, a highly expan-
sive gas is sealed into a metallic bulb which is located
in the air stream as it leaves the evaporator. A small
tube leads from the bulb to a bellows operated switch. As air temperature rises, the gas inside the
bulb expands, travels through the tube to the bellows
and closes the electrical switch that engages the com-
pressor clutch.
Of course, as soon as the compressor starts running,
the temperature begins to go down. As the air being
cooled gets colder, the gas in the thermostat bulb
begins to reduce the pressure on the switch bellows.
This
Ilips “off’ the switch and disengages the com-
pressor clutch.
REFRIGERANTS
No matter how scientifically refrigerating machinery
is built or how
efftciently it runs, it alone cannot
remove heat. The only thing that carries heat out of
a refrigerator cabinet or an automobile is the sub-
stance we call the refrigerant.
There are many refrigerants known to man. In fact,
any liquid that can boil at temperatures somewhere
near the freezing point of water can be used.
But a boiling point below the temperature at which
ice forms is not the only thing that makes a good
refrigerant. A refrigerant should also be non-
poiso-
nowand non-explosive to be safe. Besides that, we
want a refrigerant that is non-corrosive and one that
will mix with oil.
Since Nature did not provide an ideal refrigerant,
chemists went to work to see if they could do any
better. They did! But it wasn’t as simple as that.
At first, they tried to improve existing natural refrig-
erants. But after exploring innumerable trails along
Subject
Page NumbelSubjectPage Number4.Speed Manual I..
Clutch
Detent Cable Adjustment
:Differential
Directional Signal Switch
Repair Opel 1900 & Manta
Repair GT
:Disassembly of
4.Speed Manual Transmission
DistributorFunction of Valves and Hydraulic Control Units
Opel
3.Speed Automatic.................
74-21
Fuse Chart..............................lG-56
Fusible Link.............................
lA-8Specifications.
Point Replacement..
..,78-127A-
17c-9148-73E-393E-4878.23
1C-26
1 c-20
GEGas Tank See Fuel Tank
General Specifications
Engine...............................6A-28
Opel 3.Speed Automatic
.................7C-134
Transmission, Manual.,
..................78-33
Clutch...............................7A-7
Body................................ZA-4
Governor Drive Gear
Opel
3.Speed Automatic.................7C-103
Grille
Opel 1900 & Manta.....................8A-7
GT..................................8A-6 Electrically Heated Rear Window
Engine
General Description
Cooling System
Lubrication System
Trouble Diagnosis
Exhaust Manifold
Exhaust System
Removal and Installation
External Oil Leaks,
Opel 3 Speed Automatic
FFast Idle Adjustment
..................
Filter-Engine Oil
......................
Fluid Checking Procedure Transmission
Opel 3Speed Automatic.............
Frame-Opel 1900 & Manta.............
Frame
GT-Opel......................
SWVOOpel Xipeed Automatic...........
Front Suspension
Opel1900&Manta.................
GT..............................
Front Wheel Alignment................
Front Wheel Bearing Adjustment
All Series.........................
Fuel Gauge
Trouble Diagnosis
Opell$OO&Manta...............
GT............................
Fuel Pump Operation..................
Fuel System
Fuel Tank (Opel 1900 & Manta)
.......
Fuel Lines (Opel 1900 & Manta)
.......
Fuel Tank
(GT)....................
Fuel Gauge Tank Unit
(GT)...........
Fuel Lines
(GT)....................
Fuel Tank Removal and Installation....
Cleaning Tank.....................
lH-576A-268-326A-46A-66A-126D-427C-816E-51
oc-77C~Bl2B-826-77c-1003A-23A-23C-223A-4
HHazard Warning Flasher
....................lG-55
Headlamp Aiming
.........................1 F-46
Headlamp Switch
Opel 190.0 & Manta
.....................1 F-46
Headlamp Mechanism GT
..................8A-2
Heater System Opel 1900 &Manta
Trouble Diagnosis
......................9A-11
Description and Operation
................9A-10
Adjustments and Minor Service............9A-12
Removal and Installation
.................9A-12
Specifications..........................$A-16
Heater System GT
Trouble Diagnosis
......................9A-4
Description and Operation
................9A-2
Adjustments and Minor Service
............9A-4
Removal and Installation.................9A-5
Specifications..........................$A-9Horn
Operation.............................lG-54
Hydraulic Operation
Opel
3.Speed Automatic.................7C-64
IIdentification Number Vehicle...............
OA-1ldle.Adjustment
..........................6E-51
Inflation Pressures, Tires.
...................36-62
Ignition Coil
Specifications.
.........................
lC-26Identification, Engine
......................
OA-1Ignition System
Timing...............................
lC-20Instrument Panel Parts Removal
SubjectPage Number1
Throttle Linkage Adjustment........,:.......6E-51
Timing Chain Cover.......................6A-23
Timing Chain and Sprocket.........
':.......6A-23
Tires...................................36-55
Inflation.....................
.;.......3G-62
Rotation.............................36-57
Sizes.........................
........3G-62
Track Rod..............................3F-53
Transmission Oil Pan
Automatic Transmission.................7C-99
Transmission Reassembly
4 Speed Manual. 1.9.....................76-28Tranmission Removal and Installation
4 Speed Manual
Removal...........................7B-22
Installation.........................76-22
Auto&tic............................7c-94Tune’Up Procedure........................66-65
Torque Specifications. Engine...............6A-27
Turn Signal See Directional Signal
Universal Joints..........................4A-3Subject
VPage Number
Vacuum Modulator..7C-101
Valve Body Transmlssmn7C.99
Valve and Seat Reconditioning Engine6A-12
WWater Pump Engine1.9L Engine
Wheels
Wheel Alignment
Whee! Bearing, Adjustment,
Windshield Wiper and Washer:
Trouble Diagnosis:Description and Operation
Removal and Installation
Specifications
Wiring Diagrams Complete
Opel 1900 ._.
Manta
GT
1 E-37
1 E-37
1 E-38
1 E-43
1 J-l 03
1 J-l 05lJ-10768-3436-553C-223A-4