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By: Contact Breakers – updated 2020
Messerschmitt (SACHS), engines were fitted with two different types of contact breakers. One type is SIBA fitted to all engines up to 1958 and fitted with SIBA starter system. The later type BOSCH equipped engines had a different contact breaker system. Both types are interchangeable by using the appropriate contact breaker mounting plate.
Gearbox Troubleshooting
Jumping out of 4th gear is not unusual for the Sachs 200 engine as most shifting is done between third and fourth when on the open road. This was always a difficult problem to solve and there were cases that even the factory mechanics could not cure. However, it is not common for the other gears to jump out of their selected positions into the adjacent neutral point. If this happens, double check the oil level in the gearbox. Use the clutch inspection cover to verify the oil level - it should be level with the bottom of the clutch inspection aperture.
Gearbox lubrication and gear oil selection
Jumping out of 4th gear is not unusual for the Sachs 200 engine as most shifting is done between third and fourth when on the open road. This was always a difficult problem to solve and there were cases that even the factory mechanics could not cure. However, it is not common for the other gears to jump out of their selected positions into the adjacent neutral point. If this happens, double check the oil level in the gearbox. Use the clutch inspection cover to verify the oil level - it should be level with the bottom of the clutch inspection aperture.
Adjusting and improving the Neutral Finder
This work is much easier to complete while the engine is out of the car and is certainly something that should be investigated during an engine overhaul. With many of these assemblies approaching fifty years old - many different people may have dismantled and adjusted parts each with varying skill levels. Measurement of these moving parts is not covered in any of the manuals because it was rarely required. Now that the parts are so much older, we have to correct wear caused by corrosion and incorrect assembly.
Setting up the Selector Quadrant – to avoid jumping gears
My Messerschmitt arrived, as do most restoration projects, as a rusty hulk and a pile of bits. At least the engine was fitted, well ?just? actually. It was secured in place by a single bolt (without a nut!) and none of the services were connected. It seemed the lowest of the priorities, until the body and running gear were nearly completed. Of course I had the usual bedtime reading, the ?Der Grosse Karo tips? and the Club Engine Re-build Manual. These formed a useful knowledge base to be read and memorised, until I got to the point where I had a nice shiny nearly finished Messerschmitt and no engine! That was when I thought that I should start to delve within the oily bits.