I hope that someone might have some advice on how to repair the carriage of my 1954 Olympia SM2. After reading some related posts on this forum, I found this helpful blogpost: http://xoverit.blogspot.com/2013/10/three-olympia-sm234-carriage-repairs_7.html

I cleaned the escapement mechanism and carriage rails with isopropanol, to get rid of sticky old oil. Next, I replaced the old rubber washers with new ones, and the height of the mechanism does not seem to be a problem. I have tried to tinker with the escapement rack alignment screws and the carriage rail adjustment screws, but still, the problem is this:

The carriage moves freely, seemingly without gripping the escapement mechanism properly. When pushed to the far right, the carriage instantly travels all the way to the left. When pushed back and forth, the carriage makes a ratcheting sound, and there is some resistance. If the spacebar or carriage lock is pushed when the carriage is about halfway, it seems as if the escapement sometimes gets the right grip. Then, the carriage advances as it should upon the typing of letters, and the ribbon advances too. But when the backspace is pushed, the carriage instantly is released, and is drawn all the way to the left. There is some resistance to the carriage movement when typing too.

I have tried to open the back panel to examine the escapement mechanism further, but this seems to be a tricky operation. I would be grateful if someone has a suggestion of what might cause this carriage problem, and how it might be fixed.