Editing M4 Sherman (section)

===M4A2===
In Africa, the British engines ran for 700–900 miles (1130–1450&nbsp;km), or 180–200 hours. The engine had to be inspected and repaired after 100 hours, which significantly extended its service life, but there was not enough time for such work, and among crews, it was believed that there was little benefit in the procedure. The engine left much to be desired, as evidenced by attempts at modifications in the Eighth Army, which did not affect the reliability of the tank.<ref name="Archive Canadian Military Headquarters 1947"/> The Shermans also had other defects, including broken wiring, breaking ignition coils, and clutch rods.

The improved return roller design performed much better than that which the early Sherman production inherited from the M3. A February 1943 report described a unit where there were no broken bogey coil springs even after a 1,000-mile (1,600&nbsp;km) march. The tracks however suffered; the rubber flaked off and after a run of 600 miles (970&nbsp;km) the tracks were unusable. Some units rode on tracks without the rubber pads, but the rubber tires of the rollers wore down faster. The introduction of radially grooved tires helped to cope with overheating when driving fast in the desert, but de-lamination of the tires still led to cracks in the rollers after 300 miles (480&nbsp;km).

The<!-- Sherman Mk.III --> M4A2 performed very well in hot climates in general. The British sent as many of these as possible to the Mediterranean theater, retaining a minimum of vehicles for training in the UK. Complaints began to come in about carbon fouling of the [[Fuel injection|injectors]] due to oil getting into the combustion chamber.

Other mechanical problems were rare and were most common in the left engine. Shermans suffered from wear to tire trackpads which were mitigated by changing to all-metal tracks and ventilated rollers. The tanks proved to be very reliable with proper operation. In June 1943, it was noted that the average service life was estimated at 1,500 miles (2,400&nbsp;km). The M4A2 was rated "very high", while the M4A1 was rated "high".<ref name="Archive Canadian Military Headquarters 1947"/>

The Soviet [[6th Guards Tank Army]] determined the lifespan of their M4A2 Shermans to be {{convert|2000|to|2500|km|abbr=on}} or 250–300 hours, comparable to the T-34.<ref>{{citation |title=CAMD RF 500-12462-93 |work=Soviet Era Documents |publisher=Federal Archival Agency (Russia) |language=ru}}</ref>