She says. . .

Press, 9 June 1978, Page 8

She says. . .

It’s remarkable the number of cars that don’t start well — and even more amazing the number of owners that seem prepared to put up with such a state of affairs. Surely, if a car doesn’t start after only a few turns of the motor, there’s something wrong. Yet in any suburban street, moring after morning, you'll hear folk “churning” away with their starters. Every make of engine seems to have a slightly different starting habit. With some, you mustn't touch the accelerator pedal at all. With others, you should depress it halfway. With others, give it a “pump” with your foot. In some models the choke must be fully out. In others, only half out. A few need use of the choke only when the snow’s thick on the ground. It’s pretty clear, too, that many drivers don't know what to do when an engine “floods.” You flood the engine when you use so much choke, churn so long, or pump the pedal so much that the cylinders get too much fuel pumped into them, and not enough air. The cure is easy. Just press the accelerator pedal slowly right down to the floor. Then hold it there while you work the starter. The first few turns of the motor will blow out

the excess petrol, and the motor will then start. Be ready to take your foot off the pedal, though, when the engine does start. Correct starting technqiue and a tune-up usually fix starting problems. Not always, though. A few weeks ago our family was on the West Coast, with the car parked outside overnight. It was raining heavily, but was very warm. The result was that anything metal left outside, even under cover, ran with water as the warm, wet air condensed on the cold metal surface. The car's engine, it turned out, was no exception. When it wouldn’t start, we lifted the bonnet to find the engine and the ignition dripping with condensation. Genera] drying out. and the use of one of those aerosol ignition-dry-ing prepartions (something that everyone should carry) got us going. Parking the car overnight in the same weather later produced the same problem. Why our car should have suffered so markedly from this, I don’t know. There’s not much room under the bonnet, so maybe the lack of airspace around the engine promotes condensation. It’s a problem worth being aware of. — Barbara Petre