STARTING-UP

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 123, 26 May 1928, Page 18

STARTING-UP

In the old days when every ' man cranked, his car' by hand, it was considered the topnoteh of folly to crank1 through part of a revolution. Unless a broken arm was desired the only safe thing to do was to take hold of the hand-crank with a will and give it least one uninterrupted turn. Broken arms are a rarity now—the automotive' type, at least—and yet many owi I a are violating the old rule, ■thereby endangering themselves in another way: Fires have been started through letting the starter-motor crank only part of a revolution. It happens this way "The engine is warm arid ready for a, start. Knowing tfiis, the owner decides to step on the starter "for only a second or two. There is, as a consequence, a patrial revolution of the crankshaft,, ignition of the gas in one of tho cylinders, and then a backfire. As in the old days it pays to crank steadily and for several revolutions. This tends to- keep the engine rotating in the right—and safe—direction,. The niomentum of tho flywheel will conquer tho reverse force of a weak backfire. !