MOTORING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 31 December 1927, Page 13

MOTORING

STARTING DIFFICULTIES.

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Even in these days it is a common thing to tincl that quite a number *>. people haie considerable diniculty in starting up from cold. This trouble might be due to a variety or causes, and beiore condemning any particular component of the design of the engine it is well first of all to. see that the tappet clearances are correct,• and that the ignition system and carburetter are in good condition. In particular, investigation should be made as to whether there are any air leaks in the induction system, notably between the flange where the carburetter is attached to the induction pipe and also the valve guides. If everything is found to he Tn order, then some other solution must be looked for, as the engine most probably is one of those which must be classified as an inherent bad starter. One of the chief causes of bad starting is the use of an unsuitable oil, which results in the gumming up of the pistons and rings, thus making the engine very difficult __ to turn oven by use of the handle. Frequently it can be traced to maladjustment of the carburetter. Starting difficulties also frequently occur when the engine is warm, which may be due to abuse of the strang.eland the resultant flooding of . the cylinders with pure petrol, which does not, unless mixed with a proportion ot air, constitute an explosive mixture. The same trouble to a lesser degree occurs if the slow-running device is set to give too rich a mixture. In this instance difficult starting when warm may be associated with very easy starting" from cold. It must not be assumed, however, that carburation must always be blamed, fox- it will frequently be found that ignition is the cause of the trouble. First of all make sure that the magneto is giving a good spark, that the make-and-bx-eak is clean and the gap properly adjusted. Sparking plugs are also a contributors- cause to starting ti-oubles, being either dirty or with a gap that is too big or too" small. It will be found in many cases that the starters fitted to cars are xxnable to cope with ' the engine when it has been left overnight, with the result that the handle has to be used. In fact, many owners make a practice of never using the starter in these circumstances. After all is said and done, however, the stax-ter is fitted for the purpose of getting the engine under way, no matter whether hot or cold, and the use of the handle should be a thing of the past. The fact remains that- in a great number of instances the storage batteries fitted ai-e unable to cope with a cold engine.

MANAGING A CAR.

SYSTEM NECESS AT? Y. If a little of the system people use in their business would be applied to the running of their cars there would be far less need for repair shops or the laying off of machines when their services are needed most. Because on ( > car owner of my acquaintance failed to keep a record of the parts of the ear he greased and the mileage dates he over-oiled the generator and the starter motor and overlooked a universal .joint entirely. He lost two days’ use of the car while the service station was making amends for his mistake. One of the most important things in managing a car is to keep account of all supplies bought for the ear, together with the date and .mileage reading of the speedometer when purchases are made. This tells you right off the reel how long it has been since you last changed the oil in the crankcase and what mileage the car is giving to flic gallon of gas. The advantages of knowing tae former are that it keeps from going to the trouble of changing oil too often, and forestalls the possibility of burning a bearing as a result of running the car far too long a period on one filling of lubricant.

MOTOR CYCLE DESIGN.

MUi.TI-CYT .IN I>El{. MACHINES

lii manv ways the T!i*iii.sk motorcycle industry is far ahead of all rivals, and because of this there is the somewnat natural tendency for manufacture. s to lest on their JaureU. Many years ago the single-cylinder car died an unregi-etted death; and even trie . twin-cylinder four-wheeler is only made by very lew firms. ket the greatest motor-cycle country in the world sciil pins its faith to the tsinglecyiinder engine. Its disadvantages are self evident to even the most nilmechanical motor-cyclist. The poor balance of its moving parts, its rough running at low speeds, its noisy exhaust are but a few or its undesirable characteristics. The four-cylinder engine is more complicated, in that there are many moving parts; but this does not appear to necessitate an appreciable increase in production costs, lor the proprietary- tour-cylinder car engine compares very favourable in price with the motor-cycle unit. The balance or a ‘‘four,” although not perfect, is immeasurably superior to that of a single or. a twin-cylinder engine; its innate lack of exhaust noise, its smooth running, particularly at low speeds—all these traits should surely recommend it even to the most conservative. Added to which, other things being equal, the power output, of a multi-cylinder engine is greater than that of either a single or a twincylinder unit. This point has not yet been proved with motor-cycle engines, but is acknowledged as fact by car designers.

SLOW HORSE TRAFFIC.

A movement is afoot in Bond on to urge the Ministry for Transport to take steps to deal with the losses caused by the slow movement of traffic, resulting from the use of horse-drawn vehicles.| Some remarkablo figures have been produced to support a change in traffic arrangements. The railway companies own about 33,000 horse-diavvn vehicles, compared with 2501 motor vehicles. In support of the claim for speeding up traffic the London General Omnibus Company asserts that it would save £500,000 ~a year if horses were diverted from "Hie main traffic routes. Figures are computed on the average speed of buses under the present traffic conditions, which reduce the omnibus average speed to only nine miles an hour. The company pays out in wages for drivers £5,000,000 a year, and if the speed of the buses could be increased by- only 'one mile an hour the large saving mentioned above would, it is said, be made.

BRAKES WHICH “HANG ON.”

A disconcerting and even dangerous vagary of a rear brake occurs when the brake takes hold fiercely and docs not immediately release when the foot i 3 taken off the brake pedal. jOf course, this may bo due to defective mechanism in the brake assembly itself, hut before going to the trouble of dismantling the whole brake to search for this, lubricate all the brake mechanism, such as rods and cross-arms, very- carefully. With some car s the spindle which operates the brake shoes, and to one end of which the lever which connects with the flexible brake cable is attached, is of considerable length and runs through a tube which operates the other brake on the same wneel. Neglect to keep this cross-arm and tube well oiled-has been known to cause one to bind inside the other and to produce the effect of making the brake lag for 'some seconds after the pedal is released.

KERBSTONE TYRE DAMAGE.

Few people seem to be able to visualise the damage that may be caused to tyres by careless' parking of thencans against the laerbstone. Most or the covex- bruises and undue stretching of the carcase fabric are due to the localisation upon one spot for long time periods of the whole weight ot the cai* upon some one section of the tyre. The less air carried in the tyre the greater the damia’ge. This especially applies to the present-day lowpressure tyre. A fruitful source of this damage is the daily bumping in and out of the home garage in the absence of a proper ramp approach. Either the sill of the garage is too high- or the kerb -is insufficiently bridged. It is generally the side walls of the tyres that -suffer, and damage of this kind cannot as a rule be repaired. It is well worth while to keep a suitable plank—in the absence of a permiaixent ramp—cut. to a suitable wedge (shape, that can be put down to protect the tyres from shocks of this kind.