Engine Wear

Northern Advocate, 11 July 1936, Page 3 (Supplement)

Engine Wear

Hints For Drivers

Engine wear has been the subject of a good deal of research recently, and it is clear that, although he cannot do much, the driver can dcrsomething to reduce it, writes Mr Oliver Stewart, in the “Morning Post,” London. He can do a great deal more with the chassis, and it would not be much of an exaggeration to say that between two extremes of driving, there might be a difference of a 100 per cent, in wear. Let me note some of the precautions that must be used if a car is to be made to last as long as possible. The essential thing about engine \vear is that the time taken in warming up shall be cut to a minimum. It used to be the custom to allow the engine to “tick over” for some time after starting on a cold morning, so as to warm it gradually. That, it has now been shown, was a bad practice, likely to increase rather than diminish cylinder bore wear. The present method is to get the engine up to its normal working temperature with the least delay. Some makers fit thermostatic controls and by-passes in the water-cooling circuit to help in accelerating the warmingup process.

Engine Idling.

Again it seems probable, as a corollary, that it is a mistake, from the engine wear point of view, to set the engine to tick over too slowly. Some people glory in so slow a tick-over that one can almost count the ders firing, and they go to great lengths to achieve it. But lubrication may suffer by this process—although I know of no positive proof that it does. Anyhow, the belief among technologists now is that the engine should not be set to idle at much below 500 r.p.m. The methods of reducing wear in the transmission are fairly obvious. Violent acceleration must not be indulged in and the gears must be used sympathetically—and • that applies whether they are synchro-mesh, selfchanging, or the ordinary type. Especial attention must be paid to clutch work and the aim must be to insinuate the clutch when starting without previously greatly accelerating the engine. One of the old-fashioned theories used to be that, if the left foot rested on the clutch pedal during free running, it would gradually have the effect of weakening the clutch springs. Those who know what springs can do never believed in the theory. The real reason why it is bad driving to rest the foot on the clutch pedal is that the foot may ease the spring pressure and cause the clutch to slip slightly when under load. Continual clutch slipping soon calls for a new clutch plate.

Use Engine as Brake.

Much can be done in reducing brake wear. It is possible to drive for thousands of miles without ever applying the brakes to the full extent; without ever applying them harshly at all. By throwing the judgment forward, as it were, so that situations are weighed up well in advance, the amount of braking supplied by the engine will be found to be ample for all but the last few 'yards, and then only the lightest touch on the brake pedal will be needed. I think that the decline in the amount the free wheel is used is largely the result of the way most experienced drivers prefer to use the engine as a brake and hardly to touch the ordinary brakes. If the engine is used as a brake, the modern car with a flexible engine becomes in effect a car with single pedal control. One accelerates by pressing the accelerator pedal and one slows down by taking off the pressure. Under this system of driving the brake linings last for a long time, and if the brake linings last it may be taken for granted that the tyres will last.

Really the system of driving so as to reduce wear of all parts to a minimum may be summed up by saying that it consists in causing the car to move with the greatest possible smoothness at all times. It is never accelerated violently nor braked violently; nor is it ever swung violently round corners. It may not be exactly an inspiring form of driving; but it is restful, and it certainly results in economy of a high; order.