MOTOR TRADE ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18629, 9 February 1924, Page 12 (Supplement)

MOTOR TRADE ITEMS.

.• -, Five cities - are reducing their motor -- .accident frecords <»w compared with las> year. These "safety' cities which repor. V decreases : are Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, * Seattle and Fargo. .Y. '■ * ■ * The state of New York officially recognfess automobiles as a necessity and not m a luxury. The State tax commission has changed its' 1824 application blank for registering privately-owned «■» so that "pleasure car" now reads passenger oar" Also ''manufacturer's year is now used instead of "year of manufacture." ; '/*•"" ' One o! .the most appreciated conveniences to the motoring public is the tree Air" service now run by most garages. I noticed a novel- service:• installed in Roller's garage, Khyber Pass, where an jur compressor, previously used in a Brush submarine for charging the air chamber with compressed air for the purpose of firing torpedoes, been coupled up to an internal combustion motor and compresses the air into two submarine casings. This outfit has a volume that assures permanent air service to the public and pressure to meet the requirement of some of the giant tyres now in use. the public would realise what these services cost to instal and maintain, they would «how their appreciation by giving the equipment carjful use. I Advice from Chicago states that used or second-hand cars are accumulating at a startling rate and tome dealers are hard put to it to find storage space for stocks on hand. Prices are low, but sales ot used cars remain quiet. Dealers are oner- * ing many inducements to used car buyers, such as 100 gallons of benzine free, very small deposits, discounts .. off quoted p-Jca lists, and additional . equipment. feme of the large dealers ate prepared to taka heavy losses on their used car stock. At present the reverse of the above is the condition of the local market. Several dealers who make a speciality of used cars inform me that there is a dearth of good second-hand cars of the light, modern type and that they have difficulty in being able to fill orders. DSNATUBKD ALCOHOL JOB CARBON One expedient for the removal of carbon deposits in the cylinders is to use denatured alcohol. ■ Squirt it into the cylinders through the spark plug holes, when the engine is hot, and then race the engine fox a minute or two. VESBATIOKS AMD 3PRAOTTTEE9. Vibration is frequently the unsuspected ; cause of this fracture of parts which appear to be adequately strong enough to stand m, to the work for which tney are intended. In this connection it is interesting to note that in many cases persistent fractures of certain motor-car components have been cured by reducing the size of the part concerned. • The reason cf this is that the reduced mass lessened the stress caused by vibration. A TROUBLE-FREE TREE*. Mr. and Mrs. Skeates and Mr. and Mrs. Melvin and party returned this week from ** a tour to Wellington wßich extended over a fortnight. The route taken was via Opotilri, - Motu, Cis borne, ' Napier, and wairarapa to Wellington, and the return via Msnawatu, Taihape, Ohakune, Horo- . pito, Waimarino, Tokaanu, Ectorua, and Hamilton,' . At Taihape they were warned that the ' toads were Dad, but nothing very troublesome was found. Again at Ohakune they w«re advised to avoid the road to Hioro£>ito, but out of curiosity the party decided to try it, and although it was ■ very rough and stone it oompared favourably with many ?of * our reads. At Waimarino the road through the National Park was : taken to Tokaanu and with ' th 3 exception of about 10 miles was very > good, and 40 miles per hour'was attained with ease. ' The road around Lake Taupo was in excellent order. "" From Hamilton to Auckland was the worst part of the trip, nothwithstanding that the Rangiriris were dry, and Mr. Skeates is convinced that those living in the southern portion of the North Island have no conception of what a really bad ' road is. The party covered. 1426 miles in two Oakland cars and had * trouble-free trip.""Nto t not even a puncture," Mr. Skeates smilingly replied. V - CONSTRUCTION OF THE VACUUM TANS. The vacuum tank is such a generally need unit in the car that a brief doscripiion of its construction and principle of operation will be appreciated by many owners. The vacuum tank consists of two separate units—the inner or filling chamber, and the outer' or • emptying chamber. She tank is closed by a cover fitted with four openings: {1) The; fuel inlet* connected to the fuel tank by the fuel pipe} (2) the vacuum connection, connected to the inlet manifold by the .vacuum pipe; (3) the air vent, an opening; to the outer air (4) The filler hole, closed by the ' filler plug. /'" .The outer chamber has two outlets— carburetter connection, and the drain. •• The float in the inner chamber is connected by means of an arrangement c' levers and springs to the air (atmospheric) ; and vacuum valves,, ' respectively, when the infie. chamber is empty, the float is down; the vacuum valve is then, open and the air valve is closed. The high vacuum in the inlet manifold is now transferred (through the vacuum valve to the inner chamber, causing the flapper valve to close. Fuel is drawn from the fuel tank through the fuel pipe into the inner chamber, causing the float to rise. When the float reaches its uttermost position, the vacuum valve tfloses, fand. the air ■ valve opens. The vacuum 'is thus cut ' off, and the inner chamber opened to the outer air. Fuel now flows from the inner chamber, through the flapper valve, into the. outer chamber, and then to the carburetter, the float gradually falling to the bottom. , When the - float reaches its lowermost position, the vacuum valve opens, and the air valve closes, this action -gain transferring the vacuum to the inner chamber, when the cycle of operations is repeated. Since the pouter chamber in constantly v open to* the outer - air" through the air vent and the passage, a perfect : and continuous flow of fuel to the carburetter is obtained. The air vent permits of an atmospheric condition being maintained in the outer chamber, and also serves to prevent fuel overflowing .in descending very steep • grades. If it should happen at long in- ' tervals that a very small quantity' of fuel leaks from the vent, no concern need be felt, and . no adjustment is needed If, however, the vent tube overflows regularly, it is quite likely the air vent in the fuel tank cap is too small or clogged with foreign matter, thus preventing the entrance of air through it. In this - case the hole should be enlarged somewhat or cleaned out, as the case may bo. Failure to Feed Fuel. This oondition may be due to causes other than malfunction of the vacuum system, such as no fuel, or the fuel Bhutoff cock (between the vacuum tank and the carburetter) may be closed. If, after depressing the flusher and holding it thus • for a minute or two, fuel flows or drips from the float chamber Or the bottom of the carburetter, the vacuum tank is functioning properly, and the fault lies elsewhere. Another test is to remove : the top of the vacuum tank and take out the float and other mechanism, leaving • only the outer shell. If. after filling this shell with fuel the engine still fails to run properly, the fault is clearly not that of the vacuum system. Accumulations of sediment in the bottom of the vacuum tank will clog the fuel outlet in its bottom, thus shutting off the flow of fuel to the carburetter. ■ .The drain plug should then be removed from the bottom of the vacuum tank, and ? the tank itself thoroughly flushed out. r In these circumstances, it 'is advisable to v disconnect and clean the feed pipe between the vacuum tank and the carburet- ; Awl -