MOTOR AND CYCLE

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1929, Page 11

MOTOR AND CYCLE

IN CASE OF FLAMES. KEEP ENGINE RUNNING As most motorists know, a backfire is not the noisy discharge from the exhaust pipe, a sound quite familiar about our streets and probably too familial from cars while descending hills, but a fire back from the ignition chamber in the carburettor. The explosion through the exhaust system is not a serious matter from the point of view of a fire though such is net beyond the bounds of possibility—but a true backfire is quite a serious menace, and a frequent source of the loss of cars tnrough envelopment in flames. Should the fuel in the carburettor become ignited, threatening the destruction of the°vehicle, the thing to do is to keep the engine running, so that the flames are sucked into the. engine, and do not have much chance to spread. Then, when the car has been brought to rest, raise the bonnet—still with the engine running at a fairly fast pace —turn off the petrol at the vacuum tank or main tank, as the case may be, and the fire may bum itself out when the petrol is exhausted. There is, however, tho danger of the flames setting fire to the rubber insulation of the ignition wire and any oil which happens to be about the cylinder block, bo that one's precautions should not rest here. If the driver is one of those wise men who habitually carry an efficient fire extinguisher. It should be put into service straight away; otherB wiso throw sand or earth on the burning parts or otherwise smother the flames. Never under any circumstances use water. Petrol floats on water, and so far from being extingushed the flames will only be carried to other part of the car. Some motorists hesitate to use sand, as they are frightened of it getting into some delicate part of. tho car's mechanism.: but sand car. always be cleaned out afterwards, and in any case it is far better to injure one small part than to have the whole car consumed by fire. The best insurance against fires caused by blow-backs into the carburettor, however, is a car in perfect adjustment. The engine should never be neglected, but should bo regularly inspected.

THE LIFE OF A CAR MINIMUM OF 103,000 MILES. When a man takes delivery of a new motor car, the time which it will remain in his possession depends usually up o3l his financial position. If he be a wealthy man he may not retain the car for more than twelve months, “trading it in*’ for a new model of the same make, or otherwise disposing of it. There are a few fastidious persons who own two different cars in a year. Another class of driver uses his motor car so badly that at tho end of two, or at least three, years it has become, not. worn out, but broken down. The great majority of owner-drivers, however, do not part with their cars until they are no longer attractive and until the cost of replacements exceeds a reasonable figure.

Given reasonably careful attention, what is the life of a modern motor car? The question is difficult to answer, because it is rarely that a motor car remains in one ownership sufficiently long to provide really accurate data It may bo said that “old cars never die,” but it would not be unfair to take as equivalent of the “death” the period when frequent renewals of vital parts are required, and when the necessary annual overhaul costs so much that rather than face it the owner finds it more economical to buy a new car and sacrifice the old one “for a song.” Tho old car has become, in effect, of scrap-metal value. It may be said with safety, however, that any modern car —even the least expensive is “good” for a minimum of 100,000 miles. In the course of attaining this mileage small and inexpensive items , would probably have to be replaced—valve springs, universal joint pares, and perhaps a ball bearing or two hi the wheels might be cited as likely examples. The engine in the main, the gear box, tho back axle, and the coach work (as regards its actual structure) should easily bo good enough for such a mileage if reasonable attention has been given to them.