HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20887, 19 August 1939, Page 28 (Supplement)

HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

JAMMED STARTER TROUBLE HOW TO OVERCOME IT The jammed starter is a trouble which, in most instances, can be overcome by the. driver, providing he knows how to go about it. unite frequently motorists require road service for a trouble which they describe as ••gears jammed," although ! in neaty every instance it has turned j out to be a jammed starter. When there is doubt on this question, de-clutch and try to move !lip i gear handle. If it moves, then it must j be starter trouble. In any case, gears i do not stick as a rule when an engine [ is being started. When a .starter is jammed, no at- j tempt to release it should be made with the starting handle. The reason for this Is that a backward movement is needed to release it. The handle can only move the engine forward, and any forward mosement will only serve to jam the starter more tightly. The best thing to do is to put the car in top gear and rock il backwards ! and forwards, putting more weight on the backward movement. The en- • gine should be switched off, or course, j If this fails to release the starter, the only other course open is to slacken the holts holding the starter to the en- j gine and repeat the process of rock- j ing the car with the gear lever in top. j If this does not correct the trouble, • then expert assistance should no ! called. MODERN CAR TYRES There seems to be no limit to the size that pneumatic tyres can be made. : When J. B. Dunlop gave the world 1 the practical pneumatic tyre in 1888, ' the invention was thought to be only J of value from a cycling standpoint. : It certainly achieved its inventor’s in- : tention, for some 4,000,000 bicycles ' are in use throughout the world to- \ day, and the number is increasing greatly every year. i Then came the motor ear, with its j call for larger tyres. With the ad- j vent of commercial motor vehicles, . still larger and stronger tyres were forthcoming. To-day, more than 4 5,000,000 cars, commercial motor vehicles, and motor cycles, shod with pneumatics, are serving mankind and industry in all civilised parts of tho globe. With ille coining and rapid development of aviation, the pneumatic tyre was again needed, and in this connection lightness and the ability to provide great resiliency with resistance to concussion were essential. They have been met by tyre manufacturers. Tyres for tractors and other land transport units have created further problems for tyre technologists, and no sooner are they presented than they are tackled and quickly overcome. If you do stall in the water, engage J low gear and drive out on the starter ! button. Brutal, but it works.

A COLUMN FOR MOTORISTS

CORROSION ON BATTERY METHOD FOR REMOVING ! A simple method nf removing corrosion from the positive post of a bat- I tery and its cable lug, is to take a ! small tin. fill it with water and heat up. i Then throw in a small quantity of snap ! [ powder, or oven a piece of soap itself. 1 i Dip the cable l.ug into the solution for j ia few moments, when the corrosion! i can he wiped off, and at the same time, j ill traces of the acid adjacent will be j | neutralised. The battery post can he i cleaned by soaking the corrosion with the soap solution. If the post and lug 1 are then wiped dry and smeared with j vaseline, further trouble of this nature will be avoided. INFLATE THE SPARE Because the spare tyre In most ; cars is hidden away in the luggage ; boot, it is common to forget about it ] when going round the other tyres ! with an air hose, with the result that las the air gradually leaks out of i : , | the owner is faced with the task of j j pumping it by hand when a puncture j | Thus, it is wise occasionally to j i check the spare and inflate with a | greater pressure than is required in i running to allow for some of the inevitable leakage. If the tyre punctures soon after doing this, it is easier to let air out to reaeli the proper pressure than pump it in by hand, i If a mysterious rumble occurs in ; the luggage boat, it sometimes will ■be found that the spare tyre and ; wheel arc to blame. The method of ; fixing the spare in place is not always : completely successful in eliminating up-and-down movement. Sometimes ' the wheel alternately hits the shelf ;above it and the floor beneath, caus-[ ling the noise.

AMMONIA AS PETROL | According to h recent issue of a French journal, a new process has been evolved whereby liquid ammonia can he transformed into a high octane number mixture of ammonia and hydrogen, for use in the conventional petrol engine. The necessary equipment for using this fuel is similar to that for compressed household gas. It is stated, however, that the fuel weight to be carried, including container. is considerably less than in the case of using compressed gas, viz., 1.3 lb. per horsepower hour. This compares with 0.65 per lb. per horsej power hour for petrol. Liquid ammonia. is easily stored, and being non--1 explosive, has the advantage of greatej safety. SPARKS I “I shut my eyes because I didn’t want to see myself being killed.”— Woman witness in motoring case at a north country court. After motoring 2770,000 miles, Captain T. P. Osterhaus, a luitchman now touring in Singapore, has collected 180 motor badges. In Honolulu when the police catch up with a lady driver and shout. “Pull over, lady,” it will probably be hej cause she has been driving so well, i The police, having stopped the car, j then ceremoniously present the lady ! with a spray of orchids and a com- | plimentary speech. | Go on yorohidding ! j ‘‘Dash it! The wretched engine’s | missing again, grannie!” ! “Missing? Bunkum I What else

could possibly be making those nastly banging noises?” Woman witness: ‘‘l didn’t see a car come out from the next turning. That would probably be because 1 had my back to it.” A Welsh motorist found a robin’s nest in the cubby hole of his car. Every day he removed flic twters. but they were always replaced. Now lie drives with the nest in place, complete with mother robin and three eggs. The eggs, of course, are streamlined.