The Smoky Exhaust Nuisance.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 5, 1 March 1906, Page 107

The Smoky Exhaust Nuisance.

The emission of unburnt, or partially burnt, evilsmelling smoke, with the exhaust gases, either m town or country, is a serious source of annoyance to road users. There is, however, no excuse for anyone to regularly permit smoke to pour out with the exhaust from his car. The whole cause, it is perhaps superfluous to mention, is superfluity of lubricating oil in the cylinders. When the engine is fitted with a lubricating system by which the oil is measured out m doses of the required amount, and is delivered regularly by a forced feed to the cylinders, there is practically no difficulty. In this case, if the feed is adjusted in the first instance until the car runs smokelessly, no smoke need be feared. Where ordinary splash lubrication is employed, the level of the oil in the crank-chamber must be carefully adjusted, as well as the rate at which fresh oil is fed into it. With those requirements properly attended to there will be no smoky exhaust. It should not be forgotten, however, that with any gravity-feed device, what is a proper adjustment in cold weather will not answer in hot weather, as the viscosity of lubricating oil varies considerably with the temperature. Even though the same grade of oil is regularly used, a certain amount of adjustment is occasionally necessary. If the lubrication is properly managed, the exhaust should be unobjectionable, except, possibly, when the engine first starts running. To avoid this, the engine should be started in the garage, and any oil that may have settled in the exhaust passages allowed to escape before taking the car out. Final exhaust pipes, fitted so that the gases issue straight out behind the vehicle, should also be avoided.