MOTOR NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 12, 17 May 1939, Page 2

MOTOR NOTES

YELLOW HEADLIGHTS IN FRANCE From January 1 all now cars ill Franve have had to be delivered with ycliow headlights, and old xars had to have theii- lights converted to meet the new requirements. If a yellow front glass is used in the headlight the colour must be in_ tegral. Yellow varnish or yellow discs do not satisfy the law. Yellow bulbs are. however, now available a.t almost any garage, however small and out'of the way. The rule has met with a nixed reception amongst French motorists, but on the whole it may be said that there is a. majority in labour. The opinion is expressed that yellow lights makf a big difference when meeting other cars. BATTERY CORROSION If the car battery is rather old. here is a tip which may save much worry some day. The corroded materia] which collects around the ter. minals sometimes causes a sudden, increase in resistance on passage of a heavy current, as occurs when thei starter button is pressed. This will result in the whole electrical system suddenly going dead for no apparent reason. No>t only is the starter useless < but lights and ignition as well. The proper remedy is to remove and thoroughly scrape the terminals, par. ticularly the positive, but merely to loosen the clamp and oscillate the terminal on 'the lead battery post a few times will effect a temporally cure. DISTILLED WATER Most motorist s are familiar with tile advice of car manufacturers to use only distilled water lor topping up the cells of car batteries, but few know why this water js necessary and why it is not possible to use ordinary rain water. The reason is that most tap water contains chiorine and iron, which, under certain conditions, cause the formation of growths between the plates of the battery. if these growths develop sufficiently the bat. tery plates will buckle, will make contact one with the other, and al_ low current /to leak. It then becomes impossible to keep the battery i n a fully charged condition.

There are, of course certain water softeners available, ami many car owners believe that they enable tap water to be used. However, while these softeners do materially improve the they do not remove sufficient of the impurities to make tlie water suitable for us«.: in storage batteries, a,nd it is not wise to em. ploy them. Only distilled water, or lain waiter which has not come into contact with any metal receptacle, should be used. BRIEFS TSRITAIN. Mr D. R. Grenfell } M. I'. for Gower, thinks it would be a good idea if motorists convicted of reckless driv-t ing were made to push a perambuia_ tor five miles once a week through the busiest traffic.

SCOTLAND. It has been, known for some time ihnt vision at night, exposed to the drzzle of headlights, depends to a large extent on the presence of certain vitamins in the body. A Scottish scientist has been iarrving out experiments which indicate that a small quantity of the vitamins which reduce night.blindness after dazzle is contained in the humble orange. INDIA. According to the Safety First Association of India the chances of are 13 times greatJii%i . \%ersing than in going for_ v