HINTS AND WRINKLES.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 146, 19 August 1926, Page 7

HINTS AND WRINKLES.

| Bent split pins are generally disl carded after they have been used j once, owing- to the difficulty of straightening them again. To straighten them out is not difficult if you hammer them on a vice or other flat surface until the kinks are all out. I A little practice will enable the merest I tyro to do this well ; however, the difficult part is to persuade the ends ( to come together, as they invariably persist in gaping wide in spite of every effort to get them to come together. This little difficulty can be surmounted by holding the pin vertically with a pair of stout pliers, so that the refractory ends are in contact with your vice or iron block, or 1 whatever you are using for anvil, and finally giving the eye end a smart, blow with the hammer. The constant pressure of piston rings against the cylinder wall in time wears both the cylinders and the rings. Gritty Oil.—Gritty oil causes excessive wear on main bearings, connecting rod bearings, wrist pins, camshafts bearings, and especially the cams. ' Test brakes carefully before it is I necessary to ; make an emergency s + op. ; after the car has been washed. Water, i soap or distillate which has -been used, to remove the grease will frequently affect the brake lining, but after a few applications of the brakes it will be removed. - Engine Intelligence. To keep an engine in the most efficient condition it is essential to change the oil frequently, especially when the car is new, to exclude the dust as much as possible, to keep the engine warm, so that it will start quickly and so that there will be little water condensation, and to have the piston rings replaced when worn, so that they will always lie tight. f • ... Use of Emergency Will End Chatter.—Using the emergency, brake frequently has -always been the surest method-of learning how to use.it in an emergency, bub where the emergency operates on the propeller shaft, as is now the case with a large number of cars,- there is another advantage to frequent use-of it. These brakes usually chatter a lot because they are. not used often enough to Wear the lining of the band to a smooth gripping service. Owners refrain from using the propeller shaft- emergency, for the reason: that they do not like the chatter, yet the chatter-is largely caused by lack of use. - ; - Safe Start in Winter.r~elt it were not for the- ever-present danger of death poisonous carbon monoxide fumes from the exhaust of the engine, no motorist would be justified in moving his car in cold weather until the engine was- thoroughly warmed. . As matters stand, however, the average driver cranks -as quickly, as,. he can and then backs out of the garage without delay. This problem can be ed, however, by. arranging for-the car to run up a slight incline when it is garaged. After releasing the brakes, the car coasts out to the driveway, where the driver can take his time warming up the engine, yet, without operating it in the meantime. Cleaning Carbon.—When pouring a little kerosene into the cylinders in order, to clean out the carbon it is important to do one cylinder at a time, preferably pouring the kerosene in through the spark plug opening, cleaning the plug while on the job. After treating each cylinder the engine should be run a few minutes, and accelerated a few times, to help blow out the carbon that has loosened. The advantage of doing * one cylinder at a time is that it saves the choking and flooding of the engine which is likely to be the case if the cylinders are loaded up with kerosene and the en-

gine put through a difficult course of starting. Also with the engine running between each treatment of each i I cylinder the pistons and -valves keep 1 hot. It is essential that the motor be J hot when doing this sort of work. The condition and adjustment of the ignition apparatus are important fac- j tors in respect of fuel' Ocohomy. - - A ' badly adjusted or dirty magneto may not cause actual misfiring, but the “ poverty ” of spark may nevertheless detract from engine efficiency, a fact which is more pronounced, perhaps, in battery systems of ignition, although equally true of a -magneto. An oily contact breaker, or one' in' which' the adjudgment is such that the contact points barely separate, a dirty distributor; or-a Carboned 'slip ring may each cause the spark at the plugs to be-weak; and result in incomplete combustion 1 of the mixture. Some dfivare- inclined id -ignore occasional misfiring—when'it occurs only at certain 1 engine -speeds,- for instance—so long as it does riot actually bring the Vehicle to a stop; but it should be remembered that every misfire in an engine cylinder means that a charge of gas is wasted.