MOTOR NOTES.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 232, 12 April 1928, Page 7

MOTOR NOTES.

RUNNING WITHOUT ATTENTION.

BREAKDOWN INEVITABLY FOLLOWS. It is wonderful what hard treatment can be endured by the motorcar. It is wonderful what little mechanical aid is necessary to make the car run. Yet with hard treatment and very little mechanical aid the car is likely to stick you up at the most unexpected times. Periodical attention at the right times will overcome any inconvenience which is suffered by the motorist who neglects his car. There are drivers who are really surprised at the excellent service which their cars give then on little or no attention. Their boast is that they have never put a spanner on the old bus. Never had any necessity to interfere with the works because the car has never given any trouble. Perhaps they have not had any trouble with the car, but it would be surprising to know of the little inconveniences which they suffer in their quiet moments. One motorist who is among the drivers who boasts of his car’s excellent performance often leaves it out in the weather all night.

After he has dropped his friends, who have heard of his wonderful car, he often has to abandon it outside i the garage. A stalled engine preI vents him from going any further. A j fiat battery means hard work, and instead of starting up to garage his car, he prefers to leave it to the mercy of the weather to rust and generally become delapidated. For days it remains out in the weather untouched until he decides to take it out again. It is reversed down hill with assistance, and in gear the engine is started. Then you will hear this driver say it is a wonderful car. “ It’s marvellous how it goes.” All things considered, it is really marvellous how it ever goes. Drivers who get this kind of satisfaction from driving a car are indeed easily pleased. The recharging of the battery would relieve the driver of the difficulty in starting, and would ensure the proper housing of the car. Such ill-treatment of the car is hard to understand, as most drivers treat their machines with the same kindness and affection they would display towards an animal. Eventually they are forced to give the car proper attention and have the defects which they have suffered remedied. Why not give the car immediate attention, and so obviate any difficulties which might occur? The idle boast of a man who never experiences difficulties with his car is not going to get him very far. All that is demonstrated by his inattention is that it is remarkable what a motor-car will stand when put to the . test. I

Proper treatment of the car is an essential. The car will certainly stand a good deal of knocking about, tut the ills which are slowly mounting will cause a complete breakdown eventually. Feriodic overhauls of the vital parts should be made, not only to (Continued at Foot of Next Column) give satisfaction in operation, but to ensure safety for yourself and other cars on the road. Once you know your car, its lubrication and the parts to be tightened

up, it is only a matter of a few hours’ work to bring about* the perfection which should always be the feature of your car. There is no comfort in motoring in a car which has not got your complete confidence. To persuade yourself that the car is a wonder is deceiving yourself and your passengers. Sooner or later a complete breakdown will place you in the ridiculous position of not being able to land the car at its destination.

Every driver should try to avoid this by attending to his car. He will feel then that he has not been entirely responsible for what happens after.