HINTS FOR CAR OWNERS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 315, 21 November 1929, Page 7

HINTS FOR CAR OWNERS.

Making Distilled Water. To get your own distilled water bring the kettle to the boil, stretch a piece of rubber tubing over the spout, and let the free end hang in a tin, this tin to stand in another receptacle filled with cold water. A Knocking Engine. When the engine labours on the level, as though it were on a steep grade, and especially if it gets hot and knocks, look at the oil system, as this is a sign of lack of lubrication. As a rule, when the bearings do not get oil they will bind and put a great load on the engine.

Lubricate the Pedals. In many cars the brake pedal operates on the clutch pedal shaft. If this point is not lubricated fairly frequently there is a risk of it evientually seizing up so that the brakes are applied when the clutch pedal is depressed. (British Merger. The London Daily News discloses that seven British motor car companies, Rover, Standard, Swift, Arrol-Johnston, Lanchester, A.C. and. j Bean, backed by a city financier, are considering the formation of a group with a capital of £2,000,000, pooling machinery and resources, in order to produce two types of cars. One would be a 10-h.p. small machine for the British market and the other a 20-h.p. car suitable for both the Empire and British buyer. Loose Spring Bolts. | The thump in the front of the car • when it moves over a rough stretch of road is often the product of loose ? spring bolts. It brings on discomfort, because the resilience of the spring is destroyed. It indicates danger, because it means that one < leaf of the spring is taking all the j ' strain. It also contributes to hard steering. But it is most easy to remedy. ! Use of Kerosene, ! They stopped long ago using kerosene for flushing out the engine

crankcase, but it is kerosene that still provides the best bath for the rear and front wheel bearings. These i heavily-worked parts, which often 1 are so long forgotten, should be removed twice yearly and given a thorough bath. It means a lot to their longevity. Spark Plug Points. Lots of pointers have been given on spark plug points. One that seems to have been missed is that event- i ually, if not immediately, after the 10,000 miles accepted as standard, the points will bum and make the gap wider than that prescribed for best performance. The car keeps on running, it is true, but not as well as if the points were right..

Care of Generator. One method of cleaning the commutator of the generator is to remove the commutator cover plate and start up the engines. Then apply liquid metal polish to the surface on a clean rag, and press the rag on to the commutator while it is rotating. The abrasive contained in the polish is coarse enough to remove the slight carbon deposit which is impregnated in the surface of the copper commutator bars. Scraping Piston Ring Grooves. Carbon is often very difficult to j

remove from piston ring grooves if a suitable tool is not to hand. An easily-made instrument for this purpose can be found in a piece of umbrella rib. One end should be filed on the convex side until the point is quite sharp. Then, by hammering or squeezing in a vice, the prepared end should be made V-shaped. This tool will be found very effective, for it will remove all carbon from the angles of the grooves. Inspect Oil Filter. The oil filter should be inspected now and then to ensure that foreign matter is being removed from the motor oil. The old-style filter is equipped with a glass gauge, and a stream of oil should be running through the tube when the motor is running if the filter is working. On the new-type filters this testing operation is made by opening the petcock or removing the pipe plug on the top of the filter. If oil runs out the filter is operating Satisfactorily.

Rattling Gear Lever. [ A common fault with ball and socket type of gear levers is that when the ball starts to wear the lever is free to set up a most annoying rattle. This can be stopped by drilling a small hole in the gear lever—oneeighth of an inch diameter is sufficient about two inches above the floorboards or ball joint. A fairly strong but small coil spring may then be threaded over the lever and dropped on to the top of the cover of the joint. When this is held in compression by a split pin pushed through the hole in the lever rattles from this source will disappear. Checking Up OH.

When checking the amount of oil in the sump or the quantity of petrol in the tank be sure that the car is standing on approximately-level ground, as otherwise an inaccurate reading will be registered ; this, of i course, is particularly dangerous in connection with oil level. In addition to a fore and aft incline affecting the reading, if the car be parked near the kerb it will cause the liquid to run to or from the dipstick and so give an erroneous impression of the amount contained. Even some special gauges are affected in this way as well. For Obstinate Screw Threads. Threaded parts such as radiator caps, carburettor float chamber caps and screw-down fillers sometimes be- . come stuck and hard to release. It

has been found that if a pipe wrench be used on them the milled edge may be scored and marked. A much better method of undoing the offending object is by winding a strap around it, passing the free end through the buckle, and pulling against the buckle so that with every extra pull the strap becomes tighter. Care must be taken, of course, to ensure that the strap is wound round the right way, or it will be found that the cap is even tighter than it was before, and the late state of affairs becomes worse than the first. This method may often succed, if there is room to allow play for the strap and if the cap is of sufficient size to allow a purchase to be obtained on it, in cases where a pipe wrench has failed, and it has the advantage of leaving the cap unmarked. Rubber Flooring. '

The use of rubber superimposed upon the usual wood flooring of lorries has now been hdgpted by many «commercial vehicle users in England. They fifld that sheet rubber can be readily obtained, and the advantage gained by its use is that little wear takes place on the rubber, and at the same time barrels or crates are provided with a foundation which prevents slipping. In addition to this, noise and vibration are reduced to a minimum. While rubber flooring is more expensive than wood this fact is outweighed owing to its better wearing properties, as it is said to last at least nine years. A large brewing company in England has

adopted this flooring for its and has found it to be superior to wood flooring where heavy barrels have to be transported. Soft wood flooring has been found to wear excessively, while hard wood, although having better wearing properties, does not provide sufficient grip for barrels or crates.