IGNITION FAULTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 557, 14 June 1933, Page 7

IGNITION FAULTS

WHY THE CAR STOPS. Statistics prepared by the various automohile clubs which conduct road patrols for the benefit of their members indicate that faults. in the ignition and lighting .systems are among the most common causes of roadside stoppages. No .small portion of such faults arise from th'e failure of insulation on wires and cahles carrying the hightension currents between the magneto and plugs, or coil, distributor, and plugs, or on the intricate system of low tension wires from the battery to the coil and the various lamps. Creeping oil is probably the most dangerous agent to the insulation on the wiring system which can be found on a modern car. Itself a non-conductor of electricity, oil quiekly destroys rubber exposed to it. Rubber insulation material which has beoome coated with oil swells, becomes plastic, and is readily scraped or rubbed off the wire, leaving the bare conductor exposed. To prevent this damage the engine, gearbox, underpan, and chassis should never be allowed to accumulate oil. These parts can be kept free from oil by scrubbinjg; them occasionally with a cheap nailbrush dipped in kerosene, and the emulsion which' will form when the oil and dust are well mixed with the kerosene can be hrushed off or hosed away. In using kerosene on the engine great care should be taken to see that none of its enters the sump, as it will dilute the lubricating oil, and may seriously damage th'e engine.