NOTES FOR CAR-OWNERS.

Shannon News, 11 March 1927, Page 1

NOTES FOR CAR-OWNERS.

Burning Lignts in Day-Time.

Many a baciury has been saved by this apparently foolish practice. An over-charged batcery overheats, with the result that the active materials fali. out of the plates and causes internal trouble of the worst kind. Many cars have a battery switch in circuit, which is supposed to .be automatic in action; but this switch often fail's to disconnect when it should, owing to the fact that, like all other more or less delicate mechanisms, it gets out of order, and fails to open the circuit when the battery is fully charged. In the case of the hand-operated switches, the, driver, being human, often forgets to switch the charge off. To be safe, then, it is advisable for the driver, when on a long tour, to switch on the headlights for at least a portion of the daylight hours, in order to keep the battery off the "boil." When therefore you see a motorist coming towards you with his headlights full on, don't yell at him, as he probably knows what he is doing, and his battery will outlive yours if you don't go and do likewise. as Prophets. When a clutch slips and then grabs, it prophesies that the units are going to fail completely within a short while. The slipping is the result of the plates having been burned, but when slipping is forced upon the clutch the plates heat, expand, and grab. The plates are burned again, so that they slip worse than ever. Such a process cannot continue indefinitely. Usually such a clutch will fail completely after five or -six stops in traffic. Getting a Presh Start. Before trying to start a ear that has been stored for a long period, be sure to drain off the vacuum tank and refill it with fresh petrol. The carburetter . float chamber can be cleaned of the stale gas, if it is not already dry, by holding down the float until the fresh petrol from the vacuum tank runs into it. Carburetters are equipped with a tickler or plunger, so that the motorist can empty and refill the carburetter float chamber with little effort. On some carburetters, however, there is a little dome cap over the tickler, which must be unscrewed first. It is simply a protective cap. Paint a Squeak Stopper. Before touching-up rusty bolts and joints with black enamel it may be adj visable to treat such parts to a little, engine oil or a .prepared squeakremover, but in most cases the paint itself is very effective as a squeakstopper. At the automobile factory, when lining the fenders so that they !do not scrape against the frame and set up annoying noises it is customary to saturate the padding with paint. This is done also with padding used to insulate the body from the metal frame. Balloon Tyre Care. In patching the tube of the balloon tyre do not allow repairmen to make the patch too thick. This, type of tyre is balanced very carefully so as to prevent front wheel wobble or "shimmy." The tube used actually is thinner than those used in the conventional cord. A patch thus makes more of a difference in the weight distribution. Better use the new style, low-pressure 'tyre gauge, so as to know actually ju*' what air pressure is being used; 151 b to 301 b is right for a full balloon typtv