CRANK-CASE CRANKS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 160, 27 September 1927, Page 6

CRANK-CASE CRANKS

ACCEPT ANY OLD KIND OF OIL SOME LESSONS FROM CARELESS DRIVERS IT IS AMAZING hew careless motorists are in supplying their cars with the prope-r lubricating oil. and how many mechanical tragedies have been brought about by that carelessness., “Chassis” has learned from the Christchurch garages that the motorists of this city are very easy going where the oil supply is concerned.

As the good housewife knows her duties., the successful lawyer the law and human nature, the expert mechanic understands the delicate mechanism of the motor, so should the motorist know his petrol and motor oil. Who would walk into a cafe and order a meal without specifying the kind of meal he wants? A tramp, or someone too hungry to look over the bill-of-fare, might do this, and make no complaint so long as his immediate desires are satisfied. “And yet, some motorists who ordinarily qualify as efficient business men and women, drive up to a service station and say, “Five gallons of petrol, and a quart of oil,” without designating the kind of petrol, or brand of oil. Anything the dealer cares to serve is given, and of course it is the product on which he makes the most profit. If the above motorist had given the matter more thought, and mentioned the brand off petrol and motor oil best suited to his car, he would probably have obtained more mileage and better lubrication for his money. If you do not know what brand is best for your particular car, find out from the place you bought your car, study the instruction book, or follow the advice of The Sun motordom advertisements. However, be sure to have your crank-case drained before changing from one oil to another in testing, otherwise you will not reach a satisfactory result. Lubricating oil is about two per cent, of your motor-car expense and you don’t worry much about it. You drive up to a roadside station or into a garage, and let them put any old oil into the sump, and by so doing you increase the lubricating expense to 90 per cent, through repairs, renewals, decreased mileage and so on. If there is a good oil in the base chamber keep it so by replenishing only with that brand of oil. There are cheap compounded oils that will not mix with mineral oils. Stick to the oil recommended by the car maker whose recommendation is made after exhaustive testing. A motorist cannot be too careful over the selection of his oil.

An unsuitable or bad oil causes unnecessary wear on moving parts, overheating on hills, increased carbon deposit, stickj- valves and guides and other car ills. It is false economy to use a cheap oil. A small car which does about 20,000 miles a year was driven into a country garage recently and the cylinder bead was removed. The base chamber was filled up after the valves had been attended to, no particular oil being specified. A month later the same car pinked and knocked in making the easy grade into a Christchurch garage. All that was done to remove the pinking and knocking was drain out the rubbish masquerading as oil in the base chamber and fill up with proper oil. A taxi-driver left his car in another garage for attention. Everything seemed to be wrong with the engine. The engine was dismantled, and it was found that the oil in the base chamber was so carbonised and congealed that the throes of the crankshaft were cutting a channel in the oil. Many parts of the engine had to be replaced. A private owner’s car went -into the same station in the same way. An inferior oil had been used in both instances, and the cost to both car-owners was considerable. In another instance a car bought at last Olympia, a high-class British car, entered a Christchurch garage from a country motorist who complained that the engine was “woolly.” The engine was cold, was tuned up, and went out into the country again. When the owner was coriling back to the city later the engine started to hammer, and he decided to let it hammer until he reached Christchurch. No bearings were loose, but the engine sounded rough. So the base chamber was opened, and there was found a substance with the consistency of mud. It stuck to the hands like heavy mud. A good oil was used and the engine ran without hammering. But the roughness would always remain; a good engine was ruined through the owner neglecting to stick by the oil which his instruction book recommended. Is there a lesson in those examples and do you care?