WEARING THE CAR OUT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 627, 2 April 1929, Page 7

WEARING THE CAR OUT

CARELESSNESS MAIN CAUSE What wears out an automobile? Mr. F. Phillips, acting-managing director of General Motors, New Zealand, Limited, declares that motorists are demanding exact information on this point. They want to know’ how to get the maximum use from their cars. Carelessness in handling the clutch causes more wear on cars than any one other thing. Many drivers let the clutch in w’ith such suddenness as to cause the driving wheels to turn a little on their tapered axle ends. Looseness at this point actually becomes a safeguard, otherwise pinion and ring gear would have to endure more strain than at present. Universal joints are strained by sudden application of pow r er, especially if they are worn to a point where they are loose. Sudden stepping on the accelerator pedal is more apt to strain the clutch and the rest of the drive line, though it also frequently loosens the rear

wheels from axles, injures the universal joints, strains the spokes of the wheels and helps burn up tyres. Mr. F. Phillips explained that clutches are designed for easy operation, and if the engine is speeded beyond the point where the car itself can immediately follow, the clutch plates will slip. This heats them up and may permanently damage them. Often when a clutch slips it will heat up and expand, resulting in sudden grabbing that is particularly hostile to the drive line. PROPER OILING

Time and again the warning has gone out that engines deteriorate most on account of inadequate oiling. Time and time again this has been demonstrated. The motorist to-day assumes his engine to be very economical on oil, and thinks all there is to do is change the oil at stated intervals. In many cases such a rule serves well enough, but millions of engines require more oil than they get, and eventually the engine that is extremely economical is apt to he pressed into extra hard service, which results in a higher rate of oil consumption.