THE MOTOR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 244, 24 March 1915, Page 6

THE MOTOR.

SOME USEFU HINTS.

As tnc winter is approaching, the fo

-wing useful hints, given in the late. I opy of the Motor to hand, may b. ' ..mud seasonable by motorists:— '. The. careful motorist should always make a practice of looking round liis cur,' say, every week or so, in order to note the condition of (especially) such things as brake connections and the steering gear joints. All adjustment is' always 'provided for the brakes, am: cart should be taken to keep both the side lever and the pedal brake well up to their work. In this connection it is well to point out that it is very much preferable to make a slight adjustment of the brake connections, siiy, every fortnight or three weeks, than to leave the brakes to their own resources for three or four months, and then make a considerable adjustment when it becomes absolutely necessary. For some inscrutable reason, there is hardly a car on the market fitted with a really true' movement for the brake shoes, so as to ensure an even wearing of the surface over the whole area of the shoe in question. Consequently, if the brake is left to its own devices for some three or four months, and an adjustment then made, the result is that only a small percentage of the shoe is in proper contact, with the drum when tlie, brake is appl'ed. The result generally is that la, ''bcdding-in" wear has to accrue before the brake arrives once more to its proper efficiency. The defect is la'rgcly minimised bv making tlm small and romilar adjustments previously suggost-

'■il; the point is one well worth rcmomlipriii'.-. 'The reason, of course, is to ho found in the fact that nearly nil brakes arc provided with p fulcrum point either at tlic ton or the bottom of the drum, ami the Klines (>!•<• not brought into contact w'th the Ira ho drum with a trne narallol movement. The su<..".rostion made is applicable to hotli types of brakes, Int more especially in the 'roTitrnctinj* tvpe, which is usually not so efficient as the expanding variotv. Cnrc sTmuhl also he taken regularly to lubrcatc all the joints in the lirn.l.'<> mcphanism, as otherwise they are lihelv to rust up. which cause considerable loss of offieionoy —if nothing worse. The brake .pedal should always he adjusted so that when the maximum effort is exerted upon it there is something like thin clearance between it and the end of its available '"ovoutont if it were not connected with the brake rod; the s'de love brake should he fully on when the lever has travelled over throo-nnartors of the range of the quadrant. Whenever one. <iml the clutch.petting "fierce" for airy! e!in--o wliat«oe<-cr this defect should he cured, cpeoiallv if the engine 1s a hiah-poworod one. ISTofc only is extra, excess've wear of the tyres is most marked.

Tt would seem that few motorists take the trouble properly to guard the welfare of the snrin«s of their ears. Tt is, however, a fact that if thev do not receive attention occasionally they will not perform the i\'ii* in invtliii" T like the efficient manner that thev would do otherwise. The loaves should, ho oiled every now and then, and every year the springs should he taken down and each lent painted either with granhite or white lead. The coating must not he too thick, hut if the sm .n«s tiro pronorlv treated in this way, thev will not tend to rust, and that squeaking which is so frequently noticed will not he apparent; the springs will also perform their work in a much more efficient way if they were properly cared for.

Cars in which electrical starting meeliiuiism and a lighting outfit arc installed impose extra duty on the driver, and that is the occasional inspection of the wiring to see that there arc no loose contacts at terminals, or damaged places in Uio insulation. Defective insulation will not only cause loss of efficiency, but leads to more serious trouble, such as j short circuit, and in the one-wire system only a single so-called "ground" is necessary to cause a short circuit. Each wire should, so far as practicable, be carefully traced from one end to the other, and all intermediate connections be properly examined. The-steering gear is now universally adopted is considerably more reliable than it used to be some years ago, which fact is probably responsible for the lack of attention which this important unit of the chassis generally receives. If the ear is not supplied with leather eases for the steering points, the jprudent motorist will .purchase these and fit them, a» this is not only enhancing his safety, but is also an economy. All the steering points should be properly lubricated, and one should always make a point of testing the steering wheel alignment

every month or two so as to ensure that

the wheels are not out of track. If they are, considerable extra strain is thrown on the steering gear, and the tyres will wear out far more quickly than they would do when running under proper conditions. The supply of lubricant in

the steering box itself is usually suflici'int for a lengthy period, but. nevertheless, a little fresh lubricant supplied every now and then is a very good thing. With regard to petrol, it is impossible lo be too careful in excluding dirt. Most -auks have a fine wire gauze strainer atted at the inlet, some carburetters also nai-q this accessory, and no funnel should evuv in. used without it. It is quite osual nlco to fit a petrol filter somewhere oefcweeu the tank .Mid the carburretter.

The importance of these precautions will readily be seen when it is realised that a speck of dirt smaller than a pin point in diameter might stop up the jet and rob your engine of all power. Nine

times out of ten it is necessary to take tlie jet out to clean it, causing you a preventable delay.. Hair, fluff, and chips of paint from the petrol tans chiefly compose the foreign matter found in earburretters. How it gets there is a mystery, but the fact remains that it does get where it is not wanted unless great cave is exercised. The safest thing hi the way of strainers is a. piece of ordinary washleathcr, which will permit nothing but the spirit to go through.

Should it be necessary to take the jet out, do not forget to turn the petrol tap off first, or in the unlikely event of their being no tap place a spanner or some other tool on top of the needle valve to cut oil' the supply. If by chance it is necessary to take the whole carburretter down for any purpose see that tlie joints are quite sound when replacing, as any air leakage upsets the. mixture.