The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-09-01
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SOME GASOLINE
ENGINE SUG-
GESTI0NS.
BY H. H. MUSSElMAM.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF
FARM MECHANICS OF
THE M. A. c.
BY H. H. MUSSELMAM.

IL FARM MECHANICS OF
Il THE M. A. c.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
q OMEONE has said that the diff
~ ference between a steSm en-.
CINE and gasoline engine is
that the ills of the. former take min
utes to detect and hours to correct,
while those OF the latter take hours
to detect and minutes to correct
This is largely true In that the gas en-.
CINE ills are, made up of minor diff
culties which are easily corrected, but
which are also easily overlooked
Stubbornness as a propensity some
times attributed to the gas engine 4
an indication that 1t Is one OF the
most human Of machines. 1t might
be added that this stubbornness is
aot due to any innate preyers eness On
the part Of the engine, but rather
lack OF acquaintance Of its pc, uliar-
tiles
The steam engine in the hands CT
careless engineer will continue to
run and pound along until it is dam
aged past repair. The gas engine.
on the other hand, will, in genera,
meet such treatment by a persiste mt
refusal to start or run. This ve~v
characteristic is one of the sa "egUardG
against the abuse of the engine, but
one should not wait for trouble 10
manifest itself in this form. There.
are some things about the engine a
should have careful and regular at Ell.
tion
Ignition troubles may be said TO
comprise about so per cent of gas On
CINE troubles. Broken connection
dirty spark plugs, weak batteries, are
ills with which even the novice is
becoming familiar Exasperating as
these difficulties may be. they can
usually result in little harm to the
engine itself since it viii not run
until they are corrected. Neither
would 1t be necessary for me to
that black smoke coming from the
exhaust indicates a mixture contain
ing too much gasoline vapor CT that
white smoke from the same source
indicates an excess of cylinder lubri.
eating oil. 1t Is the features of the
engine which give no imme date trou.
bic but which through neglect will
disable the machine in comparative.
iy short time that we wish to disc s..
Certain parts Of the gasoline en-
cine are subject to rapid and sudden
changes Of motion and direction. They
are also subject to the enormous ex-
p'osive forces in the cylinder. It
fully fitted and kept in adjustment
to prevent pounding and excessive
wear. Take the cvlinder and piston
for example. In the better class of
engines the inner surface Of the cy,in
der is ground to give a smooth sur.
face against which the rings, VIII 'oh
are fitted in grooves around the pis-
ton expand and wear to a perfect fit
to prevent loss OF compression in the
combustion chamber. 1t is easily Sc n
thot these surfaces should be kept
properly fabricated, and to that end
a film of heat-resisting oil should be
kept between them to prevent exoes.
sive wear Lack OF fabrication may
cause the cylinder to "seo.e" or have
grooves cut in it by the rings, which
will allow a Leakage of g2s. This is
a serious fault and may result from
any of the following:
1. Poor lubricating oil.
g. Failure to turn on or have a
sufficient flow of lubrioating Gil.
3. Overheating of cylinder.
Only a good grade O. gas engine OF
which is intended to withstand high
heat should be used. The writer has
in mind an instance of this kind in
which a chauffeur upon finding his
cylinder oil exhausted borrowed some
steam cylinder oil from a threshing
crew. The deposit formed by the
combustion of this oil rendered a
large bill of repairs necessary. Neg.
lect to turn on lubricatirg oil would
be counted pure carelessness. The
amount fed should also be watched
and vary from 5 to 10 drops per min.
ute, according to the size OF the ordi.
nary engine. A better way to tell is
TO see that the piston is oily and pre-
sents a polished appearance. All en-
gines under ordinary conditions o.
usage will not overhead Failure to
supply cooling water or see that the
fan is running properly might cause
serious results from overheating and
consequently burning the lubricating
Oil or causing strain from undue ex-
pansion of the parts from heat.
The valves will also require some
attention. When the engine is sent
from the factory they are adjusted to
open and close at the proper points
in the stroke, which should be quite
carefully done. Should the engine
fail to deliver its full power the tim
ing of the valves may be looked to
as enc cause of failure. Information
as to the proper timing can be had
by reference to the conn any's book
Of instruct ms which &C orpanies T.
engine or by cons iltation with the
agent Or company direct. The valves
may also become wcrn or ptted WI h