El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-09
By WILLIAM H. STEWART, j

Motoring Department, The Herald
had an offer of a second hand car, II
/ good order, or so claimed, and two
years old. As do not feel eJmDeten
1 to judge a used car. 1 would con
! slider it favor if you would give me
! some information as to where veal
/ spots in such car should be looked
/ for, where to look particularly fol
/ loose fittings and where worn parts
/ can do the most harm Also if a car
! IS two or three years old, how much
/ should each year reduce the price from
/ the original One2 I thank you in adj
I vance for the infOrmatiOn.-H-A A. ".
All cars, whether of one make OF
another, wear most at certain points
It is admitted that some cars stand
up much better than others, but in
justice to dealers the columns of this
paper cannot set forth the weak points
or any particular make OF car. It must
be admitted also that used cars can
be repaired temporarily to deceive the
most experienced. If you are cOntem-
plating the purchase Of used car,
which has been in use for several years,
would suggest that you purchase same
from a known responsible company. On
the other hand if the price is suffi-
GENTLY attractive to warrant the risk
Of purchasing on your own judgment
inspect the car as follows:
Start the motor runnfg and note
carefully the action and sound both at
SLOW engine speed and high engine
speed The Transmission should be I'M
covered and carefully inspected for
worn gears, loose bearings, worn out
shifting forks, etc. The clutch unit
and universals between motor and
transmission should be examined care
fully for misalignment, back lash or
sag Each rear wheel should be lacked
up IN turn and the differentiaI care
fully tested. It is best to uncover the
differential gears for inspection, if con-
venient
By lacking one rear wheel and
placing transmission gear in mesh
You can determine the amount of
back lash through the wheel. up
through the differential and various
universal joints - - - motor. On new
cars the amount of play allowed is
approximately one inch, measured on
the tire On cars worn considerably
this play amounts to nearly a quar-
ter turn on the wheel measured
on the tire, which of course, is en-
tlrely too much. This indicates that
the different-al system, the propeller
shaft, universal joints, etc, are excess
sively worn When both rear wheels
are stationary you can determine the
amount of back lash in the propeller
shaft joints by turning with the hand;
likewise with the clutch shaft.
The steering gear also should be in
spected- While a slight amount OF
play IS allowed in the steering wheel
before the wheels begin TO turn, new
erthelesS. on an ordinary used car this
lost motion should not exceed more
than an eighth turn Of the wheel 1t
Is hardly possible to go into detail
further but ones judgment can best
guide him as to what parts are ex-
cesSlVely worn OF course, no one
should purchase a used car without
reasonable demonstration.
This should determine the power Of
the car and general condition. If the
motor has tendency TO over heat or
knock due to excessive carboniZatiOn
OF cylinders, or worn parts, this can
readily be noticed, likewise the con-
dlton of clutch as to dragging and
also the condition of the transmission
gears when various shifts are made
Both sets of brakes can also be
tested On try out of this kind the
demonstration should be asked to go
up hills, TO stop and start on a hill,
etc As said previously, used cars can
De repaired to last temporarily. and
When demonstrated by experienced
operators viii miSlead an average DUR
chaser. If you desire a particular make
OF car you can always obtain same
at the office of the dealer OF that car.
II they do not have on hand the parti-
cular model you wish. they can most
always obtain same for you. No re-
sponsible dealer will misrepresent the
make of car he is handling When you
purchase from him you become his GUS
toner and prospect for a new car His
business foresight will. or at least
should, induce him to consider you a
future prospect for new car and ex-
tend fair treatment accOrdingly.
= Y
Motoring Department, The Herald
How can one prevent too much oil get
ting into the two forward cylinders2
The crank case has a circulating pump
that pumps oil from the suitcase to the
front end of the crank case, where 1t
flows back into the rest of the case
NJ. r. II.
If you have described your trouble
correctly, the design seems rather
poor Usually in such a lubricating
system the oil is not pumped directly
into the front of the crank case, but !
rather into each cylinder compartment
separately; that IS to say, there would
be four points Of delivery to the pump.
instead of only one. If the cOnstruc- !
ton viii permit, perhaps you can ar |
range to have the oil delivered in this /
Usually there are partitions /
separating the oil level Commandments.
and which will serve the purpose of ]
keeping the Oil more evenly distributed (
IN climbing hills, etc. The simplest 1
way of remedyfng your trouble would I
be to cut groove in the TOD Of the
partition between the forward cylin-
iers, thereby lowering the oil level
# the two compartments. The lower
ng of the oil level in the upper wells |