The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-07
MUELLER NEEDS
some CARE TOO
But It Is Neglected by Most
Motorists.

The much despised muf1er. detested
by many automobile operators aud neg
lec'cd by almost every chauffeur and
eve "cut out" altogether when the traf-
hc COP isn't around. ought not to he so
treated. II is deserving OF careful con-
%sideration every once in a while. II the
operator cares much for efficiency and
economical operation.
Tho muller IL located under tho car"
said IT, {. Rrokaw, principal Of the
West Side Y. NJ. G. A.. Automobile
school. and being out Of sight Is usu-
ally out OF mind. II is therefore often
neglected or misused. And yet II ought
not to he. The muller Is placed OF the
end of the exhaust pipe and It's sole
purpose is to silence tho exhaust OF the
engine so that the driver Of an utOmo-
bile while taking pleasure himself does
NOT wholly deprive cthcrs Of II.
Let us consider the case of the muf-
fer. The exhaust valve opens while the
burned a Is still under a pressure of
from Twenty-Five To thirty pounds per
square inch. II this were exhausted
directly into the air tho resulting noise
would stit'e conversation in the car. an
roy everybody along the street and very
quickly get the driver into difficulty with
the police. The muller prevents all this.
II provides a chamber in which these
exhausted gases may expand and cool
somewhat and at the same time breaks
up the pressure by allowing 1t to leak
ont slowly through a number of very
small holes instead Of letting it loose
IN one big nose
TN the early history ~ tho auto'no-
bile mufiers We're not used and every
body for blocks around knew when an
auto was coming. Az the automobiles
Increased in number this became a nui-
eance and was stopped by law. Then
they sought-indeed had been seeking
a means Of sitting the sound. In the
early muffer there was trouble because
the gas would back up in the cylinder
and decrease the power Of the motor.
II was thought there was no way to de-
crease the sound without decreasing the
power; therefore the automobile manu-
facturers devised a valve TO cut out
the mufiier on the car whenever extra
power was desired. Sometimes the
back pressure was 20 great as to inter
fere when driving through heavy roads
~ up hills. The cut out let the gas
exhaust directly into the air instead 81
going through the muller. Al the pres
ent time nearly every city has a law
prohibiting the use Of muller cut outs
AS n matter or TACT those well posted
on automobile engines understand today
that the cut out IL absolutely unneccs-
sary II the muller is kept IN roper con-
di,iou. Mut',er manufacturers have been
able to produce a design with which
there Is no back pressure at all.
THE average driver. however, does
not know that his muller needs as
careful attention as any Other part ~
the mechanism and so he neglects II.
In these days OF noisclcss cars IL re-
quires a grea, number Of very small
openings inside tho muf'er. These become
cloxed with SCOT or carbon from the
exhaust. The deposit collects very rap.
Idly. especially when the grade o. the
oil Is poor or too much oil II used u
also results when the carburcter /. ad
iusted 70 give 700 rich "A mixture. Nhcr
| these small openings become cloggcd the
exhaust gas cannot escape readily am
naturally the cylinder of the engine /:
rot clean a. the exhaust stroke. Result
II is Impossible 10 bring In a full cylin'
der Of new gas on the next intake stroke
There is not a fun charge 10 explode
and this means a loss Of power 20 thu
engine"