Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-03-03
.CLINRINGOF HILLS0N HIGH
FOOLISH; MAY ruin BEARINGS

When slowed down under full
throttle TO their lowest operative
speeds, all motors waste fuel inord,-
nately. Incidentally, they run much
mo:e economically when permitted to
speed up to a reasonable point by be
ing thrown into lower gear.
Where the maintenance of car speed
is an object the change from high to
intermediate gear should be made
when the speedometer has dropped To
fifteen miles per hour with full gas
being supplied TO the motor. for on the
lower gear nearly double this speed
can then be obtained. No exact rule
as TO when 10 change gears can be
formulated TO apply to all cars or
conditions.
Many drivers let the speed fall to
eight CT ten miles an hour before
changing, and at this very low speed
every explosion Of a four-cylinder
motor racks the bearings detrimental
ly. With motors OF more cylinders the
point Of changing TO lower gear may
safely be lower than the above, but
tire and fuel are both wasted under
such conditions.
Time was when the irregular action
or failure to run on the part Of a
motor could be attributed in nine
cases out of ten to faulty ignition.
Improvement in ignition apparatus
has, however, made such vast strides
that this situation is changed, and
bad carburetion is now to blame for a
much larger proportion than formerly
OF the improper running of engines.
Fuel OF low grade and inadequate
heating of the fuel mixture. rather
than lack OF improvements in car.
buretors, are responsible for this con-
dition. Still ignition systems of mod.
ern cars do occasionally give trouble,
and those of older cars bother much
more frequently.
II matters little now badly motor
may miss, until il is thoroughly
warmed up, or until il is known that
the insulation CT the spark plug ends
is perfectly clean. Here the missing
should not be attributed to faulty igni-
ton, but to lack of vaporization of the
gasoline, to uneven distribution of the
mixture to the cylinders or to some
similar cause. s
Look to Isneto .z-.. r..- :
Should missing occur in thorough.
ly warm motor, with clean plugs and
a wellregulated mixture, the fault is
probably really one of ignition Among
the chief causes of skipping" may be
mentioned imperfect contact of the
points in the breaker box of magneIo
or the interrupter of battery system
resulting in failure properly to open
and close the circuit for each ignition.
In most cases this is due to the
burning of the metal points, so that
they do not make perfect connection.
They should be smoothed off with
file or carborundpm stone, and the
parts so adjusted that the points
separate as much as the instructions
recommend; abou: one-thirty-second OF
an inch usually If the interrupter
action is sluggish, on account OF its
being dirty. 1t NAV cause skipping.
Oil or dust in the distributor 1.-THE
part from which the cables lead to the
plugsl often causes missing by per-
hitting the sparks to jump within 1t,
instead of at the p,ngs. Keep the dis.
tributor clean and free from OIL Loose
connections at the battery, distributor
and switch, worn-off Insulation, run
down batteries and cracked spark
plug porcelains also cause spark
failures.