Omaha daily bee., 1917-06-10
HOW TO REMEDY
CARBURETOR ILLS
Backfiring One of the Most
Common Troubles With
the Device.
CAUSES OF MoToRIsT WOES

up 10 garage with the car Jerking
and bucking, asking, as you enter, for
good mechanic who knows some
thing about a carburetor? Some
times you drive away with smile
and sometimes you cry vengeance for
the mechanic who sent you away
without fixing up the trouble.
Whenever car develops sudden
illness the carburetor is invariably the
first object of attack, for even if the
carburetor is not the direct source Of
trouble it is the victim OF the average
driver. When the trouble is actually
elsewhere the poor carburetor has to
worry along with its new adjustment,
be it good, bad or indifferent. A few
hints may help you to solve serious
road trouble, even if the car refuses
to run.
One of the most common carbu-
rotor troubles is backhring, according
to G. o. Reynolds, in Motor Life.
Let us assume that after the car has
been driven several miles you reach
nice stretch of road in the country
and are tempted to open her up bit.
Everything is lovely, the speedometer
reads thirty-hve miles an hour, and
you are about to skim the top OF
long hill, when, much to your disgust,
you hear a muffled pop under the
hood. The carburetor makes loud,
though short, splitting sound at the
Va, fArraI to r1nt.f
down, and although the car picks up
again il will perform the same way
on the next long hill. To the expert
enced driver this means too lean
mixture at high speeds and the trou-
bic can surely be remedied by open
ing the gasoline needle valve little
more, or, if the car has jet, by sub
stituting larger jet.
Should the carburetor backfre in
this manner when the car is being
driven at a slow speed and no recent
adjustments have ben made, the lack
Of gas may be caused by partial
stoppage in the gasoline line or jet.
The presence of even small guam
tity of water in the gasoline will cause
a decided popping and splitting in the
carburetor. Water will entirely shut
off the gasoline, which it displaces as
the drop OF water passes through the
jet. This condition will sometimes
be very apparent when quickly accel-
Grating the motor even if the car is
standing still.
Sticking Valves.
Since the average car Of today 10
provided with a choking device for
cutting off air where admitted to the
carburetor, this means of enriching |
the mixture should be tried to prove |
to your satisfaction that the trouble
is caused by stoppage in the sys-
TEN rather than by a mixture con-
dition. This will prevent needless
tampering with the carburetor.
Other causes of backhring often
confused with carburetor trouble may
be attributed to an intake valve stick
ing open. This permits the exhaust
gases to leak into the inlet manifold |
and explode or burn the gasoline in the
caburetor. This often sets the gasoline,
thus blown out, on fire. This condition
may be apparent when the car is
running idle, as we'll as at any speed
on the road. Placing the spark plug
wires on the wrong plugs will cause
explosions to take place in the cylin-
ders when the intake valves are open
and the same results may follow.
While not so common as the above,
poor distributor conditions in your
ignition unit, be it battery or mag
neto, might cause spark to jump
across the distributor so as to fire
a charge Of gas in two cylinders at
once, the one with the inlet valve
open firing back through the carbu-
rotor.
We will now pass to the other ex-
treme--too much gasoline or a rich
mixture. This will first be noticed
by lack Of power in the engine, even
i il be firing perfectly on all its cylin-
ders. To prove this condition, watch
the exhaust from the muffler. Black
smoke is certain sign of too much
gasoline, and If the fumes be confined
in a room without ventilation smart
ing of the eyes and tears will result.
Watch out for this black smoke and
avoid the small, unventilated garage,
for death has resulted in several cases
from inhaling these fumes of imper-
feet combustion. This caution may
be entirely ignored when out in the
open. Do not confuse blue-gray
smoke, sign OF excessive fabrication,
with the distinctly black smoke from
a rich mixture.
Leaky Floats.
Late ignition will also rob a car of
its power. Be sure that the leather
coupling in the magnetic drive has
not stretched and that the breaker
box is being advanced when the spark
lever is advanced. These points
should be noted before you change
your carburetor. Closely akin to a
rich mixture in the flooding carbu-
rotor. Here again dirt generally causes
the trouble. Grit or waste (no one
seems to know where it comes FROM
often lodges under the needle valve,
preventing the shutting off of the
gasoline, which will leak out as soon
as the float chamber has become filled.
The function of float is to shut
off the gasoline when it has reached
its proper level in the carburetor. If
the float leaks it will not shut off
the gasoline and flooding certainly
will result If you suspect the float
Of leaking remove it and shake it to
see if any gasoline is inside. Assum-
ing that your float leaks and that YOU
wish to find the hole. submerge the
float in hot water. This will expand
the air in the float and air bubbles
will rise from the hole, even if it
be invisible TO the eye. Enlarge the
hole to drain out the gasoline and
solder.
A large percentage of the new cars
are equipped with vacuum tanks, and
in snite of the fact that thew b,yo