New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-06-24
Carbon, the
All-Absorbing
Motor Topic
By WILLIAM II. STEWART In

by WILLIAM H. siEWART, JR.
Carbon is one of the worst silm.,..
OF the engine and the most irs;sio,.
It's presence often is not suspected a..
the evils which follow are att,;hr,.,
20 many other than the real ear,.'
The motor seems 70 be sluggish so.,
not respond readily 10 the thro,,,.
particularly on hill, and the dri,.,
blames the gasolene, the carburs,,,
the cooling system-even the man,
facturer.
He gets out the starting handle ,s
cranks the motor over TO try the "a,
preston. He finds it weak and blar..
the manufacturer for making &, ~.
CINE which cannot hold compression 4,
reasonable length Of time. Be,o,,
long the engine begins 20 miss eyn,o
sions. and he blames the coil or ,hs
spark plugs. He opens the switch
after long run and the engine refuse,
to stop.
Then he remembers that he heard
distinct knock which he thought nish,
be a loose bearing, but now he know,
there is something wrong inside or 4,
engine wouldn't overhead so badly f,,
the careful handling he had gwen /,
So he condemns the car and all il,
kind and asks his friends what he
trouble il that so many ills can occur
TO one engine at one time.
Carbon is the answer II g,,.
under the exhaust valves and guns 10
the piston rings SO that the motor
loses compression. It short-crcuit.
the spark plugs, and the engine MISE,
explosions. 1t accumulstes in mssse.
in the head of the cylinder, gets red
hot and fires the mixture before the
proper time. This causes knocking
which is especially pronounced on |,
hill. When the switch is opened the
motor keeps on running, as II is no,
using the electric spark at all.
There are many causes OF carbon
and one must be on his guard against
ali of them. The usual trouble is too
much oil, but the wrong grade Of oil
will give carbon. as will poor grade
Too rich mixture from the oarburs'
tor is another cause. II the piston
rings are badly worn oil will be draw
up into the combustion chamber on the
suction stroke-more carbon.
The remedy is TO avoid the causes
given above. Use oil made by III,
manufacturer of established reputs.
ton. and use the oil he recommends
for your car. See that oil level is cor
rect and that mixture from carburetot
is right. Ii red or yellow flame n
shown at compression cocks. the mkt
ure is too rich. In spite Of the best
care, however, carbon will persist N
forming.
To help keep this down, inject a
small quantity of kerosene in eaes
cylinder once a week. Have motor ho.
when il is poured in, 50 that the kero'
sene will vaporize. Close compressor
cocks and crank engine over few
times, either by hand or self-s.arter
This congresses the yapor and forces
il into the carbon. The effect Of the
kerosene vapor acting all night u 10
soften the carbon so that some OF Il
will be elected when the motor IS again
started.
If such precautions have not bee'
taken and cylinders are found 10 Be
carOonized. the deposits may Be TOO
thick TO be affected by kerosene slsW.
The old method was to use scrapss
which were inserted through the ys.y.
openings. The carbon was scraped o.
but fell in masses on the head Of the
piston. Unless blown out II was car
ried into the muller. II not thor
oughly removed ridges Of carbon wer,
left. which became red hot and caused
pre-ignition just the same.
The best method, aside from remov'
ing cylinder head and positive scraplne'
is to have the cylinders burned out VITA
oxygen. This can be done only wher
special apparatus is available. The en-
CINE is started and the gasolene supp
IS shut of. The engine stops, having
used up all the explosive mixture 70
the combustion space. This is to avoid
an explosion when the oxygen is tr''
introduced into the cylinder The
plugs are then removed. burning
match dropped into the cylinder and
the stream Of oxygen turned on. lbs
spreads to all parts Of the comog''o7
space, burning the carbon. As lo.sn
sparks are coming out the worknsa
knows that there is still some uneoa'
sumed carbon. This process is quo.
and quite efficient, dismantling o.
motor being unnecessary.
SO bear in mind the many troubles
traceable to carbon the next time 20.
find the motor Is not pulling ss