The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-08-11
CARE FOR MACHINE
Many Owners Ignorant of Every
thing Save the Control.
OIL And GREASE IMPORTANT
ii Drivers Had More Knowledge OF
Cars and Applied 1t Much of Re-
pair Business Would FizzIe-
fabrication Abused.

1t is deplorable but true that for
each motor owner who really under
stands his car in it's multiple details
there are dozens ignorant of every
thing save the control. They know
how to start it and stop it. But they
know almost nothing about the proper
care of the machine. Only the other
| day, for instance, a dealer told man
who had bought q powerful car and
who was totally ignorant of the fact
that oil and grease played important
parts in it's running.
When he was towed in few days
later with badly damaged engine he
said he had thought that little things
such as fabrication were arranged be-
fore the car left the factory, and that
all he had to do was to keep the tank
full Of gasoline. Repair men state
that if private drivers had more real
knowledge of their cars, and applied 1t,
pore than three-fourths of the repair
BUSINESS would fall away.
Motorcar Abuses.
OF motorcar abuses, improper 1ubri-
,ation is probably the most common,
which is a little strange, considering
| that keeping a car oiled and creased
Is one of the easiest of the attentions
1t requires. The motor is mechanism
which runs at high speed and high
| temperature. 1t contains many rub
| bing surfaces. In order to keep these
surfaces from burning each other, it
is necessary to separate them by film
Of oil.
If the lubricating system Is in good
condition and the oil of the right con-
sistency, this protective film will be au-
| tomatically provided. This applies to
all the surfaces such as pistons, cylin-
der walls, crank shafts, rod pins
bearing, crankshaft bearings, push
rods, push rod guides, and even to
| the gears. The teeth of the meshing
gears, of course, are not spaced to rub
against each other, but to have simply
rolling contact. However, it is i'm
possible to attain this degree Of per-
lection in practice, and a certain
amount of rubbing does take place,
due to the fact that the teeth cannot
be scientifically correct.
Severe Test of Oil.
The seyerest test of lubricating oil
is found in lubricating the pistons and
cylinder walls, especially at the up
per end of the stroke. At the moment
of the combustion the temperature is
above 5000 degrees Fahrenheit, and
both spistQns and cylinder walls are ex-
ceedingly hot; therefore 1t is necessary
| to use an oil which will stand this
temperature, neither vaporizing nor
! burning.
/ If the oil is too thin or has ten
dency to vaporize or burn, these high
surfaces will be improperly fabricated,
Increased friction will result and
finally the film of oil may disappear
/ entirely, with the result that rubbing
between the two surfaces will occur and
| the parts shortly will be ruined. There
also is possibility when the piston
becomes heated that it will expand I'M
/ til it fills the cylinder bore and be-
comes sealed.
If the oil is not clean, if it contains
grit or dirt Of any sort, it will rapidly
wear away the metal parts, the grit
acting as an abrasive. Oil is liable to
contain not only grit and free carbon
but also a certain amount of gaso.
line, and in many cases, water. The
i gasoline thins the oil, making it in
capable Of resisting the pressure be-
tween the rubbing surfaces, and weal
Increases. Water may form an emul
sion and produce the same effect, while
in winter there is always some danger
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