Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1917-04-24
Expert Advice For the
Automobile Owner
Queries and Replies Covering Matters Of
Importance to the Man Who Runs q Car

Is there any lost motion at all desir.
able or essential in the steering wheel
or gear and would a small amount
make steering easier or safer?
Some drivers prefer slight amount
Of lOoseness in the steering gear, be-
lieving that the front wheels hold the
road better than if there is no play in
them. This probably makes steering
easier, if not excessive, although it
cannot be said to be as safe.
10 il advisable to use shellao Or
graphite on Ieaky gasoline pipes?
Shellac has been recommended as a
temporary repair. Another temporary
repair Of leaky gasoline line Is to
wrap it with electricians rubber tape.
The gasoline soon eats through this,
but it usually lasts long enough to do
the work.
What 10 the efficiency Of . friction
drive, disregardins the loss on bsarinss
due to excessive pressure for frietionai
purposes?
In cars of light weight the friction
loss is very little II any greater than
in sliding gear construction and no
more and probably not as much as in
planetary construction. An unscien.
tific construction in any type can
hV{n V~1.
friction.
How can one prevent too much oil in
the two forward cylinders Of q carr
The crank case has a circulating pump
that pumps the oil from the suitcase
into the front end Of the crank case
whore il flows back into the rest Of the
case.
This is caused by worn pistons. It
is possible that new rings will help,
but the chances are that new pistons
My car will not fire regularly on the
rear cylinder. have had the valves
ground, the carbon removed, new pie.
ton rinss fitted, but still there 10 no
compression on the rear cylinder. What
10 the matter7
The poor compression may be due to
Improperly adjusted or'poorly timed
valves. This is common cause and
very often after grinding the operator
forgets to readjust the tappets. Cylin.
der leaks may be causing the trouble.
Perhaps the leak is around the spark
plug or the cylinder plug openings. A
little paste stove backing Oh the
threads will prevent leaking at these
places. Do not use too much of the
paste but just enough to cover the
threads lightly. The piston rings ends
may be in line and thus cause the gas
to escape in the lane made by the rings.
The piston itself may be loose or the
cylinder worn a little.
Sometimes while running In hiah
speed the gear lever Of my car sudden.
ly jumps in the neutral position. What
10 the cause Of this7
The jaws Of the direct drive may be
worn SO that they slip out Of mesh.
Or any Of the connections may be loose
between the lever and the gear shift.
A general Tightening up Of the gear
shift control connections may relieve
the trouble permanently.
What can ! do to the lining Of my
brakes to make them hold when they
are glazed, with the wire showing
through the fabric?
Evidently your brake Innings are bad
ly worn out The best thing to do Is
to have the brakes refined. There
Is practically nothing you can do 70
Innings that are badly worn out except
to replace them.
Ny car has had q knock in the front
end Of the motor for about q year.
When the motor 10 in high gear on the
road the knock resembles hitting . pan
with . large wooden mallet, making q
heavy thud, loud and regular with the
exhaust Of the motor. ! have had .
new front bushins put in the front
bearing and had the crank shaft put
in q lathe and smoothsd UP the front
end and had a bushing made to fit Il,
also all main bearings adjusted tightly.
When the crank shaft was put in the
lathe we found il perfectly true, and
after putting both new bushings in the
front bearing Il stopped this knocking
For only about two or three weeks, when
il was as bad as ever again. Can you
tell mo what to do about this?
The fact that you hear the knock
less distinctly when the motor is idling
leads to the conclusion that it is prob.
ably a bearing knock, as that would
naturally become most pronounced I'm.
der load. 1t may be that you adjusted
the main bearings too tightly when
you had the bushings renewed, and
this has unduly worn them out. caus-
ing q return of the conditions that ex.
listed before you put in new bushings.
They must be fitted snugly. but not so
tightly as to bind or cause undue fric-
tiOnal wear.
1t might be that you have loose
connecting rod bearing or even worn
wrist pin bearing. Either Of these might
cause the kind Of knock you mention.
The fact that it ceased after the bear
ings were taken up and rebushed be-
fore leads to the diagnosis that it was
bearing trouble.
1t is not likely that the pump would
cause any such knock, especially as the
noise is intensified under load. Fur
A.