The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-10-13
IT'S VERY EASY IF
YOU KNOW HOW
The "Trouble Man, Shows
Novice How to Locate Igni-
ton Troubles.

Speaking Of ignition trouble, says win.
lam II. Stewart, Jr., q conversation
overheard IL very interesting.
How Is It you always lay your hand
right on the trouble every time you 80
after it?' said my friend to the repair
man who was working over his car.
But I don't always find 1t immedi-
ateiy.''
I'm the majority OF cases you do. and
In the other cases after q few minutes
search. My engine refuses to run at this
instant ] am going TO give you ten
minutes to get II started. Judging from
Vhat have seen you do previously that
n a liberal allowance. What particular
detail are you looking for now"
Il am trying to get spark"
But why look for a spark instead OF
something else: And what other trouble
might II be-" The trouble man waves
his hand majesticaily.
There are five reasons why an en-
CINE should run
And about Ave thousand why II
shouldn't" said my friend. The trouble
man eyed him approvingly and went on;
THE first two are compression and
fabrication. ] eliminated these two by
cranking by hand. The crank shaft
moved freely. showing that fabrication
was good. and there was a good spring
back to the compression. The gasolens
put into the cylinder through the prim-
ing cups did, not explode, showing igni-
ton trouble. II the engine had started
and stopped, carburetion trouble would
have been indicated That makes four
conditions-ignition, carburetion, lubri-
cation and compression
what is the fifth?"
Cooling. but that only comes into
play after the engine has started, so we
need not consider 1t now"
Having satisfied yourself that It 10
ignition. trouble. how are you going 10
work to locate it?"
by looking for a spark at the dis
tributer. disconnect the distributor
end Of the cable from coil to distributor
and hold Il close to some part of tho en-.
CINE so as to ground the spark. A space
of about an eighth of an inch In about
right. close the switch and move the
spark lever back and forth to interrupt
the primary current" lie did this whilo
he was speaking.
.'tNo spark! II there had been. the
trouble would have been in the distribu-
ter As there IL no spark I must look a.
the circuit breaker or interrupter. BY
moving the spark lever we can make the
points open and close. NO spark Jumps
across them when they break While
they are open we'll touch them with q
screwdriver. You see we get good
spark This shows that both points are
alive, but that q current doesn't run
while the points are closed
Then the points need cleaning?"
"F1xactlyw a piece of fine sandpaper
will soon remedy that"
"But II you had found a good spark
at the interrupter points?"
"The trouble would have been In the
induction coil"
And II there had been no spark at
the interrupter points when you touched
both of them with a screwdTiverT'
II should have started at the battery
and worked forward to the coil and then
TO the interrupter. BY considering each
part In turn / should have found the
trouble"
"But supposing your engine ran, al.
though some cylinders were missing ex-
plosions7"
'Tf one or more cylinders were missing
persistently I should look at the plugs
at the distributor or the wire between.
II the miss seemed to ruin from one
cylinder to another II might be weak
battery or corroded interrupter points
Here experience Is the best guide"
'1Fxpsrience Ii n good teacher but a
hard master" said my friend.
"But 1t becomes q useful servant to
the man endowed with persistence" said
the trouble man.