The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1918-08-22
PROPER CARE Is
DUE TO 1AUFfLER
Purpose OF Device Is to Diminish
Noise of Exhaust and Permit
Gas to Escape.
I,lDssIKKa SHUTS Off POWER
t Must Sc Taken Apart to Clean and
All CarEon Deposits Removed
Re.m Out Small Holes Win
Three-cornered File.

''Why is muller used on 4 carr
$ ii conIinna question Among motor
Sts, and they sometimes add: what
are does Il need and ia what trouble
:; it subject?'
The purpose Of The mutl"r is to di-
niniSh the noise of the exhaust. Til"
caS escapes fTum he EXHAUST valve 81
Ugh pressure and the resulting noise
: diSacrepable unless Sil"uced. Ii
5 necessary to reduce the pressure
rom each explosion and to allow the
caS to cScape 50 that Il great deal OF
is force is disSipated ana its diSjont-
ID nature completely changed. The
,.as then passes out quietly with only
slight pulsation or throlbing.
The methods by which this is
brought about are very simple. y 81"
passing along an ordinary pipe would
be slowed down and spread out. This
arrangement would require too long
pipe. So battle plates are used to
make the gas turn corners and force
Is way through small holes in the
alatps. In some mUftierS the gas eli
iGrS an expansion chamber. All this
line it is losing heat and 50 contract
ing and thus it slows down more and
more The final effect is. as stated, TO
have the gas issue from the muf-
aer in u steady, quiet manner.
Leave MuffIer Alone.
The care of the lnuffler is to leave
it alone until it becomes cloggcd. II
does its work without any attention
and requires nothing from The driver.
The only time we think of it is when
we wish to find out if the engine IL
missing explosions. Then we cut out
the mufller and listen 10 the sound Of
the exhaust. Do this cautiously on the
read, as there are laws against II in
many localities. If the sound of tha
exhaust is not sufficiently loud It may
he increased by retarding the spark
and opening the throttle part way.
The sound of each cylinder win then
he brought out distinctly and any
weakness will be noticed Immediately.
StuSStIS SihJ tiSuAiCs
About the only trouble to which the
muller is subject is that it becomes
clogged with SCOT. This may he caused
by too rich a mixture from the carhu-
refer, Indicated by black smoke from
the exhaust. or it may be caused by oil
working up on top of the .piStOnS. Civ
ing the blush white smoke character
iStic Of too much lubricant. Another
cause is where the carbon has been
scraped loose from the cylinders, but
allowed TO fall on the piston. This is
carried into the muller, and so helps
to Clog In order to clean it, it must
be taken apart and all the carbon de-
posts removed. If the small holes are
closed with SCOT they must be reamef
out with a three-cornered file or henr-
ing scraper The parts are then reas-
sembled carefully and replaced on the.
car. u
1t is easy to tell if the muller is
clogged where there is a cut-out. Run
the machine up fairly steep hill. II
the car speeds up with the cut-out
open it shows that the ;muffler is
clegged. A well-designed s silencer
should not cut down the power of the
engine more than per cent. This diff
ference will hardly be noticeable on an
ordinary hill. So the fact that the car
slows down would indicate 'baek pres.
sure due to clogging.