New-York tribune., 1919-05-11
Electric System
Is ''CrOund Work"
Of Trou>b | e S
Learn to Know Your Igni.
ton Thoroughly and Save
Many a Tie-Up; Short
and Misses Are Traced
By William Fl. Stewart, jr.

BY William Fl. Stewart, jr.,
President Stewart Automobile School.
Many times l have been asked to look
over q friends car, to find that the
trouble was one of the simplest The
average driver knows nothing about
electricity as applied to the automobile
and so is unable to tell when the igni-
tion system is functioning properly.
He is afraid to experiment, and be-
lieves in letting things alone until
something happens.
He then looks over the system for
the first time, and, Of course, does not
know whether the wiring is right or
not. Yet have repeatedly pointed out
cases of worn insulation among other
troubles about which the operator
seemed entirely lost. In one case the
spark was jumping freely from a dis
tributer wire to a piece of metal near
by and he pointed to it as evidence
that he had a good spark--evidentl
accepting it as a matter of course that
the spark should jump where it did.
Even if the operator understands
nothing of the nature of his ignition
system he should at least familarize
himself with the positions of the vari-
Gus wires, their colors, and genera,
condition. Here the instruction book
will be a great help. If any wire be-
comes displaced it will then be readily
noticed Watch particularly for cases
where one wire chafes against another
or some piece of metal.
Such places should be protected
with electric tape or at least covered
so that no short-circuit may occur.
But the high tension or secondary
wires may develop short circuit where
least expected, so that it would be we'll
to go over them occasionally to see
that no leakage takes place. This is
particularly true in rainy weather.
The moisture is drawn in by the fan
and is scattered around under the
hood.
Wires which did not leak current be-
fore viii shortcircuit in wet spell.
The best method is to run the engine
and to trace along each wire, lifting it
away from any place it may touch, to
see or feel if the current is leaking
through the insulation. Where a leak
is noted the place must be taped.
A more puzzlint problem arises when
all the wires from the distributor pass
through a metal tube. There is always
the possibility of a short from the
wires to the tube. as the tube is al
ways grounded. Proceed as follows:
First find out if the current enters the
suspected wire. To do this, disconnect
the wire at the distributor end and
hold it near its contact to see if spark
jumps. OF course, if no spark is seen
the trouble is not in the wire, but in
the distributor. If good spark occurs
at the distributor, but none at the other
end of the wire, there is a short in be-
tween. The wire must be pulled out
and a good one substituted, or the old
one made serviceable again.
On some systems it will be found i'm
possible to remove the defective wire
SO it is necessary to substitute a good
one between the same points, running
it along the outside of the tube and
securing it by means of tape. This
does not look we'll, but it restores
ignition to missing cylinder, with all
that that means, for when an engine
misses explosions it loses power, fiat
tens the bearings and hurries it's prog
ress to the scrap heap.