South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-08-10
Motor Cars
MOTORISTS PROBLEMS
Solved for Readers of
The NewS-Times
By William II. Steq0art, Jr.
By William H. Ste1oart, Jr.

Motor DEPARTING you
kindly tell me what Is the matter
with my 1917 Ford I have just
cleaned out the engine and ground
out the valves. I have plenty OF
power on level roads. but on the hills
IL seems 20 die right down. F. S
You nay have one or more Of the
following troubles. Poor compress
sion. leaky valves. lealty inlet mani
fold chOked gasoline line. weak
ma gnets. wrong carburetor adjust
ment. leaks around hot air intake.
Check these over one by one. Most
81 them you may test for yourself
Have the magnetic tested et the
Ford repair station.
Motor Department.-W What is the
proba bic cause why one or two spark
plugs IN an automobile become SCOT
ed. provided the plug is a good one
The deposit IL not altogether dry
When they become soofed the cyl
inders do not fire and Of course the
power is lessened. The car IS an
Overland and has been driven 1000
miles. r. r.
The piston rings may be leaky or
the cylinders scored This allows oil
70 get up and FOUL the plugs. New
rings may be all that is necessary.
II the cylinders are scored they must
be rebored and oversize pistons
fitted.
Motor Department. II intend
changing my old style clincher rims
- the quick detachable type. My
front wheels are 32 inch and the
rear "a inch. Would il ne advisa bic
20 make them the same size? Are
cars equipped with wheels Of differ
ent sizes any more2 Why was this
formerly done and why has It been
abandoned2 II decide to have 81
inch wheels in front, shall I have
10 buy new wheels? c. r..
Smaller wheels were used in front
20 lessen first cost, weight. etc. but
II necessitated carrying two spares
instead or one and the rear tires
could not be moved forward as they
wore. 10 prolong their life. BY all
means have the front wheels
brought up 70 "a inch. This may
easily be done by the wheelwright
who simply builds up the felloe to
toe right thickness.
Motor Department. Would 70 be
advisable 10 use n small addition Of
oil 20 the water in the cooling sys-
tenn 10 precent rust and scale2 Some
- q
yet we have not had enough time to
test IL out. Would IL interfere with
the cooling or rot the rubber hose
too quickly @. +.
Would not advise using oil in the
cooling system. Use soft clean water
oil viii rot the rubber connections.
Motor Department. have had
caustic soda advised to remove car
hon As / shall have TO lay up the
car occasionally for a few DAYS at a
time / thought I might Ill the cylin-
ders with a strong solution. let Il
stand not more than two days and
then remove IT, Would this harm
the engine in any way? G. T.
Caustic soda. Caustic potash, Will
not harm iron IL allowed TO remain
I'm contact with 10 several days. but
they are excellent solvents for alum
mum. bronze. brass etc. II the so
luton could be kept away from
these q might work. But any of IL
leaking into the crank case or oil
pump would be disastrous. Try some
OF the other methods OF removing
Hrs 81
peroxide or hydrOgen fed through
the air valve OF the carburetor while
the engine is running. or kerosene
infected through the compression
cocks while the engine is hot and al
lowed 20 stand overnight Scraping
is the best method II all the powder
Is blown out afterward Burning
comes next. but may be objected 20
on account OF the expense. The other
methods mentioned are inexpensive
Motor Department. give
me a little Information about the
toeing in OF the front wheels. What
would be the correct measurements
Tor a car with S4-inch wheels I
have some difficulty IN tire adjusting.
They tell me the wheels are not lined
up correctly. II they are not lined
up right would this cause one tire 20
wear more than the other? NV car
has a eft side drive. Does this make
any difference n r.
When a car is running on the
road The wheels should be absolutely
parallel or an equal distance apart
front and rear However. as the
steering knuckles Of most cars are
not within the wheels but 20 one side
there is a tendency for the wheels TO
spread out due 20 road resistance
on viii also notice that the bottoms
OK the wheels come closer together
than the tops This is 20 bring the
bottom OF the wheel more nearly
under The pivot on which it turns.
the king bolt" This also has a
tendency 20 make the wheels run
away from each other To offset
these two forces the fronts OF the
wheels are brought slightly closer
together bat the difference between
the two NEE surements should not be
over 4 quarter u an inch III not set
right the tires will certainly wear
more rapidly but il is doubtful II