Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-29
TO PREVENT engine
FROM 0VERHEAT|NG
Causes of Trouble With Rem
edies Discussed by Jo-
seph B. TreW.


the engine is trouble frequently
encountered. and in some instances
becomes almost a chronic condition"
says Joseph B. Trew, president of
the Trew Motor Company, REQ and
| Peerless car distributors.
I'm the first place." adds Mr.. Trew,
''it should be understood that over
heating is no mere annoyance: it is
more serious than that. If the con-
dition becomes chronic it contrib
utes to the rapid deterioration of the
engine. and it's equipment should be
remedied as quickly as possible.
Causes of Overheating.
"A number of conditions may pro-
duce overheating. some functional
and some mechanical. Perhaps the
commonest cause of all is driving
with the spark lever too far ad-
vanced. When this is done the
spark occurs while the piston is
considerable distance down in the
cylinder, leaving a more than normal
" large area OF the cylinder wall
exposed to the flame, whereby an in
creased amount of heat is. carried
into the cooling water, which rapidly
boils.
THE car owner frequently notices
that when he is obliged to climb q
steep hill with the spark retarded to
keep the engine from knocking his
radiator is steaming by the time he
gets to the top. If this is chaFac
teristic of any given engine the own
er of that outfit had better get at
the fundamental cause of it and
cure it, so that the spark lever may
be kept further advanced on hills.
"In the race to determine the most
prolific cause of overheatfng our old
friend carbon is well in the van if not
the actual leader. Carbon deposits
cause preignition with just the same
effect as If the spark lever had been
too far advanced. The specks of car
bon become incandescent and fire the
incoming charge before its proper
time. In this case also the flame oc-
ours when an under area of cylinder
wall is exposed, so that an excessive
amount of heat finds its way through
into the water. The symptoms of this
cause of overheating are knocking,
back firing and a noticeable falling
off in power. The only cure, Of course.
is removal of the carbon deposits,
which may be done by serapthg or by
the oxygen method.
Naturally enough a second common
cause of overheating is to be found
in some failure of the cooling system
This trouble is easily discovered sim
ply by removing the radiator cap
while the engine Is running dhu nv
ing whether or not there is ctrcuia-
ton of the water. If the water is not
running obviously the system ts clog
aed up, and the next thing to do is to
And the cause. Now the causes behind
impeded circulation vary according to
whether the syste mis- thermosyphon
or pump.
3 Thermosyphon System.
IN the thermosyphon cooling sys-
TEN the only thing that can stop the
flow of water is q direct stoppage In
the system The first thing to do Is to
open the drain and permit the water
to run, out of the radiator and engine
BY watching the rate of dow II is
easy to tell whether the stoppage ls
in this part of the water system II
the radiator is stopped up It should
have thorough cleaning. AS gen.
erai rule this Job should be handed
over to a Arm that specialtzes In this
sort Of work. When it 10 mentioned
that sometimes as much as four
pounds of muck will be taken out OF
a single radiator the reason why spe.
cial treatment is necessary Is shown.
Let it be emphasized that the
average car owner is far too casual
in the sort of water he uses in his
cooling system. If dirty water 10 used
in this connection little foreign
matter entering at each filing soon
creates the material for a complete
stoppage."