South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-07-11
MOTORISTS PROBLEMS
Solved for Readers of
The NewS-Times
By William H. StezCart, Jr.
By William II. Ste1oart. .r.

OV ~ ELLECLHE II
Motor Department:-Plea help 7
me out / have a Buick six. While
: am running fast the motor runs
alright but when ] throttle down
the motor goes % bucking and
sometimes seems % get choked up. /
When the latter trouble occurs
push out my clutch and race the
engine and get rid Of the accumu-
lated gas and then 10 runs alright
gain What is my trouble
Water In the carburetor will
cause the trouble YOU mention.
Clean all the strainers IN the fuel
line and also open drain at the base
Of carburetor for few seconds be
fore starting the engine. Be sure
that the distributor contacts are
clean. the spark plugs clean as we'll
as properly adjusted. With good
compression IN each cylinder. a good
spark and correct carburetor mix
ture. you should have little II any
such trouble as mentioned.
Motor Department. In overhaul
ing my engine / note there is "a
small amount Of play In the main
bearings II is hardly noticeable 70
the feel" but il can be detected by
using a jack. I know IL is a diff
ficult and laborious task TO tighten
these bearings. so j do not want 20
tackle IL unless 1 know 10 is abso-
lutely necessary. Can any harm re-
suit from this looseness2 In in
stalling new connecting rod BUSH
ings. do they have TO be fitted or
Ecraped II the crank shaft appears
10 be IN good condition? A. G.
Any looseness in main bearings lis
a serious matter which tends 20
grow worse IL will soon develop
a knock and may cause a serious
break. Have IL remedied immedi-
ateiy. New bushings should be
Scraped 20 a perfect ne. This in
wolves the use Of Prussian blue and
a scraper and should be done by a
skilled workman.
Motor Department:-Ple tell
Us why the connecting rods on auto
mobile engines are allowed side
>play on the wrist pins? This Is not
done on steam engines. NJ. ?.
This is to allow the connecting
rod tc find its proper position in
case Of any slight misalignment
After wear the crank shaft ac-
quires a slight end plan, due TO wear
on the bearings This would be
enough 20 cause the connecting rods
10 bind II they could not adjust
themselves to IT,
Motor Department. 90 VIII you
kindly inform me as 10 how much
horse power is consumed by a gen
orator on a car rated at 80 horse
power? OWNER.
The amount Of power consumed
by the generator is not worth con-
sidering. It would not use much
more than a magnetic or water
pump. and so would not make
enough difference in the running of
the engine to be noticeable.
Motor Department. II have a
1915 model Ford. The engine has
knock in it and it seems to be in
the first cylinder next 20 radiator.
II seems like a hollow sound, when
the hood is raised and at distance
sounds like the tapping of steel
Cylinder No. also knocks the
same way when the engine is run
ming on three cylinders and No.
IS running idle. but when 10 is mr.
Ing the knock is not nOctieable.
NOVICE.
From what YOU have stated IL is
quite evident that some OF the
at some time the engine has been
run without OIL A loose wrist pin
or connecting rod bearing would
cause the knock you mention
Under the circumstances IL would
seem most advisable 20 make a
careful inspection Of all the bear
ings.
Motor Department: - What is
my switch recently and the engine
continued 20 run. They told me II
was pre-ignition. but no one could
explain. T. ).
Pre-ignition means ignition be-
fore dead center-one of the causes
OF engine knocking What happened
IN YOUR case was that the carbon III
the cylinder head o. the metal itself
was red hot. This fired the charge,
and SO the engine continued TO run.
Motor Department: - Please i'm
form me If YOU know of anything
that will dissolve faxseed that was
Put in radiator 20 stop "a leak, which
has plugged the radiator. Have
tried washing soda and I've separ-
ately with no result Thanking YOU
for Information. 7 remain, y. J..
After removing radiator from
that the faVseed will become con-
tracted. Then with radiator turned
UPSIDE down. use steam pressure.
Afterward flush with water.
Motor Department One Of the
cylinders OF my Ford car has de-
Celepoed weak compression. As
there are no relief valves. is there
gnv way 20 find the cylinder at
fault by watching the valves
READER.
Bear I'm mind that 1 and pistous
move together as do . and 8. IL
No. I IS on compression. 40 VIII
be on exhaust. and the exhaust
valve will be open Similarly with
Nos o and Q. So. crank engine.
and when YOU come 20 the weak
e,linder note which exhaust valve
= moving No. I moving shows No.
Z on compression. and vice versa.
This method may be applied 90 any
-FOUR cylinder engine without come
prcssion cocks (relief valves
Motor Department. would Iike'