New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-08-22
By II. Clifford Brokaw

Director. Nest Side Y. NJ. c. A. Auto.
mobile Schools
Not all the automobile thievery is
reported to the police. There are little
thieves around every car, seldom APP
nrehended, constantly purloining the
owners cash and getting away with it,
The stranre thing is that so many own
ers are implicated in the petty larceny
end actually foster the drain upon their
own nocketbcoks without murmur.
The little thieves referred 20 are not
small boys or other two-legged preda-
tory animals, but little elves known as
eDou't Have Time Sloppy Habit Il
should Worry" etc There are others.
bpt these are the chief ones.
The netty losses amount to q great
deal in the course of a season, and are
well worth preventing. One of the
thieves which steals gas and power is
the leaky intake manifold. This may
he at the carburetor, where it will af-
feet all cylinders, or at the cylinder
blcck where it affects one or more
CYLINDERS. A loose gasket will suck in
s;r on the intake stroke of the engine,
carbrretor has made. and one or more
Of the CYLINDERS viii not fire properly.
And If enough air is admitted in this
way il may cause backhring, which
uould be naturally blamed on lean
mixture and cause an adjustment OF
the carburetcr TO supply more gas,
which. being unnecessary, is an item OF
waste.
If the engine has been running prop
.rlv and begins TO backhre, and you are
Getting gas into the carburetor. do not
Commence to adjust the carburetor
Look for leak somewhere. Tighten
IN on the gaskets and see if that does
mi remedy the trouble. Do not adjust
The carburetor while there is q posi-
bjGtv Of anything else being wrong. 1t
NAV be necessary to put in new gaskets,
for If these are used too long, or
dented. or get out of shape, they are
almost sure to leak q little.
One Of the other thieves is the leaky
cas- pipe, either whore the pipe is con-
rected on the tank or where it IS con
rected to the carburetor or vacuum
tank, al the strainer. or possibly where
the pipe has been bent and has cracked
slow leak. drop at a time, may
seem Ike lightly small loss. but
Wrpr II IS kEAN AD tWtllly -IOUI H0El
8 dav it amounts to much in the course
Of month. Besides, the leak may be
endengering the car by making a high
fire risk. Gas pine lines should be in
spected occasionally. Usually they will
need taking of orce in a while to blow
out the sediment which gathers in spite
Of every precaution.
Another leak which is expensive is
Of lubricating oil l suppose nearly
every one has seen puddles of oil on
pavement after a car has moved
away, OF noticed q drip from passing
auto. Oil IS high priced, and no one
can afford to waste it. There is a no.
tceabe absence of dust on streets
where many automobiles travel due to
the roadway being we'll oiled by these
drippines The oil naturally comes
either from the crank case, the trans
mission gear case or the differential
case
They are not Intended to leak. It
may be because the drain cock is not
properly closed or the gasket may not
be bolted down tight, or there may be
& crack which gives slow drip. What
ever it IS. it should be remedied. There
may De other causes of leakage in the
oil system, but whatever il may be this
little thief should be arrested
There is another leak of a different
nature which sometimes comes at the
valves. Bits of carbon sometimes
lodge on the valve or valve seat, and
quickly are hammered down into a
little lump, which prevents the valve
from seating properly, and therefore
It leaks. Some engines require valve
grinding only at long intervals and
others seem TO need it often The ex-
haust valves should be examined regu-
lsrly and ground in whenever neces-
sary. Intake valves require much less
attention, but should be examined sew
eral times year
Another valve leak is about the
stems They should fit snugly in the
guide. But with many motors there
Is tendency for the valve guides to
wear. This may sometimes be de-
tscted by kissing sound when the