The Washington herald., 1921-04-17

mixture at increased speeds. Thus
the two compensate for each other
and give what is claimed to be an
exactly proper mixture at all speeds.
Practically all carbureters in use
today have some means Of controll-
ing both air and fuel supply. BY
means of adjustment it is possible
to cut down the amount of air ad-
mitted and similarly the amount
of gasoline may be restricted or in
creased as the need may be. 1t has
been said, not without reason, that
one of the prime faults of American
motor car owners of today is feed
ing too rich a mixture. 1t is i'm
pnrtant, therefore, the carbureters
should be properly adjusted.
should Adjust With Care.
In this connection readers should
be warned to make all adjustments
slowly and carefully. If the car
owner is not sure whether the mix
ture is rich or lean he should open
the throttle about One-quarter and
then for a few seconds reduce the
air flow with his hand. II the en-
gine shows signs OF picking up it
may be taken as sign that the
quantity of air should be dimin-
ishcd.
on the other hand. il the engine
slows down it indicates that more
air is needed instead of less In
making adjustments give each one
4 chance to demonstrate its useful
ness before trying another. As a
matter of fact. the car should be
CRryira rppaifiOpv
| adjustment to see how it affects the
running Experiments made while
the engine is idling are not very
satisfactory, and may not prove
right at all under actual running
conditions
While our present carbureters are,
as l mentioned in the beginning,
pretty efficient Instruments, rever-
theless they are handling a remark
ably low grade of fuel and they will
have to tackle even worse before
they get through. This means That
the fuel is hard TO Carburate a nd any
instrument needs the assistance OF
a certain amount of heat in handling
this debased fuel.
Devices which feed heated air to
the carbureter are to be had in
numbers and every carbureter ough.
to be so fitted. The expense is very
small and the help to the carbure-
ter is worth while. In fact, these
devices will pay for themselves
many times over in the saving of
gasoline that they effect. The hot
spots in the manifold, which were
I feature of last seasons Access
sorry offerings. also assist the carbu-
reter in it's function of providing
the engine with n thoroughly pre-
GiEested food.
The gradually lowered quality of
the motor fuel has caused certain
changes in design that have had
their effect on carburetion. Instead
Of the long external manifolds of a
few years ago we now have very
short manifolds or none at all, that
is to say. none exposed, the passage
being included in the cylinder cast
ing construction which tends to
heat the fuel and make it more
readily vaporized. Car owners who
nave engines fitted with the old
fashioned sweeping external mani
folds will undoubtedly have trouble
with condensation of the fuel in the
manifold.
Heating Device Needed.
This will produce dripping when
the car is standing. Any car hav-
ing an engine fitted with one of
these old fashioned manifolds
should be fitted with some heating
device. for 1t will be almost i'm
possible to get efficiency in any
other way. The best carbureter has
trouble in handling present day
fuel even with everything in its
favor and with long. cold passages
for this heavy liquid to pass through
and condense IN it is almost i'm
possible to hope for satisfactory
operation.
The carbureter needs little atten-
tiOn from the average owner. The
strainer, which is included in the
fuel line, must be removed and
cleaned from time to time and It
may surprise some neophytes to find
plenty of rust and dirt in this catch
all. If the strainer is not cared
for enough foreign matter will coll
lect to stop the flow of fuel. Fur
ther than this. the tank cock should
be opened every couple of months.
and any water should be drained
out.
AS a general rule, when serious
trouble develops in the carburetion
system the best thing to do is to
drive over to the service station on
the first opportunity and get the
expert there to give the instrument
looking over. The carbureter, after