Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-06-12
Barney 0ldfld field says:
ROAD DUST AND ENGINE
TR0lIRl ES.

>--S'
The Importance Of feeding only pure
air to the carburetor is being recognlz-
ed more and more. At present passen-
which TAKE the air, directly from under
the hood with the result that the in
tcrnal mechanism of the engine is
worn excessively. q. The air fed into the
engine, even though free from dust and
grit, is nevertheless filled with such
particles and when one is travelling
behind another car which. is kicking
up the road dust the volume Of hard.
gritty matter is, Of course, increased
beyond conception.
1t may surprise many owners to
learn that the constant feeding of this
air results in much OF the. trouble which
necessitates regrinding of cylinders
and the fitting of new pistons and
rings. The dirt that gets inside of
the cylinders in great volume sticks to
the cylinder walls and exerts an action
which is exactly similar to that of en-
cry dust. It cuts into the, metal and
soon brings about score marks. 1t is
realized that the dirt taken in is very
fine, but it is this very fine material
which is SO damaging over given
period.
In addition to depositing itself over
metallic surfaces good part of the
dirt eventually is washed down into
the crankcase. When you remove the
lower half of the crankcase Or the oil
pan you always notice certain amount
of sediment. You mop it out with
the belief that it is harmless carbon,
left there by the destruction Of the
oil or by what is deposited from burned
gas that has worked past the pistons.
Sediment Is Road Dirt.
AS a matter or truth. most of the
sediment is not carbon, but road dirt.
dust, fine sand particles. etc. Some
Of it is carbon. This sediment may
settle at the bottom of the oil pan.
or it may, as the car is being driven,
distribute itself through the Oil body.
In this way the very small particles
get past the oil screen and eventually
get to the bearings, the timing gears,
camshaft, etc. It is easy to see that
if the oil always were kept perfectly
clean, cutting Of crankpins and bear
ings would not take place. The cut
ting is due to the presence Of cutting
materials. They cannot make their
way into the engine through the
breather or filler pipe, because when
the engine is running the vapor and
NOT air gong OUT. VIII uoL permit VI
the entrance of dirtladen air from
outside.
The only way the grit gets into the
engine is through the combustion cham
bers which receive the dirt from the
air taken in by the carburetor. IN a
new engine however, there is certain
amount Of sediment deposited due to
the parts wearing themselves in. But
after the first 800 or 1000 miles the
engine parts are thoroughly worked-in
and there is no further depositing Of
metallic substances from the internal
parts of the engine itself.
Tests have been conducted by indi-
viduals which show conclusively that it
is absolutely necessary for our passen-
ger cars to be fitted with some sort of
device to feed clean air to the engine.
Farm tractors which work under ex-
treme conditions, all are fitted with
air cleaners. otherwise it would be a
case of regrinding cylinders every six
months or so. There is little differ
ence between tractor working in a
field and passenger car being driven
along a dusty country road. Why
then, if the tractor engine needs pro-
lection does not the passenger car
engine need the same care under the
same conditions.
Keep Air Clean.
l firmly believe that every engineer
recognizes the Importance Of keeping
the air clean and that the working
out of an efficient air cleaner is a
difficult problem because Of the re-
striction to size. But that is no rea
son why we should not start with some
thing and develop it. Right now one
well-known automobile maker builds
his cars so that the air for the car
bureter is taken from under the in
strument board where it is supposed
to be somewhat cleaner than it is
under the hood This is at least
step in the right direction though |
do not believe the arrangement will
help matters very much.
The air cleaners now offered cannot
be used effectively in passenger ears
because they do not permit the neces-
air volume to pass freely which re-
suits in engine power dropping off and
no doubt affects acceleration. The
owner can make tests of his own to
determine just how much dirt is taken
in by the engine simply by stretching
wet cloth in front Of the radiator