South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-10-23
MOTORISTS PROBLEMS
Solved for Readers of The News Times
By WILLIAM H. STEWART, JR.

battery charged. Every once IL a
while / take It out and have It
charged at some garage. The gen
orator appears 10 be in good condi-
ton. and. Il seems TO me, should
generate enough current for the
battery. Do you suppose the battery
Is worn? Can you suggest any way
l car overcome this annoyance?
Z. o.
Perhaps the driving belt Is con-
siderably worn and needs replacing.
/ II this belt is old and not tight the
/ generator will not be driven al full
speed. and as a result the battery
viii not be properly charged. Would
suggest a new belt and see that II Is
tight.
Motor Department. have a Ford
car. Everything seems to be in good
/ condition, but 1t VIII not start until
/ you jack up the rear wheel, then you
only have TO turn the wheel over
once or twice and the engine Will
start. After II IS once started you
\ can take the jack out and it runs
/ fine, then II vii! start the first time
\ you pull on the crank I tried put
ting warm water in it In the morn
I ings but II aid not help. Could you
ten me where the trouble is? Q. G.
This IS the usual cold weather
trouble with all cars. 1t may be
I partly due 20 weak magnets. When
you crank by means Of rear wheel
you probably spin the engine much
faster than you do by means OF the
starting handle. Make sure that
compression Is good and give a
slightly richer mixture.
Motor Department-I have a Reny
magnetic. Ny spark lever is only
effective when advanced about one
| fourth OF its distance, and that point
I seems to be the only place the en-
CINE works good. And then when
the car runs at % miles an hour IT
/ seems to ha laboring hard. 1t doesn' Z
seem to h-ge the power. it should
have. /. II.
There may be a short circuit on
/ the wires going to circuit breaker.
| Remove cable at breaker box and
| test by running current through
/ Them. The trouble may be due to
/ the breaker box being loose or the
breaker gap out Of adjustment. At
tenton to these details should re-
move the trouble.
| Motor Department. have a REQ
car which is very hard to start. I
often have to press down on starter
and open spark three or four times
before engine win start. Also my
lights are very dim. Please tell me
how to remedy these troubles.
OWNER.
The lights being dim would sug-
gest a weak battery. which would ex-
plain the difficulty in starting. Us
ing the lights too much or excessive
use Of starter has aggravated the
I trouble. Crank engine by hand for
few days and use lights only while
| engine is running. If ammeter does
not show charges" while car is
running the charging and lighting
| system needs looking after at a
/ service station.
Motor Departm ent - Cd What
good does a cut-out do a machine?
| CD What grade of oil is advisable to
use in winter, light. medium. or
heavy? s. o.
10 We assume you mean a muf-
I fer cut-out 1t relieves the back
! pressure due to the muffler, giving
us or 4 per cent more power for
/ use on hills. IN case mufler is
| clogged the gain is greater. 1t en-
ables us to listen TO the sound Of
the exhaust and so tell if any cylinder
is missing explosions. CD The
/ grade of oil depends on the kind
you are now using. Use a lighter
one in winter If you are using a
heavy oil change to a medium one.
etc.
Motor Department-As a new mo-
torist I should like a few suggest
ions as 70 what TO do 10 a car TO
keep it running right and 10 avoid
I trouble. a few simple directions
that a novice can follow. OWNER.
The steering gear should be test
\ ed and the brake inspected every
trip: this is OF first importance. Look
over steering gear to see that all
/ fastenings are properly secured.