Arizona republican., 1921-03-20
HOW II LOOK AF TER ENGINE
 LUbR|CAT|ON
(By Plug Sparks)

tt is unfortunate that a great many owners receive the wrong information regarding engine fabrication, and thereby remove many months of use full life from the engine and many extra dollars from their pockets. Imagine a combination of extremely fine fitted parts working at very high speeds and trying to do this work for hours and days and even years. Imagine crank shaft bearings. fitted to a fraction of one -thousandth of an inch, having to bear loads of many tons, trying to give good account of itself with a volume of dirty, gritty. old oil passing over it. All interior engine parts are fitted more accurately than many parts in a high grade watch. Pistons and rings, camshaft bearings, connecting rod bearings, etc, all are worked to close limits, and in order, that they live long and run quietly during life they must always be well fabricated with the right kind of oil.
 The selection of the right brand and grade was taken up in a previous article. The grade of oil should not be changed except for violent atmos- pheric changes-that Is to say. sum- mer and winter in most states. With out exaggerating. I believe that half the owners of automobiles change from blight or medium oil to heavy engine oil when the engine Is assumed to be getting old. I know many owners who do this after the first year, and others who wait a little longer. An engine oil than the one called for by the de- sign. and this grade should never be changed except as needed for winter aud summer conditions. The reason is easy to see when one understands the actions that take place within the en- zine.
 The new engine is, as we say, tight. In order that the pistons, rings, bear fngs and even the gears. get to a work ing fit, the engine is taken through a nn-in period. You are told that a new engine should not be operated at high speed for continued periods until after the first 1000 miles. The reason for this is that during the working period when the parts are fitting themselves, or, in other words. adjusting their working surface, the clearances are small and the lubricant must work it. self between tight parts. After the first 1000 miles the parts have worked themselves in and the engine is said to be free It is easier to crank. II doesn't use so much fuel, it has more power and pep and runs quieter. Just like new pair of shoes being broken in" ths engine parts must work to a running fit. During this period metal is scraped off cylinders. walls and pistons, bearing metal in dust form ts removed from the bearings. These very fine metallic particles naturally mix with the oil. Metal even of such fineness has a cutting action, and it is for this reason that it must be TO- moved. If enough of it deposits 1t may even clog an oil line. That is why you are told to drain your crankcase after the first 500 miles. It is wise, however. to drain and clean the oil pan every 500 miles thereafter.
 After the run-tn period of the engine little if any wear will occur for as many al 2b,0O0 miles if fabrication is care fully watched. know of many cases of cylinders and pistons that have been used for over 50,000 miles without re- boring or relapping, because the oil was changed often enough. If you can keep the oil clean always you will give years of additional life to the engine. Do not change the grade of oil; stick