Evening star., 1922-10-22
THE OWNER.DRIVER'S
COLUMN
Keeping the Car Tuned Up.

Keeping the Car Tuned Up.
The Moral Effect Of q Good Lock.
The man who gets THE best results
out Of a machine. be 1t a wheelbarrow
or an automobile. is he who takes
care of said machine. There are
among the hundreds Of thousands of
owner-drivers men Of all degrees OF
mechanical aptitude. There is ths
fellow who loves his machine and
who takes pride in keeping 1t out
of the garage by doing even his own
overhauling, and there are those VINO
have insufficient mechanical bent to
oil wheelbarrow. While natural
mechanical ability is a great help TO
one who looks after car. 1t is not
absolutely essential if one goes about
this work in a systematic way.
An automobile is divided into
number of departments or systems,
each of which has separate duties 10
perform. II any one Of these sys-
TENS breaks down the whole car 10
be neglected without the whole ma.
chine suffering. The following point.
ers in keeping the whole car in shape
should be Of value to owners who are
their own garagemen. For con.
venience we like to divide the
follows:
/. The power plant. The oil In the
crank case should be cleaned out
every 500 miles and replaced with
new oil. II the machine IL reasonably
tight hitting and is easy on oil. MO.
miles or under are automatically
Changing OIL" The fan, valves
(when in the head). generator and
starter bearings and timer and Gluten
bearings should be carefully attended
to with unfailing regularity. OIL and
grease are cheaper than new parts
and expensive "tow-ins."
Care OF Generator.
2. The electric system. When on the
crate as much as it did when the car
was new, and II 1t does not do 50 let
an electrical man look at 1t. Starter
and horn connections. as well as all
electrical circuits. should be kept
terry should be tested at least once
a fortnight and the water level kept
up to the correct level-usually
around three-eighths OF an inch over
the plate. Only distilled water
should ever be put into a battery.
tention in some cars, yet they should
not be neglected for more than 1000
miles at stretch. The points may
be burned off. leaving too wide
spark gap. or they may need clean
ing.
5. The driving system. This is some
times called the running gear. The
grease in the gear box and in the diff
ferential case should be changed at
least once or twice a season and be-
tween changes the owner-driver
should make sure that these parts
wheels need occasional greasing and
when lacked off the ground the bear
ings in them should be inspected for
play and if necessary adjusted.
Front wheel steering knuckles should
receive far more attention than they
do. Turn down the grease cups a bit
I. The steering system and brakes.
The steering gear should run with
out too much play in the wheel. about
one and one-half inches at the rim
being correct, and there should be no
turns hard. All joints in the steer
ing connections should be kept tight
and well creased. To neglect this is
dangerous. The brakes must not be
forgotten. Keep them equally tight
See that the pedals work freely and
that the brakes take effect before the
pedal is fully depressed.
To this system might be added the
springs. They should be kept well
creased between the leaves and the
shackles must be kept oiled or the
bolts will cut through with surpris-
ing speed.
70 keep a car in good shape means
work. If we wish to pay for it. a
garageman will do it for us. The
majority Of US, however, like to do it
at home. Yet we are sorry to say
that these are the cars which show
lack Of proper care.
How to Use Cotterpin.
The cotter pin or split pin is one
Of the most important. as we'll as
with which we have to do about a
car. 1t is used everywhere to keep
nuts where they belong. When they
are to be removed they are often
hard to get out. and when they are
to be put in it Is often hard to find
the hole between the castellations OF
a nut.
In the first place, most of US are too
careful of hurting them when we re-
move them. While a cotter-pin puller
or a good strong button hook will
pull them out, it is often far cheaper
out in pieces rather than waste the
time trying to get them out whole
and using them again. They are
often not safe to be used again.
Especially IL this true in regard to
the crank bearings. New split pins
should be used whenever these are
removed. Every owner should have a
supply OF assorted cotter pins for his
car. They save time and are much
safer than using the old ones over.
Filing a mark across the end Of a
bolt so as to show which way the
cotter pin runs is the best method of
locating the hole on castellated nuts.
While the stealing of motor cars is
becoming a prodigious problem to
motor car owners, it is interesting to
note that very few locked cars are
stolen. To use the words of a re-
formed car thief, who, after spending
two terms in prison. is now trying to
help owners keep their cars: 1.No
thief will bother a locked car II he
Is in his right senses, because there
Is always one not far off without a
sign Of a lock-" To steal a car from
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