The Holly chieftain., 1922-04-06
MUFFLER IS NOT
WATCHED CLOSE
Cleaning Up Process Is Over
looked or Delayed Until Open
ings Become CIogged.
INCREASES USE OF GASOLINE
Very Important Part Of Automobile
Is Located Under Car and Out Of
Sight, and ls Rarely Given
Attention Needed.

One Of the parts of an automobile
most neglected by many owners and
drivers is the muff1er. AS boy with
dirty face puts off the cleaning up
process Just as long as possible, so
the motorist with a nuffier that needs
attention procrastinates and thinks
perhaps he will fix 1t up tomorrow.
And tomorrow never comes. But to-
day Is always here with Its greater
use Of gasoline and various other COM
plications that dirty muffler causes.
The muffler Is located under the car,
and being out Of sight is usually out
Of mind. 1t is therefore often neg
lected or misused. And yet 1t ought
not to be. The muffler is placed on
the end Of the exhaust pipe Of the en-
gine so that tile driver of an automo-
bile while taking pleasure himself
does not wholly deprive others of it.
Let us consider the use of the muf-
fier. The exhaust valve opens while
the burned gas Is still under pres
sure Of from % to 80 pounds per
square inch. II this were exhausted
directly into the air the resulting
noise would stife conversation in the
car, annoy everybody along the street
and quickly get the driver into trouble
with the police. The muffier prevents
all this. 1t provides chamber In which
these exhaust gases may expand and
cool somewhat and at the same time
breaks up the pressure by allowing 1t
to leak out slowly through number Of
very small holes, instead Of letting 1t
loose in one "big noise."
The "cut.out" Valve.
In the early history of the automo-
bile mufflers were not used and every
body for blocks around knew when an
auto was coming. AS the automobiles
Increased in number this became a
nuisance and was stopped by law.
Then they sought. indeed had been
seeking, means of sitting the sound.
In the early muffier there was trouble
because the gas would back up In the
cylinder and decrease the power Of
the motor. 1t was thought there was
no way to decrease the sound without
decreasing the power; therefore the
manufacturers devised a valve to "cut
out" the mufflar on the car whenever
extra power was desired.
Sometimes the back pressure was so
great as to interfere when driving
through heavy roads or up hills. The
cut out" let the gas exhaust directly
into the air instead of going through
the muffler. AT the present time near
ly every city has law prohibiting the
use of "cut outs"
The average driver does not know
that his muffler needs as careful at
tention as any other part of the mech
anism, and so he neglects 1t. In these
days of noiseless cars 1t requires
great number Of very small holes in
side muller. These become clogged
with SCOT or carbon from the exhaust.
The deposit collects very rapidly
especially when the grade of oil used
Is poor or too much oil Is used. It
also results when the carburetor Is
adjusted to give too rich mixture.
Openings Become cIooged.
When these small openings become
clogged the exhaust gases cannot es-
cape readily, and naturally the cyl
lnder Of the engine is not cleaned at
the exhaust stroke. Result: 1t is i'm
possible to bring In a full cylinder Of
new gas on the next intake stroke.
There is not full charge to explode,
and this means loss of power to the
engine.
Cases are known where the throttle
was opened wide without any increase
In power. Trying to find ou. what the
matter was. the driver opened the "cut
out" and this caused the machine to
accelerate very rapidly.