Evening star., 1922-03-26
To the Automobile Editor:

you. knife and not through your
To the Automobile Editor:
Will you kindly give me the fol-
lowing information regarding my au-
car that has gone about 1000 miles.
Although it runs very good at the
present time, a chauffeur where I
keep my car tells me that 1t ought
to be all taken apart and overhauled.
He claims that he will do the job for
half the price made by the manufac-
turer's agent Of the car. I will con-
slider it a great favor IL you will ad-
wise me in this matter. By so doing
you will greatly oblige W. X.
Answer-As a rule, an engine
should be overhau1ed every year II 1t
has been in regular service. In your
case it would seem advisable. The
engine may seem to be powerful
enough. but you will be surprised at
| the difference in power if the over
hauling is properly done.
Very often there are many compe-
| tent repair men who can do work
| just as good as any one else at lower
| cost because they have less operating
| expense. 1t is a question for you to
decide as to who should make the
| repairs.
| To the Automobile Editor:
| QdQ the motor IN my Car over
| hauled recently, and since that time
| it runs we'll at a slow rate of speed.
/ but when / go faster than twenty
| miles an hour it misses / have four
| coils with buzZers, no magnetic. What
do you think Is wrong? L. +.
| Answer-If you are sure that the
| carburetor is adjusted properly for
| clean out the timer SO that the roller
| will make a clean contact with the
| segments. or contact pieces. II they
are dirty the roller at the end Of
| the timer shaft will not make a good
| electrical connection when going very
| fast. A little oil in the timer is good.
| To the Automobile Editbr:
1 understand that 1t is absolutely
necessary to determine which is the
positive and which the negative wire
| in order to connect them properly to
! the starting or lighting generator.
Some batteries have a minus mark
! for the negative and plus mark de-
, noting the positive wire, but mine are
not so marked. How can l tell which
! is which?
| Answer-A simple way to determine
| the poles of battery is to immerse
, the wires leading from the battery Of
other source in glass of salt water.
| Shortly bubbles will form on the neg
ativc side. Although some batteries
are identified you mention. others
have their positive painted red and
| the negative black.
| To the Automobile Editor:
Please tell me what the difference is
between a high-tension distributor and
a timer.-C. r.
Answer-The high tension distribu-
tor takes care of and distributes the
high tension or secondary current to
the various cylinders at timed inter-
vals
The timer simply interrupts at
timed intervals the primary current
The primary current is obtained from
a generator or storage battery, and
this is stepped up to high voltage
current by means of the induction
coil The timer and distributor are
delivered to the respective cylinders
! in the proper firing order at the right
time.
To the Automobile Editor:
Can you give a reader of your papes
reliable information concerning the
following: Is the oxygen treatment
for the removal Of carbon from CYL
inders safe and efficient, or is it best
to take the engine down and scrape
it out? The opinions of my motoring
acquaintances seem to vary. Thank
be able to give me, I remain.-R. s.
Answer-The use Of oxygen is usu-
ally not as effective as scr'aping, but
when the time allowed for the re-
moval of the carbon is limited it may
be employed. Care must be taken not
to allow the oxygen to act too long on
| the valve heads. Good results may
| be obtained by using scrapere passed
| into the combustion chamber through
| the valve cap openings. This Obviates
removing the cylinders.
| To the Automobile Editor:
have a Ford car and for some time
| it has what Is called a knock and
| am unable to find it; all bearings are
newly frightened up. 1 have a Bosch
| magnetic and this knock does not
| sound SO clear or loud when magnetic
| is retarded. but it is not enough to
| speak of. The engine is a good puller
and runs fine with this fault, which
| does not sound very nice. Can you
=, give me some advice2 If so, it will
! be appreciated.-S H.
| Answer.-A knock usually arises
from the ignition occurring too early,
pre-ignition or a loose bearing. AL
| though you have had the bearings
frightened up dt being assumed that
you refer to the main and connecting
| rod bearings) the knock may occur
| at a wristpin bearing. Make sure
| that the spark does not occur before
| occurs in any particular cylinder 1t
may be located by shorting the spark
from top Of spark plug to metal OF
engine by means Of a screwdriver.
If on doing SO the sound decreases
you may look for the trouble In that