Evening star., 1922-09-24
THE OWNERl-DRIVER'S
COLUMN
starting the Motor.

Soon the cooler weather will be
here and cars which started quite
! readily will need a little more careful
handling, or once in a while We may
/ expect to lose few minutes Of time
getting her going"
Too often il is not the cars faUt
| when a motor does not start. When
ever we hear an unusually prolonged
hum Of a starter, we make 1t a point,
to look, and see what Mr.. Owner
| Driver is doing. Nine times out Of
| ten he is wrigsling the throttle lever
up and down as in a frenzy. "Poor,
! man." we say to ourselves. Why
! won't people learn what makes q
car go? 1t may be that working the
a motor to start more readily. but
| any man who knows what goes on
! in the carburetor and engine will
| tell you that it can't possibly help.
Present day ,gasolene does not
eVaporate readily at ordinary air
/ temperature, and this is accentuateG
on a cold morning. Some of the
gasoline drawn from the needle
valve by the stream Of air drawn into
the engine will vaporize. while the
will do nothing to help start the en-
gine. The logical thing to do then
! is to try something which makes the
!, mixture rich enough with vapor-
; lied gas to get an explosion. Wig
Cling the throttle won't do this;
| proportion of air and gasoline going
into the motor. This is done by
| shutting off some Of the air by pull
ing the primer.
! motor is. first open the throttle about
| one third: second. put on the igni-
| tion and retard the spark; third. pull
| the priming button and step on the
| starter. When the motor has turned
over for four or Ave seconds it
release the starter pedal for a few
! minutes, then try again, but this time
don't pull the primer button, be-
cause you may have flooded her with
| gas the first time. Simply turn her
over" with the spark retarded and
| the throttle part way open. II tn.
! motor was flooded. part of the over
| rich mixture will go out through the
exhaust valves and as soon as the
proper amount of air has been drawn
motor starts. Should the motor re-
fuse to start this time then one is
usually safe to prime it again on the
third attempt.
No two engines act quite the same
A little experience will teach any
printing an engine will stand with
cut becoming flooded. A carburetor
should be SO adjusted that 1t will re
quire printing, not only to start. but
for a minute after starting. In cold
weather. 4 carburetor, which Is ad-
iusted so that it will not spit into
the carburetor'' when the engine is
Geld. has too rich a mixture when
the engine is warm; this can be taken
as general rule.
Another Printing Reason.
The air enters the cylinders because
It is drawn in by the suction of the
ipistons When the engine is being
Ter the pistons travel comparatively
slowly. This means the air will travel
Through the carburetor only fairly
SLOWLY; at least not fast enough to
suck sufficient gasoline out of the
jneedle valve to cause starting mix
'ture to be drawn in.
1t is wise thing to close the air
passage so that when the engine is
icranked the inlet manifold becomes
Ia vacuum and the gasoline is sucked
from the needle valve, rather than
ito depend upon the air stream to
idraw it out as it passes the needle
valve. Wigsling the throttle lever
will not help this any. however
Saving Brake Innings.
There is nothing so hard on the
brakes as the use Of them to slow UP
IA car which has been allowed to get
"a terrific start down a steep hill
When hill is not too steep. is smooth
inot bad driving to let the car ccast
down with the clutch out. II the hill
lis too long to allow this to be done
lat the top. then the car should be
kept in good control till at least part
of the descent has been made. Then
!.11 4 fo CT will
ito develop dangerous speed before
;tbe bottom is reached.
The driver must. however. be able
ito judge the grade of hew hill on
;any short notice, and. on really steep
igrades the foregoing methods of de-
scent will not do. The engine is the
imost efficient brake after all. Put
1.-The car in low gear at the top of
1.-THE hill; you can't do 1t once you are
ion your way down: and when start
!ing. the descent close the throttle
land turn of the ignition switch. The
iengine is now an air compressor and
1.-THE momentum of the car is driving 1t
Through the rear wheels. Even with
this effective brake. the car may
igather sufficient speed to require
1.-THE car under good conrtol. We have
known good brake Innings to be de-
!troyed in the descent Of a single hill
by drivers who allowed their cars
to coast with the clutch out, then
found ii necessary to slow-up or stop
,before the bottom was reached.
If coasting is practiced at all. 1t
! should never be done with the gears in
neutral: on steep hills, this Is almost
suicidal. On moderate hills the de-
iscent may be commenced in second
with the engine running on closed
/ throttle. If when part way. down.
the coast seems clear" and the road
good, declutch and coast, if neces-
isary to slow up. suddenly reclutch-
iing will cause the engine to check
!the speed of the car. This practice
lis tremendous saving on the brake
! Innings. Our motto when descend
ing hills should always be Safety
First"
Pointers in Starting a Motor.
! To start a motor on a cold morning
Is often difficult proposition even to
old hands at the game. We must re-
member, first of all, that it is all a
! ~