Evening star., 1922-07-16
BY ALBERT n. ATKINSON.

Some men seem to have an un-
canny faculty for avoiding trouble"
said friend of mine thf. other day.
THE driver have now is~one of
them-the car is always ready when
I want it. The man I had before
him seemed to know as much-he GER
tainly was just as conscientious and
worked as hard-but somehow trou-
bles would crop up from time to time
to delay him or put the car out OF
use. My present chauffeur always
has the car at the door. usually half
an hour ahead of time, and the en-
gine purrs as contentedly as we'll
fed cat. 1t may be knack. or skill.
or intuition, or something else, but
it's strange that one man has 1t and
another hasn't"
Having observed the same thing
myself. many times. have come to
the conclusion that. 1t Is merely a
matter of foresight, based on knowl-
edge and experience. To take q sim
Pile explanation. A debated tire Is
more apt to cause 2 blowout tnan
who keeps his tires pumped up is
reducing the probability of trouble.
Also, the man who thoroughly UNDER
stands his ignition system and knows
the defects to which 1t Is liable can
avoid trouble by anticipating such
derangements and taking precautions
against them.
Determining Trouble.
Naturally, each trouble-hunter ap-
proaches the problem in his own way.
but the general principles aIa the
same for all. We may divide the car
in convenient units for study as fol-
lows:
/. The engine. including the igni-
ton system.
2. The electrical apparatus. other
than the ignition system,
g. The mechanism, apart from the
engine.
4. The tires.
The man who has a general knowl-
edge of the most frequent, troubles
in these different systems can look
over the parts from time to time,
so avoid trouble by anticipating it.
% If the engine refuses to run we
have to consider the four conditions
necessary to Standardization, igni-
ton, compression and fabrication. Un-
der carburetion we must determine
whether the gasoline reaches the car
buretor and whether the mixture Is
right as it enters the cylinders. I'm
der ignition we must have good hot
spark at the right time in each cyl
inder. Battery troubles, leaky wires.
dirty interrupter points or distributor
head, or defective spark plugs must
be sought for. Under compression We
look for leaks around the gasket in
the cylinder-head, around the spark
plugs and valve caps, and il these are
tight, we suspect a scored cylinder or
defective piston rings. Under lubri-
cation We examine the height OF oil
in the crank case, determine IL the
pump is working. and draw Off some
Of the oil on the hand to inspect its
quality.
Problem of OverheatinE.
If the engine runs. but misses ex-
plosions. we usually suspect the igni-
ton system, but carbureter troubles,
and. to some extent. compression trou-
is overheating, which will be instant
ly shown by the motometer or by
steam at the radiator cap.
CD Under electrical troubles We
have weak battery. defective starting
motor or generator, short-circufts.
blown fuses, and so on. Learn to
watch your ammeter and interpret it's
ammeter will show it Immediately.
The generator should then be looked
at by an expert, but you can soon
learn to oil 1t. adjust brushes. tighten
connections, etc. The care OF the stor-
age battery can be learned from any
repair man or from your instruction
book.
(3) The mechanism of the car gives
us but little trouble il we lubricate it
properly. Heavy oil or fluid grease in
the gearset and differential. grease in
all the grease cups, which should be
turned down one turn before every
trip, a few drops of oil on the clutch