Evening star., 1922-03-26
CLUTCH SLIPPING
HELD |LL7ADV|SED
Driver Who HabituaIIy Does It
Said to Be Courting
Danger.
ny ALBERT n. ATKINSON.

The person who habitually slips the
clutch in use is counting danger He
increases the wear tenfold. SO that
finally it will hardly hold at all.
Then some day he will need 1t badly
to pull him out Of a tight place ana
it will fail entirely.
The purpose of the clutch is TO con-
meet the engine to the Transmission
and to disconnect it. at the Will OF
the operator. This is necessary. par
ticularIy for shifting gears, to pre-
vent grinding or stripping. When al
lowed to engage it should always be
done gently so as not to break some
mart Of the transmission. This eau
ton applies particularly to the low
speed when starting the car from
standstiH, as the strain is then eN-
cessive. AS the clutch is engaged tne
accelerator pedal is depressed snst
ly to give the engine sufficient power
I to carry the load. AS the clutch takes
hold it must do so smoothly. speeding
nm gradually until it moves at the
same spced as the fywheel: 1t is evl-
dent from this that the clutch Slips
first and holds afterward.
Necessary Evil.
SHINING in this manner is neces-
sary evil that causes the lining TO
wear out in time. The length of time
nav be long or short, depending on
the driver. One of the most serious
faults is to drive with the feet on 1he
clutch and the brake pedals. The
clutch is partly released by this prac-
tice, causing almost constant silpplng'
and the car will lack speed. To over
come this the driver feeds more gas,
causing the engine to overheat anu
also wasting gasoline.
ming. which is also disastrous II con-
tinued 1t is usually due to d1sln-
clination to shift gears. The car is
approaching a block in the trafnc.
which will probably open If we DO not
arrive too soon, so we slow down
slightly.
We have choice of several methods.
IF we throttle down too far the en-
CINE will stall. If we shift to second
speed it may delay us. and then many
drivers dislike to shift gears, appar-
entity for no other reason than that
they dislike it, forgetting that gears
were placed on the cars for just such
occasions.
Allowing Cars to Coast.
A third method is to allow the car
to coast by throwing out the clutch
and then engaging 1t again. Inls
gives an intermittent motion to the
car to which they object, but it is
nevertheless superior to the follow.
ing method (and the last one that
should be employed): This consists in
slipping the clutch, driving the car car
at a speed intermediate between high
and second This should never be
done; either stay high and stop when
the obstruction is reached or else
dron into second gear.
Another example of Slipping the
take a hill on high gear and finds he
cannot quite do it. Instead of shift
ing to second speed, ne crowds the
engine all he can and then slips the
clutch slightly. Another practice to
be condemned is starting on second
speed. The first speed is provided for
Just such use, and it strains the
mechanism severely, besides wearing
the clutch. to start habitually in Sec
ond speed.
Take good care of the clutch. pre-
vent slipping either through wear or
intention and you will be repaid a
thousandfold.