The Washington times., 1923-10-24
FUEL TROUBLES
EXPLAINED BY
EXPERT
Most Are Due to Faulty Gaso-
line or Defective Working
Of the Carburetor.
By ERWIN GREER,
President Greer College Of AutOmO
tive Engineering.

NN@O~~~~~~S
President Greer College Of AutomO-
tive Engineering.
A very little water in the fuel VIII
cause a lot Of trouble. Water Is
heavier than gasoline and settles at
the bottom, therefore when the fuel
is low In the tank, any water ID like
~ to be drawn to the carburetor.
Stale gasoline IL the cause OF more
trouble than most drivers realize. A
good grade Of fuel should test %
degrees ana anything below 20 1s
poor, for the lighter spirits have es-
capped and the denser parts are not
so quickly vaporized.
Causes Of Flooding.
Flooding Of the carburetor 10 often
caused by poorly seated needle
valve. A leaky flot will cause the
same trouble. II the valve is to
blame. this may be determined by
looking at its seat. If the seat is
in with oil and emery. by rotating
the spindle In it's seat. A bent valve
spindle will also cause flooding. In
this case, remove the float, place the
spindle on q block Of wood and care
fully straighten the bent part with
q few light taps, interpreting bit of
wood.
Occasionally a few small holes or
possibly q tiny crack will admit
enough fuel to sink the float. In
this case the punctures must be
soldered. Copper floats are very
thin and but a small quantity of
solder can be used.
Should the motor balk suddenly
and the ignition system is in good
shape, the feed pipe is chokcd. If
fuel is found in the tank, the gaso-
line filter between supply pipe and
carburetor should be examined. If
the trouble is not found at this point,
examine the feed pipe. Open the
drain cock Of the carburetor and If
the fuel does not come out in a
steady stream, the trouble is in the
pipe. Unscrew the unions at each
end of the pipe line and run a wire
through.
Other FueI System Troubles.
The opening in the spray nozzle
is small and a particle Of grit is
sufficient to clog this opening.
Flooding the carburetor sometimes
fails to disIodge the obstruction, and
q fine wire is needed to clean it out.
Fine particles Of grit often work
through the filter and enter the float
chamber. The motor becomes ir-
regular, misfiring, slowing down, and
even coming to a stop as the throttle
IL opened wide. This Is caused by
the increased suction at higher
speeds, which draws the obstruction
into the nozzle. The particles may
fall away as the suction decreases
with the speed Of the motor. Rae
ing the motor may draw the obstruc-
ton through, but the best way is
to clean out the float chamber.
The adjustment Of the spray noz-
zle Is very important, and the driver
should not alter its height arhitrar-
fly. The correct height must be
found by experimenting, If the manu-
facturer's adjustment has been dis
turbed.
The set screw or lock nut of the
butterfly valve. sometimes becomes
loose. This trouble Is easily found
inasmuch as the motor will fail to
respond to the movement of the
throttle on the quadrant.
The supply cock in the feed pipe
at the tank end should be a snug fit
in it's seat, otherwise 1t may Jar
partly shut.
A leak in the intake pipe will ad-
| init too much air to the cylinders
and result in an impoverished mix
ture.