The Washington times., 1923-02-25
COST OF GASOLINE
FAULT OF DRIVERS
Prices Boosted by Waste,
Says National Motorists
Association.

While motorists bemoan the high
cost OF gasoline, few stop to con-
slider that the key to the situation
is largely in their own hands.
| Knowing that the law OF supply
and demand usually determines the
price of any commodity 1t is all
| the more surprising that the Ma
! tioR's automobilists should over
look the fact that it is sheer waste
fulness on their part which creates
an excessive demand for gas ana
which, in turn, sends up. the price.
With a view to remedying condi-
tons by impressing upon motorists
the enormity of this excessive and
unnecessary demand for fuel, the
National Motorists Association has
made an investigation which en-
Icourages the prediction that, unless
car owners turn over q new leaf,
close to a billion gallons of gaso-
line will be wasted during the pres
emit year.
The greatest difficulty the n. M. A.
faces in fighting this wastage OF
gasoline is the tremendous gap be-
tween the cause and the result.
The average car owner cannot con-
ceiye of the important part his
particular engine plays in con-
serving or wasting gasoline. lie
does not even appreciate the role
the proper functioning Of his en-
| CINE plays in cutting his own fuel
costs.
That is why the National Motor
lists Association, in presenting the
facts, reverses the situation by
speaking of the results first; why
it estimates the wastage of gasoline
ANNUALLY at an expense to motorists
of $3.50, 200, 600; why 1t believes that
every car owner could save about
four cents per gallon; why the
price Of gas would thus tend to
decline, and why the individual loss
Of gasoline through carbon choked
engines and too richly adjusted carr
bureters ID left out Of the discus
sion until car owners sense the
seriousness of the situation.
/ To tell a motorist that his en-
CINE is wasting gas because it is
chol1ed with carbon does not spur
him on to remedying the condition;
but once he has glimpse OF the
sum total of the nations careless
ness with respect to it's motor cars
he raises the hood and looks into
| the situation. Carbon is NOT a
vague something-or other which ac-
cumulates in a motor and has to
be cleaned out every spring. 1t is
very real efficiency-killing deposit
of dirt, oil and unburned gasoline
which accumulates by degrees, and
which can be mininized, even neu-
tralized, in the same way. It is
now estimated that 80 per cent of
GORDON is dirt drawn in through the
/ - e,kSs In.
ers will, therefore, greatly improve
the efficiency of the engine: but
where the car owner is not able
cylinder with a tablespoonful of
kerosene through the pet cocks
when the engine is left for the
night will eliminate much of the
carbon as 1t is deposited.
The wastage of fuel caused by
carbon is by no means confined
to it's habit of heating to cherry
red and pre-igniting the cylinders
gases. It does it's damage mostly
around the valve heads, causing
them to remain slightly open when
they are supposed to be closed.
This reduces compression by al
lowing the gas to leak back into
the carbureter or out the exhaust.
One valve that does not close
tightly. or which is stuck because
the owner neglects to oil the valve
stem. will practically cut out an
entire cylinder which, in the case
of q six-cylinder engine .means a
waste Of about 80 per cent of its
power-and its fuel.
Any one Of number of things
such as underinflated tires, over
heated engine, improper engine lu-
bricant, badly adjusted spark plugs
or dragging brakes will increase
the cost OF motorists gasoline
anywhere from / to 10 cents per
gallon. A slight REIMBURSEMENT Of
the carbureter for a better mixture
Of gasoline and air was found in~l
one instance to increase the milage
Of a four-cylinder engine 23.5 per
cent. AS the National Motorists
Association points out, by studying
his instruction book and keeping
the power plant in trim the motor
list will not only save his share of
the predicted 1923 wastage Of gaso-
line but help to effect that rela-
tionship between supply and demand
which should result in a check
.fefvo -