Evening star., 1926-03-07
BY FREDERICK c. RUSSELL.

W men your CdI SuudclIlS
with a strange pain and sets up an
unfamiliar screechinc, do you rush to
the service station in trepidation, or
do YOU draw up to the side OF the
road and put on your thinking cap?
And have YOU ever rushed the car
to the motor hospital, engaged sur
Geon given orders for serious OPP
Grafton to he performed on the en-
Eine's innards, only to find after the
excitement had subsided that the
trouble was a false alarm?
1t happens to every one who runs "A
car. the only variation being that
some have it to contend with more
than others. The automobile often
has been likened to the human body,
but in no instance is the similarity
more pronounced than in the matter
OF false alarms. A car is constantly
getting stitches in its side which
seem for all the world like the warn
ing Of an acute attack of appendi-
cits
Only with n motor car it's a burned
bearing, scored cylinders, broken
springs. jammed gears and so on.
ANY experienced driver will tell you
that a car literally talks to you and
that unless YOU understand its Ian
Euage and heed its warnings it will
lead YOU a merry chase to the service
station. That's good enough advice if
YOU don't overdo it. \ little antidote
In the way of discounting a lot of the
cars wailins is equally important
Just Fan Belt Squeak.
When car owner recently started
his engine of cold morning there
came to his ears the strange sound
of something scraping. In fash he
recalled that he had not drained the
CrankCase nor repleniShed it with
fresh oil for nearly 1000 miles. The
oil had been worked to death and
now he must pay the penalty. Some
thing in the engine was starving for
oil. and he could see friction making
haClWork of its innardS. There was
no doubt of it.
Enduring the noise and nursing
the engine as best he could, the
alarmed motorist rushed his car to
the repair shop as one might take a
taxi to the Doctors with pain around
the heart. But just as the pain
around the heart may require moth
Ing but half a teaspoonful of soda to
check plain case of acute indi-
cestion, so did it appear that the
noise was due only to the loose
leather fan belt slipping on the cold
and dry metal pulleys
But the simple remedy was not dis.
covered until after the mechanics had
dropped the crankcase. ground in the
valves, cleaned out carbon and gone
over the hearlnEs-at an expense of
40 precious Greenhacks.
The sort of person who thinks he
has blood poisoning the moment he
sees new veins in his arm Is certain
- Conclude that he has stripped a
transmission gear when he hears a
rattling sound in the drivers COM
rartment. He may go to all sorts of
trouble 10 find out what's wrong. only
~ discover that the speedometer shaft
has too sharp a bend in it.
Another Strange Sound.
In this connection | am reminded
of the time l spent very unpleasant
afternoon waiting for a mysterious
clicking sound in the car to develop
into a sure enough breakdown. I had
guests with me and so tried to re-
main calm and collected But the
thing worried me. 1t sounded as
though the grease cup of the clutch
throwOut collar had dropped down
and was rattlinS around in the clutch.
could picture it there very much as
the man who has a pain in his
Stomach-from an accumulation of
Cas-visualizes his intestines lashed
with that deadly poison. ptomain
Every minute | expected to have the
cup get caught in something and
raise havoc in general.
Doubtless if | had not had similar
experiences before | would have run
into the nearest garage and enCa ged
mechanic To rip up the flOorboards
n investigate. But my better judg-
ment kept telling me to consider it
as some false alarm
Thus it was that when my guests
alighted at the conclusion of the ride
the opening Of the right front door
revealed the fact that the tire pres
sure CauSe-which | thought [ had
tossed into the side pocket-had been
dangling between the door and the
base of the seat cushion. tapping
against the metal strip of the base
whenever tAa car went over a rough
road In the excitement of looking
for real trouble such a minor thing
might easily have been overlooked.
with the result that | would never
have known to this day what caused
the annoyance. Had | paid a fancy
repair bill for some unnecessary work.
of course | should probably have tried
10 get my moneys worth by diaSnoS-
ing it as ''misalignment, very much
as we are wont to say "autointoXica-
tion" when something goes wrong with
the human mechanism that puzzles
us-somothing which we give n fancy
name to because it has cost us a
doctor $ bill but which in reality might
have been too many chocolate sodas.
Ny experience in differentiatinS be-
tween false alarms and warnings of
danger came to focus over some
trouble | recently had with my water
pump. Every time the car ran a
certain distance at around 40 miles an
hour-yes. that's permissible over a
concrete highway with car that
holds the road-the engine would
emit a Shrill screeCh. 1t was always
sure 10 startle the passengers for il
sounded exactly like piStons binding
In their cylinders.
Suspect False Alarm.
Each time the engine gave this per
tornanCe the alarmistS would shake
heir heads as much as to say. There