Evening star., 1927-10-30

Recently a woman started of with
her new car only to have the engine
stall In the most surprising way. Hav.
ing had a certain amount of expert
ence in trouble shooting, however. she
remembered that an engine can be
started by the momentum OF the car.
Being near a hill. and on a down
grade. she placed the gears in high.
switched on the ignition again.
pressed out the clutch and started
coasting. Half way down the hill she
let In the clutch and pressed on the
acceleratOr. The engine started
But she was not entirely out OF
trouble. A little later she was
Obliged to stop the car to avoid a col
lision. When she stepped on the
accelerator again there was no re.
sponse. Nor was there any when she
used the starter.
passing mOtOrist was not long in
finding the simple, yet entirely ef.
fective, way out. He raised the hood
and found that the throttle closed be-
yond the idling point when the accel.
orator was not being used. The rem
edy was matter of adjusting a set
screw so rhat even when the hand
gasoline control was all the way oft"
the throttle was still open far enough
to keep the engine running.
Simple Reasons.
When an engine will not start there
usually is some simple cause Chief
among these are such possibilities as
dirty breaker points, flooding with
gasoline, lack of gasoline or stale
gasoline. If an engine ran we'll the
| day 1t was brought into the garage,
there is little likelihood that anything
could have gone wrong with the ig-
milton switch, the spark plugs, the
coil or the wiring. Breaker points,
| however, first give their trouble in the
| starting process. The engine can be
| Hooded with gas through too much
choking. The carburetor can go dry
overnight; the vacuum tank, too, for
! that matter. If the engine has not
been run for several months the gaso-
| line may be stale enough to be useless
| for starting.
1t should be simple enough to de-
eide upon the condition of the gaso-
| line. If the engine has been choked
| too much, gasoline will be dripping
! from the carburetor. If no gasoline
drips from the carburetor after the
driver chokes excessively it is a sure
sign that the carburetor is dry.
Whether the carburetor float Is
stuck or the vacuum tank Is dry can
be decided by Tickling" the car.
buretor float (pressing on the pro-
truding end of the float tickler). If
no gasoline overfiows when this float
is held down either the vacuum tank
is dry or there is a stoppage between
the tank and the carburetor. The
chances are that the carburetor has
leaked and drained the vacuum tank
over night.
Satisfied that the fuel and car
buretion are right, the motorist then
is justified in examining the breaker
points, dressing them up so as to
make clean contacts if they appear to
be pitted. II the points actually are
filed. it will be necessary to adjust
them closer to compensate for the loss
through filing.
The way out of excessive choking
is matter of patience Wait and
the engine will wait upon YOU Crank
and you choke alone. If time is
precious, however, the engine can be
cleaned of the excess gas by opening
up the petcOcks and cranking the en-
gine a few seconds with the throttle
closed and the choker button pushed
ir. This clears the cylinders.
The way out is, therefore, the way
of preparedness through imagination
and investigation. 1t brings into play
| calm reason and common sense, Civ.
ing the motorist something to cling to
when an emergency arises.
Begin your motor saving now!