Evening star., 1927-10-23
AUTO 4T|NKER|NG'
I REQUIRES CAUTION
Novice Who Tries to Repair
Own Meteor Must Have
Eye to Detail.

IN some instances, It may be true
that half a loaf is better than no loaf,
but when Il comes to matter of car
maintenance that old truism breaks
down badly.
A smattering of the story OF any
unit of the modern automobile, ac-
cording to those who have given the
subject careful consideration be.
comes a direct cause of dissatisfaction
in car ownership. and explains better
than anything else why some per-
sons spend week ends sitting idly at
home instead of enjoying the zestful
air.
The motorist who is not interested
in the various stories of the chassis
hastens TO his repair man every
time he thinks something has gone
wrong. The trouble receives atten-
ton, and the story does not have to
take on an unhappy ending, unless
he is careless in the selection of
repair man. But the man who
thinkers" with his car is likely to
fail because he has skinned over
details and missed the significant
points.
Fan Belt Is Tricky.
Motorists who have tried to tighten
their fan belts without knowing that
the pulleys must be kept in align
ment are ready to believe that the
man who said "a little knowledge is
a dangerous thing" must have been
the first car owner. In fact, anyone
who has ever worked on carbure-
tor will admit that the maxim rings
true. Even the man who is well in
formed frequently forgets that no
two cars are alike and that even
l.
reading.
There is the case of the distributor.
In some of these instruments, the
rotor is made to touch the ignition
wire terminal points. In others.
fractional clearance is allowed. the
spark being made to jump a gap at
these points. If the owner of the
latter type of distributor examines
the instrument, he may notice that
the rotor does not actually touch the
contact points, and then bend the
points or tamper with the rotor until
there is actual contact. Since this
particular type of ignition is not de.
signed to make contact at these
points, the result is certain TO be un-
satisfactory.
calculation. A car owner finds that
he has knock in the engine. His
garage man mentions an astonishing.
ly large figure to indicate the zap
proximate" cost OF getting rid of the
annoyance, whereupon the motorist
decides to try the job himself.
Removing the bolts, he drops the
crankcase. For the life of him he
cannot find any loose bearing. Grasp.
ing one of the connecting rods, he
finds that its upper end moves a
fraction of an inch one way or the
other. Instead of trying all the rods
to ascertain whether the looseness
= is the rule or the exception, he jumps
at the conclusion that the knock
originates at the top of a particular
rod. He sets to work at once re-
moving the bolts that hold the cap
of the connecting rod bearing in
place, so that the rod and piston can
be pulled down and examined.
Pistons Hard to Fix.
To make matteEs worse, the owner
discovers, when he has struggled to
pull out the rod and piston, that
there is no provision made for tight
ening. the upper end of the rod. He
wonders If it is supposed to move
back and forth, or il this free move
ment of the upper end is SO de-
signed as to Offset automatically any
misalignment of the rod, thereby pre-
venting piston slapping.
1t then occurs to him to feel the
other rods to see il they also are
loose at the top. Tt is then that he
realizes that skipping" hasn't paid.
But he is not to see this fact until
he has made the error of replacing
one of the bearings in reverse order.
He fails to note that the marks on
the rod and it's cap must match, and
he does not discover the situation
until he has replaced the crankcase,
filled ii up with fresh oil, and tried
to drive the car.
Thus, it is apparent that there is
no easy road to success in this phase
of motoring, IL the car owner wishes
to play mechanic to his car. Half
way measures will not do, ahd thera
is no substitute for forethought. Un-
less the car owner is willing to de-
vote his whole.hearted attention to
the task, it should be left to some.
one able to do just that thing.