Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-27
BY III. CLIFFORD BROKAW,
Automobile technical Adviser.


One noticeable development in the
automobile industry Is the use of cars
| throughout the winter as we'll as other
seasons of the year. When automobiles
first cane into use the general practice
was to put the machines in storage
for the frigid term. One big reason for
this procedure was the condition of
the roads, for modern asphalt highways
wee not common in those days and
roads outside of city limits were often
! impossible on account of mud or snow.
The marvellous development of high
ways has done away with mud and with
this condition has come the demand
for keeping the roads open during the
period OF snow. Consequently, most
highways are now fairly free from both
snow and mud IL months of the year,
even in the Northern tier of States.
Another reason which used to mill
tate against Winter motoring was the
car itself, which frequently refused to
junction at its best when the Their
mometer was down around zero. These
troubles also have been overcome, so
tflat now one can get an adequate re-
spouse from car even in the coolest
weather. Of these troubles that used
TO be the freezing up of the radiator
was not the least. OF course. water In
radiators will still freeze in Winter If
nothing is done about it, The impor-
tant thing to consider is what can be
done about it. The present methods
available are very satisfactory and tend
to make Winter driving a real pleasure.
When cold weather arrives it is well
TO know that the radiator of almost
every automobile has to have some
thing different than water in order to
prevent freezing. There are numerous
anti-freeze materials on the market.
and some of them are undoubtedly eff
tectiye for accomplishing the purposes
for which they are desired. In case
OF doubt 1t may be well to secure the
opinion of the manufacturers sales
agent in your vicinity who represents
the make OF car you own. His opinion
is likely to be as unbiased and as
authoritative as can be found.
Alcohol Most Popular.
Alcohol is probably the most univer-
sally used substance for keeping the
water in automobile radiators from
freezing. There is no doubt but that
alcohol will accomplish this purpose.
Inere are one or two cautions which
should be indicated in connection with
the use OF alcohol In the radiator. Now
adayS many cars are covered with a
lacquer type of finish Such finish has
been found an improvement over the
ordinary paint and varnish. It will not
however, entirely resist the disSolving
effects ofalcohol. Consequently, when
alcohol Is being poured into a radiator
great care should be used to see that all
of the liquid reaches its intended desti-
nation and that none of it spatters out
on the finish of the car.
Another caution which should be
mentioned in connection with the use Of
alcohol in radiator is its tendency to
evaporate rather rapidly. This will be
likely to happen If the engine of the
automobile tends to become overheated.
The machinery of the most recent au-
tomobile models is of such a quality that
overheated motors are becoming less and
less frequent and boiling radiators in
Winter are not so often seen on our high
ways. It is easily possible to have the
alcohol content of radiator tested at
a service station. In the interests of
satisfactory motoring the driver of car
should stop to have such. test made
once in while. If there have been
unusually warm days, or If the motor
has shown tendencies of heating, this
should be done as often as two or three
times month.
Kerosene has been used by some in
stead of alcohol as an anti-freeze ma
terial In the main it is not found
satisfactory, except in sections where
the temperature is continuously low
throughout the season. Neither do salt
and water solutions usually give the
results desired. One Of the most recent
achievements In this field of anti-free1e
materials is found in solutions composed
primarily of glycerin. The advantage
of the gylcerin solution is that the water
in it evaporates more rapidly than the
glycerin, with the result that its cold
resisting quality is not impaired by
overheating of the engine or culinary
evaporation. Also, glycerin does not af-
feet a lacquer finish.
Results Satisfactory.
Although glycerin and water do not
ordinarily mix well together, 1t. appears
that this problem has been sufficiently
overcome to get satisfactory results.
While this sort of mixture Is more ex-
pensive to buy, it is claimed that due
to the fact that 1t can be used for more
than one year the cost does not become
excessive when considered over a Pc
riod of years. When Spring arrives, the
liquid can be drained out, put in bot
ties and tightly corked. In the Fall
this same material can be put back