Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-31
OvERHEAT|NG ILLS
NEED COOL ADVICE
Automotive Doctors Pre-
scribe Cures for Time-Hon-
ored Summer Problems.
by FREDERICK C. RUSSELL.

-
such quantities as to encourage many
thousands of motorists to attack .
time honored problem from the newer
angle.
Radical changes in the design and
operation Of cars have revamped the
picture of the cooling system TO . point
where many Of the usual remedies for
the conventional hot weather complaint
no longer prove serviceable. Even the
trouble itself appears TO have under
gone radical revision.
Long Been Known.
It has long been known, one engineer
points out, that If the water pump Is
too energetic il Is apt to force fluid
faster than additional supply can be
returned to it from the radiator. thus
drawing air into the system through
the pump packing. This condition has
been aggravated through the use of
motor thermostats, especially where the
latter are not kept In efficient working
order and where no bypass is provided.
"A rusted thermostat will be slow
opening" he explains. This gives the
pump opportunity to force air into the
system, thus increasing the possibility
Of air pockets which soon change to
steam pockets. Thermostat and pump
cannot as a rule cause oVerheating
single handed, but If other points about
the system also are inefficient over
heating is certain to follow"
Frequent inability to remedy cooling
trouble is explained by the car owners
habit Of reasoning in reverse. If he
finds the DRAWINGS from the system
filled with scale, giving the water a
rusty appearance, he proceeds on the
assumption that the radiator needs a
thorough cleansing. He will go to the
extreme of trying muriatic acid for
flushing, only to find that the over
heating continues because he has not
gone at the problem calmly.
Rust in the DRAWINGS may be the re-
suit of late spark timing. If the igni-
ton is slow, the engine will overhead to
a point where the boiling water and
steam will stir up any sediment in the
system, and, in fact, create more
besides.
Matter Of Oxidation.
It does not seem to be clearly under
stood that the rusting of the cooling
system is largely a matter of oxidation
Of the iron of the water jackets. The
very water the motorist uses may ag-
grayate conditions, for the reason that
it is such an excellent solvent for air.
Water that has been aerated is espe-
cially likely to contribute to overhead
ing difficulties
Nor is 1t generally known that occa-
sionally the metallic composition of the
engine block may be such as to make
1t especially prone to rusting.
Another expert on cooling is authority
for the statement that one of the lead
ing reasons why engines overhead is
because their owners do not let them
boil q little. The tendency is to stop
and switch of the ignition the instant
the temperature indicator shows dan
ger. Boiling itself is one way to stir
UP the scale so it can be drained from
the system. Due care, of course, must
be exercised in such a process.
Where overheating is so serious that
the engine cannot be operated salts
factorily, the usual remedy is to remove
the block and boil it cut. This is
necessarily an expensive process, and
It can be avoided by occasionally let
ting the engine stir itself up if it per-
sists in getting hot under the hood
This treatment must necessarily be
handled cautiously, and should be done
with the engine idling, not pulling the
car. so as to avoid any possibility of
serious complications.
Effective Cleaning.
Effective cleaning of the radiator can
be obtained by attaching a compressed
air and water fitting to the radiotor
drain and reversing the flow. This will
break up the scale. The process is more
effective If boiling water can be used,
since expansion of the cores helps to
break OF the sediment.
After any efforts to dislodge scale
from the water jackets, the radiator
should be cleaned out, since the freed
sediment and rust will naturally carry
to the core. Some of the longer en-
glneS have a special drain plug at the
rear OF the jackets. This furnishes a
handy means for draining of the en-
CINE proper.
1t occasionally happens that when
grinding valves or cleaning out carbon
manually. oil will be spilled into the
water jackets. This is likely to en-
courage overheating later, since the in
side surfaces Of the system are then
coated with oil and the transfer of
heat Is seriously interfered with.
Many cases of overheating are the
direct result of the use of inferior kinds
OF anti-freeze and continued use of
water that contains minerals which at
tack the radiator. Water pumps are
especially likely to be etched by dele
ferrous chemicals in undesirable anti
freeze solutions, or even in certain
kinds OF water. If an engine runs on
the ragged edge and needs every as
sistance possible, 1t may be necessary
70 feed 1t rain water or at least water
out Of which minerals have been pre-
cipitated.
Special Grease Needed.
Lubricants can get into the cooling
system through the water pump grease
hitting. Too many owners use the same
grease for the pump as for the chassis
bearings, whereas service men schooled
IN cool thought and hot-weather prob
lens use a special pump grease which
Is hard like laundry soap. In a few
instances careless lubricating of the
combination fan and pump will have
the same undesirable effects.
A leaky cylinder head gasket will be
certain to let oil into the cooling sys-
tenn. The appearance of oil in the
radiator not only means that a new
gasket will have to be installed, but also
that overheating will have to be
guarded against in the future
When he considers the problem
calmly, the motorist often finds that
much of his midsummer difficulties have
nothing whatsoever to do with the
radiator, pump or water jackets. He
may be operating the engine on the
wrong carburetor mixture, or there
may be the wrong grade of oil in the
crankcase. Since the general adoption
OF internal expanding brakes there has
not been so much overheating from
dragging brakes, but this cause still
ngures. Considerable trouble is direct
result OF faulty or unoiled fan bearings.
When fan doesn't work, it not only
fails to cool but wastes the engines
power as well.
When the temperature indicator goes
ekyWard, there is no time for blowing
up over the situation. Every little fever
has meaning all its own, and this
meaning can be discovered most easily
by thinking out the subject with the
GOODNESS of seasoned detective on the
trail of fresh clue