Evening star., 1934-12-02
Helpful Hints Cleaned
For Milady's Motoring
Hesitation Of Motor in Picking Up After Slowing
Down Usually Due to Faulty
Spark Plugs.
BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL.

BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL.
TIRES are not the only things
motorists can't change without
some kind of jack.
That annoying hesitation Of the
motor when trying to pick up speed
after slowing down may seem like
everything from over-vaporized gas to
sticking carburetor float, but in 9
cases out of 10 it is merely a spark
plug situation. When plugs skip in
this fashion the trouble is due to their
electrodes being too widely spaced.
This perplexes the owner because
if she forgets that whereas the spac-
ing may have been correct when the
plugs we're first installed this will be
increased by the normal, and often
abnormal, wear on the points. If an
engine runs very hot and the plugs are
not of the right heat type to with
stand this higher temperature hesi-
tations from excessively burned away
points may be expected.
A spokesman for the automobile in
dustry has stated that for the first
time in years automobile men do not
know what's beyond next years model,
Many of them have fairly good idea
of what they are going to build for
the greater part of 1885 but the Gus
tomary looking through to what they
propose to do next is conspicuous by
its absence. 1t only goes to show
how rapidly the automobile is advanc-
ing and how far wrong the wiseacres
were back in 1926 when they an
nounced that the motor car was prac-
tically perfect.
Being stranded for want Of gasoline
Is bad enough without getting into
this difficulty because of paying too
close attention to what friend huS-
band once stated regarding cars. A
friend had been under the impression
that If the gas gauge showed empty
there still would be enough fuel in
the system to power the car for a
mile or so, but discovered to her dis
may that her husband had been
thinking in terms of the older cars
which carried vacuum tanks. The
modern fuel pump is not such an
effective emergency reserve.
One Of the most discouraging things
any repairer faces is having car con-
tinue to give the same trouble after
removing some condition that def
nitely causes it. He knows he has
case Of two causes to one trouble but
it is always hard to make this clear
to a customer. The other day one
service man found a car with the
wrong kind Of spark plugs. They were
making it hard for the owner to start
the motor in the morning. But after
replacing the plugs the trouble con-
tinued. It was a struggle for the
owner to believe the plugs really
needed changing when the service man
succeeded in speeding up the start by
cleaning the starter-motor. Either
trouble could slow up starting, and in
this particular case both did.
I've been checking up on a COM
plant that an unusual number Of cars
driven by women suffer from mis-
alignment of the front wheels. There
are probably other contributing, causes
but one that seems logical is the fact
that it is the woman-driven car which
is used more frequently for shopping.
In many shopping centers parking is
done head on, which simply means
that the right front wheel strikes the
curb hard and at an angle. This
process Is repeated daily until the
front end naturally suffers.
Good service on car is another
Of those things that provides a two
way stretch. Service not only cures
present ills to which the car may be
heir, but also checks others that
would otherwise develop. Unless the
shock absorbers, for instance, are
kept filled with lubricant they will
not only wear excessively, but will in
vite damage to the springs. You
have the shock absorbers refllled, not
so much to keep them working prop
erly, as to save the springs and the
car in general.
Those clever new defrosters that
conduct heat to the windshield from
the car heater can also be used to
provide a different kind of heat dis
tribution at any time during Winter
driving when the car must be kept
comfortable. The end of the flexible
tubing, for instance, can be left di-
rectly under the drivers feet, if the
weather is very severe. Or the tubing
can be thrown over the back Of the
front seat so that heat is directed
into the tonneau for the special COM
fort of those sitting to the rear.
The way the starter-motor sounds
when you press the starting button
is your cue as to just what Is hap
pening under the hood. Too many
women assume that a humming
sound means the starter-motor ac-
tually is cranking the engine. Hum
ming means that the starter pinion
gear is being spun around without
actually engaging in the teeth of the
gear around the flywheel. No amount
of fussing with the choke or the
throttle will make any difference
while this humming continues be-
cause the engine is still remaining
idle. Usually If the driver will simply
stop pressing the starter button long
enough for the pinion to stop spin
ming wildly, second pressing of the
h,,ftoy, will v,rovide sfort IN the