Evening star., 1935-05-12
HELPFUL ADV|CES .
GIVEN FOR WOMEN
Methods OF Using the Choke
Vary at Different Tenn
perature Conditions.
BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL.
When a man says that driving car
Ia aasv he means that his wife can

When a man says that driving a car
is easy he means that his wife can
beat him at 1t.
There's q handy idea for every
driver in the new three-way choke OF
one OF the latest cars. With this ar
rangement the operator uses the auto
matte choke for normal starting and
the hand-controlled choke for any
special starting situation that renders
automatic action less practical, but II
the engine has loaded up with gas
vapor she presses the control all the
way in and "dechokes." This often
becomes necessary when a motor Is
being started in high attitudes after
being we'll heated up, or If the gas is
too volatile for temperature conditions.
In ordinary practice the way to de-
choke is to open the throttle wide and
press on the starter-button. The
choke must not be used and the igni-
ton should be left switched on. This
is longer process than called for by
the new dechoker, but it is the only
alternative when the motor won't re-
start.
If your service man takes a notion
to head for the open road with your
car don't think he merely wants an
afternoon off. He is probably giving
the engine one of those old-fashioned
cures that have such an effective way
Of curing new-day troubles. A hard
run with car is useful in burning of
stray particles of carbon. 1t is also
useful in limbering up sticky valves.
One motoriSt whose new engine re-
vealed stuck valve every time the
car was taken out discovered that be-
cause she did not have much gas In
the tank and used the car sparingly
gum settled in the carburetor and was
drawn into the motor during the
starting process Hard driving for a
few days stopped the trouble.
Just because today's car carries
such a variety of unseen controls Is
no reason to assume that they cannot
be helped or hindered by the drivers
methods of handling it. l refer to
those features which are largely self
acting, the ideal example being auto
matte spark advance. On some cars
this Is done through fiyweights which,
in governor fashion, fly outward as
engine speed increases, thus advanc-
ing the spark timing On others the
advancing and retarding is controlled
through vacuum suction. 1 haven't
space here to touch on all the vari-
etles OF human control over these au-
tomato controls, but simply want to
leave with you the thought that these
automatic devices are not entirely be-
yond your control.
You can, for instance. prevent spark
from advancing too far by driving
slower when knock develops. 1t Is
possible on some cars to prevent the
auxiliary or wedging shoes OF the
brakes from going into action during
q restricted stop. and shock absorbers
can be made to build up air pressure,
and thus steady the car better, by
driving faster over a rough road.
Answering a letter from a woman
reader who says that she finds it Diff
hcult to keep lubricant in the spring
shackles I have suggested that she
have her repair man tighten them.
II car is equipped with a one-shot
luDricating system loose shackles will
permit oil to reach them in too great
quantities. This will mean overoiling
the springs and running the risk of
having the car bob around too freely
over rough road. Every effort should
be made to keep the front springs
from being fabricated more than is
necessary to keep out squeaks.
It's convenient for the parking sta
ton attendant to slip his portion of
the parking tag under the blade of
the windshield wiper. but many wom-
en- wish he would afix it elsewhere,
Quite a number Of wipers have been
rendered less effective through too
frequent rough handling of the blade.