Evening star., 1935-11-24

crossroad.
How oil is lost through the engine
being In need of valve and carbon
job Is one of the mysteries which few
car owners understand. High oil con-
sumption too frequently is attributed
to worn piston rings and to leakage.
whereas a sticky valve can allow oil
to work up past rings that are In the
best condition. Excessive accumula-
tions of carbon will prevent the valves
from seating, the result in terms Of
high oil consumption being nearly as
bad as that due to valve which holds
open.
Where there is leakage in the cylin-
ders, due to a valve that fails to seat
or to loose spark plug. oil works up
freely. Another way to lose oil is to
have the tappets adjusted for too little
clearance.
One Of the vital points just now
coming to light as result of safety
drives is the fact that many cars that
are capable of attaining high speeds
are not at all safe to be handled that
way. even where road conditions are
favorable and the operator has mind
fast enough for her car. The assump-
| ton that because a car can travel fast
1t is safe in the higher speed bracket
apparently is without foundation.
Engineers are giving considerable
thought to this matter and students
of safety are singing it out as one
of the factors in the accident situa-
ton. The trouble has been expert
enced by high priced cars which are
noticeably unsteady at speed. The
grave danger in the situation lies in
the fact that most of the cars which
are engineered to attain their speed
SO freely have way of Turing the
driver on to the danger range with
out her being fully aware Of it. This
unsteadiness at speed is attributed to
various conditions, chiefly too easy
steering, lack of frame rigidity, un-
balanced wheels, inadequate spring
control and excessive swaying.
Silence in operation helps to lure
the driver on to those speeds where
her car may lack directional accuracy
or marked absence of road balance
The unfortunate part of 1t is that
such trouble is due to engineers errors
which cannot be corrected in many
cars now in service. The only alter
native seems to be to drive more mod
erately-which is in itself probably
fortunate.
It probably will surprise some wofn-
en- to learn that grease itself often
makes spring shackles squeak. Be-
cause the heavier grease forces out
thin or lighter lubricant the shackles
are then left with nothing appro-
pirate to keep down friction. This is
especially true in cold weather. A
good rule to follow is to specify thinner
oil for tighter shackles and heavier
lubricant for those that are worn. But
since there is a great difference in
makes of cars as well as in brands of
lubricant it is best to let the service
station men Use their special charts
in making selection.
To the many women who will be
taking delivery of new cars this Fall |
and Winter let me pass along the sug-
gestion that they pay particular at |
tention to the battery and the gen.
orator. It is always difficult at the !
factory to anticipate just how Gus
toners are going to use their cars,
and to set the generators charging
rate accordingly. Also since many
buyers add extra equipment, such as
a radio set, spotlight, engine warmer,
car heater and SO on, there is apt to |
be more drain on the battery than |
the manufacturer has anticipated. |
Modern cars are equipped with volt
age regulators which take care of |
normal fluctuations in current drain,
but abnormal cases are common. |
They can be taken care of easily
enough if the owner will remember
to drop back to the service station
for a check-up.