Evening star., 1950-02-19
Give That New Car q Break
Here Are q Few Pitfalls to Avoid

Enough new cars have been
spoiled by this date to make pos
sible list of pitfalls to be avoided
when taking delivery of a new
Job fresh off the assembly line.
Giving your car a break is more
than a matter of being solicitous
of it's Well-being. Take it from
the trade. meeting the new cars
needs is a job.
At the top of the list of things
to consider is whether the car is
IN proper operating condition. A
surprising number of cars are de-
1ivered with missing parts, made
quate fabrication and lack of
proper atuning., Sometimes the
timing is purposely set little late
as means of forestalling motor
damage through sustained high
speed. If this is the case, you
should know it. Without this
knowledge you might operate the
car under heavy passenger load
in hilly country and perhaps bring
on a case of damaging over
heating.
Keeping close to home plate
and the car dealer is requisite
to skillful breaking in. That
means foregoing the trip to Uncle
Joe's, which can come along later.
If ignition timing isn't right on
the button you will know it by
the fact that the engine won't
ping a little when the car is
accelerated sharply from a speed
of around Is miles per hour on
level ground, even with premium
anti-knock gas. Watch the oil
level especially. Leakage is always
a possibility with new engine.
check for leakage of hydraulic
fluid either at the individual
brakes or the master cylinder.
Pokey Driving Harmful.
Current instruction books are
rather vague on the matter of
appropriate speed for a new car
They seem to be telling the new
owner that there is no need to be
watching the speedometer. AS
matter of fact, leading engineers
take the opposite point of view
and urge watching the speedom-
eter to make sure that the car is
driven fast enough. Pokey driving
is definitely harmful to new
motors. Ideal is the open high
way with only gentle grades;
least desirable city traffic and
hilly countryside.
If there is anything wrong with
the new car it will usually show
up during the first 200 miles. This
first bit of mileage should not be
given over to pleasure. but should
be one of concentration on the
car itself. One reason higher
break-in speeds are permissible
is because so many cars have
overdrive, the result being that at
road speeds the engine isn't run
ming as fast as with a conventional
transmission.
Watch the instruments.
1t is not unusual for engineers
to recommend car speeds of 40 to
SO miles per hour during the
break-in. The plan is to gradually
increase speed for half mile,
then, removing the foot from the
accelerator, allow the car to drift
back to 35 or 40, for another half
mile.
Most important is to keep close
tabs on what the instrument
board meters are reporting. The
motor temperature gauge is most
important. A too-high reading,
say ITO to 180, may meaN that
there is a dragging brake. Or the
fan belt may be loose. Or there
may not be enough water in the
radiator. If the temperature rise
is too rapid, stop the motor and
investigate.
Another tipoff of trouble is a
drop in oil pressure. This may
mean a reduced oil supply. which
causes the oil to work harder, heat
more and break down. Or the
fabrication may be indirectly re-
Cording the rise in engine tenn
perature. which may be from