Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-08
Varied Diet
Of Driving
WisePoIicy

Variety may be the spice Of
life but millions Of motorists are
learning that 1t is also q big
aid to car efficiency. Too many
cars are suffering from zone
track" operation.
No one knows this better than
the experienced mechanic. He ID
the man who remembers that
one Of the oldest cures for O.
sluggish motor IL 70 take the
car out on the open road and
really put It to work. This helps
clean the spark plugs, limbers
I'D sticky valves and generally
puts things In more normal
working order.
An anti-dots for excessive
crankcase dilution IL TO put the
car to work climbing long. steep
hills. This drives crankcase va
pors out the ventilation system.
When an elderly driver COM
planned that the cars brakes al
ways squealed she was asked II
braking was quiet when the car
was treated 10 q panic" stop.
The idea startled her. Her bfak-
ing. she carefully explained. was
always moderate. Very seldom In
her memory did she recall ever
having had 70 Jump on the brake
pedal.
That was all the information
the mechanic needed 70 convince
him that here Was another case
Of too singerly used brakes. One
or two fairly hard applications.
as the car IL first being used FOR
the day, viii often condition
brake lining for greatly i'm
proved declaration.
American Car Versatile
II most cars were designed for
specific needs 1t would be en-
tirely logical to use them ae-
cordingly. But the American car
is built to be versatile. and 1t
starts to fall short Of the mark
as soon as It's use IL too limited
or too specific.
It's q break for q car to be used
by q salesman on the open road
because here the motor IL op-
Grated q high percentage Of time
ct q more efficient temperature.
But one car that enjoyed this
preferential use proved TO be
anything but satisfactory when
later pressed into city use. The
engine developed serious Sailing
which turned out to be due to
dirt In the gas tank. During Pc
RODS Of idling the carburetor
would food as dirt got under its
needle valve.
Many an hour Of checking was
required 10 bring out the fact
that dirt was getting into the
tank through o broken vent pipe.
on the open road the carburetor
consumed 30 much fuel any dirt
that passed the filter went
through the carhuretor without
anything happening.
In Garage Too Much
While most cars today are ex-
posed to too much WeatherinH
1t Is not unusual to find others
which are in the garage too much
Of the time. Some Of the older
cars with wood in body con-
struction will develop creeking
noises II too dry. Exposure to
some wet weather proves to be
quite an effective cure.
Some cars are handicapped by
the habits Of their drivers. The
one-driver car may be no bar
gain. He may be rough starting,
resulting in shock and wear on
the entire drive line. He may be
careless moving the selector lever
OF the automatic transmission to
the various positions, or II the
car is one with q conventional
transmission he may ride the
clutch pedal.
There are numerous instances
where q car will improve In per-
Torrance and efficiency after q
change Of owners. indicating
usually that 1t was handicapped
by some extreme Of use.
It Ia usually considered to be q
good buy to pick up q car that
has not been used much, but
quite q bit Of additional driving
is usually needed to make such
cars eficient. And the addi-
tional mileage will have to be
something quite different from
that to which the car has be-
come accustomed.
CThs Russell Bervics)