Automobile troubles and repairs - Welding, vulcanizing

The modem automobile is mechanically a fine piece of engineering but notwithstanding its perfection it is bound to break down unless it is well run and kept in repair. The simple driving operation is one of the easiest things to acquire but there is an astonishing number of things which an inexperienced driver will do and continue doing which not only interfere with the smooth running of the car but cut down its efficiency as well. The acquiring of these kinks by casual reading will often avoid some bitter experiences and save an accident or two. As to general repairs, every owner must settle for himself whether he will shunt his car and his troubles to the garage repairman or save time and expense and make himself more independent by learning to solve his own difficulties.

This volume is designed for the owner, or the driver, who wishes to properly take care of his car, and for the repairman who is anxious to broaden his own experience. Part II covers a multitude of helpful repair suggestions for all parts of the car from the engine to the differential, from the steering gear to the tires. The section on tire vulcanizing with the description of proper tire repair methods will be found especially helpful. In Part III is given an excellent article on welding as applied to the repair shop. The increasing use of this handy method of making difficult repairs gives this section special interest. The cost data will be found exceptionally valuable.

It is the hope of the publishers that the suggestions given will be found pertinent and helpful.

First get your car, then learn to use it. This homely phrase based on another one equally homely and of daily use, sums up in a few words the matter of learning to drive a car. After the car has been duly purchased, the glib salesman will show one in about four minutes how to drive. Yet after all this assistance, it will take almost any man of fair intelligence a whole week or more to learn to run the car alone and with confidence, while he will continue to learn additional points as long as he continues to drive. Although the gasoline engine, in combination with the other mechanical parts of the ordinary touring car, is not so very complex when tackled in a common-sense manner, there are so many things which enter into the whole makeup and which may vary, either singly or in combination with others, that the combinations are practically infinite.

Of premier importance is starting, and the proper way to go about it. But even before this is done, the beginner should learn to stop the car, for accidents often happen from inability to stop; never from inability to start. So, the first thing on the novice's program should be the matter of stopping.

Closing the Throttle. Without a doubt, the surest way to stop the car, one that is always effective, and by all odds, the first one for a beginner to learn is that of shutting off the throttle. This he must learn at once and before he learns anything else; it should be so thoroughly grounded and fixed in his mind that no matter what sort of a discomfiting situation he finds himself in, he will always think to shut off the throttle. This is effective, in that with the throttle closed, no gas can reach the engine, which, therefore, cannot run. If no gas be supplied and the engine cannot run, its own internal resistance, to be explained more in detail later, will stop the car very quickly, though not immediately. Other methods will stop the car more quickly, but the novice might release them accidentally before the source of trouble was removed, making the situation as bad as, if not worse than, before. With the throttle closed, the engine stops and with it, of course, the car.

Fig. 1 shows how this is accomplished. Nearly every car has the spark control and the throttle placed upon the steering wheel, so as to be convenient. Practice varies whether the spark is placed above or below the throttle, but in any case, it is an easy matter to ascertain. This is done by lifting the hood, or bonnet as it is variously called, so as to expose the mechanism. Then any movement of a lever on the hand wheel moves either a part of the ignition apparatus or some portion of the carburetor. If the latter, the lever moved is then the throttle lever.

It is not necessary to remember which movement of the throttle turns the mixture on or off, since, if the car is running, it must of a necessity be turned on; and to stop, it is only necessary to move it as far as possible in the opposite direction. In Fig. 1, the longer and more easily operated lever, marked A, is the throttle lever, and is shown in the "off" position. In the "on," or open position, this is at the side, where it is more convenient to the hands, which should always grasp the wheel at two points directly across the rim of the wheel from one another, i. e, 180 degrees apart. The ordinary application of levers is such that in this position, the location of the spark and throttle levers will bring them down close to the right hand; in which location, they may be operated without removing the hand from the wheel, a slight movement of the thumb or one finger being sufficient. For the "off" position, on the contrary, it is necessary to remove the hand from the wheel and reach for the levers, either to put them both in the "on" position or both on the "off" location.

When the danger or source of trouble is fully removed, it is the work of a second to get out and start the engine again. This method of stopping the car by shutting off the engine, the beginner must learn at once and remember for all time, although later on, with more skill in handling the car, and increased presence of mind, the other and superior methods will doubtless be used in preference. This one has the merit, for the beginner, of removing for a considerable length of time all possibility of future danger, and only recurring of the novice driver's own volition. That is, there can only be additional danger when the engine is deliberately started again.

Emergency Brakes. Other ways of stopping the car are numerous, as stated before, but to mention them in order of merit, the best is a combination of the method just mentioned with the application of the emergency brakes. The latter are placed on the car, as their name would indicate, for the express purpose of stopping the car in an emergency. Usually they consist of a pair of very large and powerful brakes fixed directly to the rear wheels and operated by the outer of the two hand levers. These hand levers may act forward or backward, i. e. they may be applied by a pull or a push. The method to be used will depend upon the specific car in question, since the makers differ as to this and the system of operation has never been wholly standardized.

Service Brakes. All modem cars are equipped with a secondary set of brakes, which are known as the service brakes, and are applied by means of a foot pedal. While this has not been standardized any more than the action or placing of the emergency brake levers, it happens that the majority of car builders utilize the right-foot pedal for this purpose. Fig. 4. This operates a second set of brakes upon the rear wheels of a shaft-driven car, according to the latest practice, or upon the countershafts of a chain-driven car. It is sometimes a single, wide-faced brake placed upon the main shaft just back of the transmission. In any case, pressing the pedal D, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, forward and down applies the secondary set of brakes. These being applied by means of a foot pedal, while the emergency brakes are operated by means of a hand lever, makes it possible to apply both at once, with superior braking results. In the use of a pull-back emergency lever, it is possible to apply the foot brake first, and with the leverage upon this as a brace, apply the emergency brakes more forcibly.

It must be remembered in the use of both of these, that the operator is simply using his strength and the increased leverage which the arrangement gives him, against the force of the engine, and that other conditions being the same, when the foot pedal and hand lever are removed or released, the engine will go on propelling the car just as fast as before the brakes were applied.

This makes it highly important for the new driver to learn either to pull his gear-shifting lever back or to push it forward, as the case may be, so as to bring it into the neutral position. When this is done, none of the gears are
in mesh, and if the driver should involuntarily let the foot slip which is holding the clutch out, or that which is pressing down on the brake pedal, no harm will be done. In this way, shifting into neutral may be considered as an example of the "safety first" method of driving, although it may mean shifting several times, as well as a short delay caused by starting with low gear, working up to second, and then to high. This safety method is of especial importance to beginners, as the expert driver, in a tight situation, will not become confused or let the foot slip off, whereas the beginner may.


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Automobile troubles and repairs