DON’T TAKE THINGS FOR GRANTED
Don’t take anything for granted with your car. Don’t expect that there
is water, or gasoline, or oil, or current in the battery, unless
you have first inspected to find out. Inspect, don’t expect. There
are many bad habits in car practice, and one of them is the evil of
absent-mindedness in locating troubles in your car.
The man who spent half an hour looking for his glasses, and then
discovered they were on his nose, should not be laughed at by anyone
who runs a motor car. It is only natural that this man should take it
for granted they were not on his nose, yet taking things for granted,
writes Harold F. Blanchard, in _Motor Life_, is the greatest difficulty
that the man who has to locate trouble has to face, whether he is an
amateur or an expert. A number of cases are cited to prove the point.
Everyone knows better than to crank the engine with the switch off, yet
recently we saw an average motorist waste twenty minutes this way. The
ignition switch was set in the center of the lighting switch handle.
Therefore the absolute position of the ignition switch key varied
according to what lights were on—hence the error; yet this motorist
looked all over his engine before he discovered his trouble. Probably
being absent-minded had something to do with it; he had just left his
office for the day and was on his way home, which demonstrates that the
thoughtless or preoccupied man is much more likely to make unrightful
assumptions than the alert man.
Recently an old automobile mechanic was riding on an interurban car
when the latter was held up by a motor car stalled across the tracks.
There was a big crowd around the machine trying frantically to push it
out of the way. For some reason the rear wheels were locked. No amount
of effort would budge the car and it was too large to lift and carry.
The mechanic got off and watched the proceedings. He found that the
gear lever was stuck in low gear, and inquiry as to whether the
trouble was due to jammed gears or some other serious defect could not
be answered by the owner or any of his helpers. He began to wonder
where the trouble was while the others struggled, but being old in
the game, the thought flashed across his mind: “Take nothing for
granted.” Therefore the first question to determine was whether the
whole difficulty might not be solved by pushing out the clutch. This
seemed too easy—too good to be true. He hesitated to suggest it, but
the more he thought about it the more he became convinced, and finally
he mustered up enough courage to slip behind the wheel and command
the resting crowd to push. The car glided off, to the astonishment of
everyone. It developed that the owner of the car had become excited
when he stalled the engine on the crossing with the lever stuck in low.
In his feverish haste he tried to push the car off instead of shoving
out his clutch and starting the motor, and as the crowd collected they
accepted the locked condition of the rear wheels as something which
could not be remedied.
A motorist of ten years’ experience bought a used car. He took delivery
of it late one rainy afternoon. The former owner told him the car was
complete, the only thing missing being the key to the tool box, which
he promised to mail him early the next day. The motorist got a couple
of friends and started for a ride. Finally they stopped for dinner.
When they came out the owner put his foot on the starter pedal,
but it stuck. He pulled up the floor boards but could not reach the
mechanism. The only way was to crawl under the car and this was out of
the question because of the mud. They looked for the crank under the
rear-seat cushion and under the front-seat cushion, but could not find
it. Quite naturally they concluded it must be in the locked tool box
or else the former owner had neglected to include this very important
item. They tried to locate a car of the same make in some neighboring
garages without success. They jacked the car up and tried to crank it
by turning a rear wheel, but the compression was too great, so they
tossed the jack into the tonneau and started in search of someone who
would tow the car to start it. Eventually they got the engine going.
When they reached the garage the owner slipped his hand into the
tonneau and he pulled out—not the jack—but the crank!
The worst is to come. The next morning a mechanic who had been in
the business long enough to know better than to make unwarranted
assumptions was called in. He pressed down the pedal without success,
then for no logical reason but simply because automobiles were second
nature to him he pulled up and the pedal came. Then he pushed and the
starter worked. The owner was nonplussed. Later he admitted that he had
thought of pulling up on the pedal but _assumed_ it would do no good.
A few years ago, when expanding clutches were more popular, a motorist
found one day that his clutch was slipping. He had a vague idea that
there must be some means for adjusting the clutch to cure this trouble,
but he looked in vain for a nut or a screw or a bolt which might do
the trick. True, there was a small screw in the fly-wheel rim, set
almost flush with the edge of the rim and locked by a tiny spring
wire which rested in the milled slot in the screw. But he limped to a
garage on low gear and held consultation with the entire force. They
examined the car carefully and decided there was no way to adjust the
clutch. They suggested a new lining or strips of metal under the old
lining to swell it out so that it would grip. The former was out of the
question because of the time it would take, so the latter was tried.
The makeshift worked all right for a few miles, and then the clutch
slipped more than ever. In desperation he called the agent up on the
long distance, and was informed that his troubles would be over if he
would give that innocent-looking screw a couple of turns. It sounded
like black magic, but he went back and tried it, and his troubles ended.
An owner who was very particular about having his car in the best of
condition found that the compression in the first cylinder was weak
although the valves had just been ground. He removed the exhaust valve
and found it in perfect condition. Then he took out the intake valve,
although he felt foolish while doing it. It was in excellent shape but,
just to be on the safe side and because he did not know what else to
do, he ground it anyhow. The trouble was no better. Neither did the
difficulty seem to be due to too small a clearance between valve stems
and push rods, because the clearance was the prescribed amount on both
intake and exhaust valves. He concluded that it must be the rings.
Either they were gummed or broken. Flooding the cylinder with kerosene
did not improve the condition, so a pint of very heavy oil was put
in with the idea that this would temporarily stop any leaks between
cylinder and piston, but the compression was no better. Several times
during the hunt he was tempted to increase the clearance between valve
stems and push rods, not for any sensible reason, because the clearance
was correct, but simply in desperation. It seemed about the only thing
left to do—it was the only thing he had not tried. But his “common
sense” said no, so he took his car to the service station. The first
thing they did was to increase the clearance on the intake valve, and
the trouble was cured. The reason for doing this was that there was a
high spot on the back of the intake cam which would open the valve a
slight amount on the compression stroke. The clearance was increased to
a point where the high spot had no effect.
One day a motorist had serious magneto trouble. The engine missed and
finally stopped. It was necessary to take the magneto to an expert to
have it repaired. The very day the magneto was replaced the car started
missing again and it looked as if the work had not been properly done.
Finally the engine refused to go further. A passing farm wagon was
hailed and the car brought home—seven miles. The magneto was returned
to the shop, but nothing wrong was found. Yet when it was replaced the
car still refused to run. A telephone talk with the nearest agent,
forty miles away, showed that the trouble might be in the carburetor
and a search showed that it was—the low speed jet was clogged. To prove
the truth of this suspicion the engine was primed and ran perfectly
except at low speed. When the car first stalled, it occurred to
the owner that it might be a good idea to prime the engine, but he
dismissed the thought because he was so certain the trouble was in the
magneto, and without a better reason than it was too much work to prime
the engine because there were no priming cups.
A similar trouble in that it was of a dual nature was experienced with
a car which had just had the valves ground and the carbon removed.
After the work was done the engine could not be started. Investigation
showed there was no spark. No short-circuits could be found in the
wiring. The breaker points were examined and after filing and adjusting
them the engine started on the first turn. Fortunately the man who did
this job knew how to proceed—he made no guesses or assumptions. In this
he was different from the owner whose experience was related elsewhere.
The last two instances show something it is very important for everyone
to realize, although this is a diversion, namely, that repair men are
often blamed for tampering with cars without cause. The preceding
incident was pure coincidence. The breaker points gave out entirely
when the engine was shut off prior to grinding the valves.
The various incidents which have been related prove that it is not
wise to take anything for granted. It seems like a simple rule, but
only those who have tried to follow it will find out how hard it is.
It is also important to bear in mind that it is not wise to use too
much logic in hunting trouble, for the solution is often far from
logical. It is well to reason as carefully as possible, but if the
solution is still to be found it often happens that it is obtained by
some illogical act. Follow the general-trouble rule in an orderly way,
therefore, and do not take anything for granted.