EASY STARTING IN COLD WEATHER.
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Seasonal Contributions from Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.
QUITE an ingenious notion is contained in a letter from "5.0.]?.," of Capel St. Mary, to whom we have awarded this week's prize of 15s. He describes a simple gadget for use in connection with a Zenith carburetter; its application is, therefore, amply wide enough to justify its inclusion on this page: He has a lorry in his charge, he tells us, which is equipped with one of those carburetters, having three air ports. , The usual procedure, he says, and as raoet readers will endorse, when an engine so fitted has to be started on a cold morning, is to stop up the three ports with rag. This in itself is a bit of a nuisance, and, in addition, is liable to cause trouble if care be not exercised, as the rag may fall out and travel to some place where its presence is certainly not required. For example, he has known a
case in which such a piece of rag found its way into the oil pump driving mechanism, where it wound itself round the shaft, which broke.
All that is required to obviate all this trouble and risk is an ordinary spring clothes peg, such as May be bought anywhere at the price bf fourpence for the dozen; a leather washer, like that found inside the screw cap of a petrol can, and four pins. Drill one 15,in. hole in the centre of the washer, and another, the same size, about half-way between that one and the edge of the washer. Pin the washer to the peg, as shown in the sketch, so that the central hole comes oven that in the peg, and then cut the washer down the centre, so that it will open and close with the peg.
To use this little gadget, when about to start the engine slip the peg, washer foremost, into one of the air ports of the carburetter, until the central hole in the washer clips round the jet. This will exclude all air, from any source whatever, and enable an ensy start to be made. So soon as the engine has started bring the peg back until the other hole registers with the jet. Clip it there and leave in that position until the engine has warmed up.
" E.T.," of Ripon, had a curious experience recently with a J-type Thornycroft lorry, and sends us information concerning it, in the hope that it may be of use to other drivers of the same make of vehicle. Meeting with extreme difficulty in starting, one morning, he eventually had to take down the carburetter to ascertain what, in particular, was the cause of the trouble. Imagine his surprise when he found that there was ice in the float chamber in such quantity as. entirely to block up the passage to the main jet of the carburetter. As the engine was apparently in order the night before, the puzzle was to know how the ice got there, or how the water got into the carburetter in the first place, since it was frozen water which was found.
After a careful examination, our correspondent came to the conclusion that, when the circulating pipes were drained. the evening before, some water had 'dripped from the drain tap between the two front cylinders on to the carburetter, and had found its way thence inside that component by way of the junction between the petrol pipe and the needle valve. At any rate, in order to make mire that such a thing could not happen again, he fitted a piece of f-in. brass Ripe to each drain pipe, making the connection between pipe and tap by means of a short piece of rubber hose. This takes all the water right away from the engine and, besides ensuring that, none gets into the carburetter, has the incidental effect of keeping the engine clean.
It is no trouble to clean out the drain taps with these pipes fitted, as the latter can be removed and replaced in a moment, leaving the taps easy of access for any purpose.
" W.F.," of Durham, attacks the problem of difficult starting in cold weather in another way. He takes steps to keep his engine warm throughout the night, so that he has summer all the year round, in that respect. This expedient was adopted one winter, when the vehicle had to stand outside all night, so that it is evidently applicable under the most severe conditions.
On arriving home, at the end of the day, this correspondent turns off the petrol while the engine is still running. He then races the engine until the petrol still remaining in the float chamber of the carburetter is quite consumed —this is most important. Then he lights the side lamps—or a hurricane lamp would be better if available—and places them under the engine, on a level floor, so that there is no risk that they will • be overturned. The bonnet is then carefully covered up, and in the morning it is invariably found that the circulating water, and consequently the engine, are still warm.
" W.D.," of Stockton-on-Tees, .sends a. sketch of an alteration which he tells us he has made to a 5i-ton Fiat lorryThe carburetter on his chassis is equipped with a sleeve which, by rotatin, regulates regulates the proportion of warm air which is allowed to enter the carburetter. It is supposed to be regulated only at infrequent •intervals, in accordance with current conditions of working. For that purpose it is set, when the best position has been found, for the time being, with a setscrew:
Now, " W.D." has arranged the setscrew so that it does not hold the sleeve, and has secured it there. He attaches the sorew to a wire which leads to a convenient bolt on the dash—in the sketch he shows it fastened to a bolt of the bracket which supports a part of the throttle control gear—but fits a spring between the setscrew and dash, so that there is always a tendency to rotate the sleeve in a clockwise direction. A Bowden wire is also fastened to the same setscrew, and taken, round the sleeve, to a lever mounted on the cab side of the dash, where it is conveniently
accessible to the driver. He is now able to alter the hot-air adjustment from time to time as the wagon is running. a convenience which will be appreciated by many who have to start work in the cold at, say, six in the morning, and to continue throughout the day, which may turn out later to be warm.