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FORD VAN POINTERS.

20th July 1920, Page 25
20th July 1920
Page 25
Page 26
Page 25, 20th July 1920 — FORD VAN POINTERS.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Keywords : Petcock

By R. T. Nicholson (Author of "The Book of the Ford ").

THERE ARE MANY little things one can do to enable one to run a Ford van cheaply. When I say " cheaply," I mean, of course, comparatively cheaply. No motoring is cheap to-day. The Government has seen to that—with the kind assistance of the magnates who control our petrol and oil supplies.

But it is all the more "up to " us to run as cheaply as possible, and a little care and trouble do make all the difference. For instance: .

The Ford is-not light on oil: in point of fact,the Ford takes a lot of oil for a little thing like her.

There are reasons why. When we know the reasons, aye shall be able to get over them to some extent. Here are the reasons:—

232.— Making a Splash.

The way in which the Ford engine is lubricated makes for extravagance in oil. The method is simplicity itself. Lubrication is by splash, with a little help in the way of circulation by means of magnets on the flywheel, a funnel into which the ail is delivered by the magnets, and a pipe which returns the oil from the funnel at the back end of the engine to the fore end of the cliankciase under the front eylinder. There are no ecalaplications: there is practically nothing to get out of,order : the oil is always doing its job; but there is little economy in that method of lubricating an engine. To make mire that every working part is properly lubricated, there must be a lot of surplus oil splashing about, whereas with a foree-feed system of lubricating (as used on most engines) there is very little oil "lying around except just at the frictional points where it is needed, it being made to al,a1 just there by some form of force feed..

So there has to be a Rit of oil in the Ford engine; and the Ford is, in consequence, a-relatively dirty engine—the excess oil forming carbon in. the combustion chamber, fouling the exhaust, and lodging on the plugs.

All of vithich did not matter—or did not matter much— when oil was cheap : because it was an easy matter to clean a dirty plug, or even to remove the detachable cylinder head and scrape away the carbon; and as for the smoky exhaust, that worried the public more than the driver Or owner. But waste of oil does matter now, and the Ford habit of oil-buyning is nk a cheap one.

233.—The Correct Oil Level for Economy.

• Then the Ford " Chuck and chance it" method of introducing oil into the crankcase through the breather-pipe does not make for economy. What do you do, before you start out on a round?. If you are la wise driver, you

see to it that the oil will flow from the lower peteoc-k, when turned on, and will not ilow from the .upper. petcock. You earry-youroil level somewhere between the two petcocks ; and, ,as.yoii do not want to run any risk of burning out a big' endin course of the day's round, ' you take care that the level stands well above the lower petcock. Which is well enough in its way, because it costs more to re-metal a big end bearing than to buy a few extra pints of oil. Nevertheless, that high oil level means sheer waste. The oil level is high enough when it stands at the height of the lower petcock. All oil standing above that level is slowly wasted: if it stands much above that level, it is quickly wasted. But what are you to do? You know that if you start on a round with the oil only just at that level, your engine will be starved before very long, and you cannot be hopping out all day at odd times-to keep the level just where it should be. Besides, you might forget all about it, .add then the burnt-out big-end bearing would start its infernal knock. 'But, if you really could trusayouraelf to'remember, I would advise you to add oil in small quantities every now and again on the round. For instance, when starting out in the morning, you should see that 110 Cocks

, excessive ston heads. i the oil level s not much higher than the lower petcock. You can be sure that it is net much higher if, when you come in at night, yoti let the lower pet cock drip into a can—leaving it open all night for the purpose. Then, in the morning, you shut the petcock, empty into a half-pint measure the oil that has dripped out during the night, fill up the measure with new oil, and pour the bait-pint into the engine. Than, in course of a round, give it, say, a quarter of a pint —roughly—every 25 mile's. At the end of the day, empty out, as before; all oil standing above the level of the lower petcock, and so on from day to day. You will find that that plan of looking after the lubrication of your engine will save quite a lot of oil —for this reason. When the oil level in the Ford engine stands high, the-oil is splashed very liberally over all the working parts inside it, and a.great deal of it gets carried high up on the cylinder walls by the moving pistons, a goad deal getting actually on to the tops of the pistons. There it gets burnt at each explosion. If you keep the oil level, on the other hand, somewhere just above the level of the lower petcock, the engine still gets well lubricated, but is not soused. No oil then gets burnt up—or so little that it does not matter.

You will find, if you start with a highaevel, that the level will fall very quickly as you rim your engine, the surplus being .quickly burnt up—thatais to say, it will fall very quickly at first; but, when the level. gets clown towards the lower petcock, the ahrinka,ge Will be far less rapid. You can test this for yourself, Yoa will then have no doubt' about it. On the other hand, if you regularly carry your level only a little higher than the lower petcock, you will find that the shrinkage is very slow indeed. The quick shrinkage means waste, through oil burning.

But, do not carry your oil level down as low as the bottom petcock when, you are running in a new en

gine. For the first 1,000 miles in the life of aq engine, the oil level ought to be nearly up to the ton petcock.

There are Fords that' simply sweat oil; It leaks mainly out of the joints round thuverankease. This Ought not to be. Get these leaky joints made tight: it is generally only a matter of new gaskets. It is a sin and a shame for ail engine to pour good oil out of the crankcase all the time it is running or resting.

234.—Economy in Tyre Management.

Tyres cost a pot of money to-day. They would cost a good deal deal less if every -driver would make them lastdonger. A good deal of money can be saved with a little thought, care, and outlay (though the " outlay" part of that remark looks a bit Irish!)

If you do not keep your tyres blown up hard, you run them along the road to ruin. Tyres are meant to be blown up much harder than you think. Tyres that are properly blown up are not altogether comfortable to drive-on: you femme more than you like. But you ought tE.I bump more than sou like. Bumps do not really hurt you, whereas slackness really does hurt the tyres. You ought to have a tyre gauge: it costs shillings and saves pounds. Having boughtaqt, use it till it tells you that your front.tyres are blown to a pressure of 50-55 lb., and your back tyres to 6065 lb.

Then, if she bumps" too much, look,to your leafsprings, and see if they are properly greased. (Most Ford leaf -springs are left to get into a simply shocking condition). You will not worry -ae much over the bumps if you grease the springs well ; and you cer

tainly will-worry over them if you run with tyres properly inflated, and the springs choked with rust.

Every now and again—once a week is nonelloo often—go over the tyres with a.blunt pointed,tool, and pick out all the sharp bits sticking into the covers—mostly flints, Il you do not pick -them out, they will work in, -nod cut the fabrie=whith is the beginning of th'h end for a tyre.

235.—The Value of the Vulcanizer.

And use a vulcanizer. (That means more expense, inafirst cost, I know, and you will begin to think pretty poorly of me as a preacher of economy: but vulcanizers pay good (lividends: so I say use a vul-• eanizer.) Tyres mostly do not wear out: they rot out. And they rot out because water creeps in through gashes in the rubb-er, and into the fabric, below the rubber ; and fabric cannot stand wet. The holes generally start as quite small cuts—anostly'as flint cuts. They .gape a bit wider, when neglected: the water gets in 'through the gaps, and the fabric begins to go to pieces. A vulcanizer stops that sort of thing by plugging up the crack before it is of any size, so that it never gapes, and so that the water cannot get in where it does not belong.

Anybody con use a vuicanizer—notwithotanding the popular notion that they are tools for experts.

236.—As regards Braking

Da nett brake—at least, only once in a blue ninon. It is braking that does the harm and costs the money —more particularly sudden braking.' Drive on the throttle. Let the opening and closing of the throttle govern your speed. If you look well ahead you will not have to slow down once in a day's round by Glidden braking.

It is sudden braking that strains things intern-ally, and builds up big repair bills: it is sudden braking that scores and strips your tyres, wastes petrol, anl generally plays havoc. "Wastes petrol "7 Surely. When you are rushing along at a good "bat," and have suddenly to apply your brakes, so that the vehicle slows down quickly, do you think your petrol (or benzole) suddenly slows down too ? 1,7o-b a hit of it. The spirit is rushing towards the engine to enconrage it to keep up the

jammed the at which it was running before you

the brakes hard on. You cannot step it with the brakes. So it Chokes the engine with .foul mixture,

and gets burnt up. unnecessarily. This does nclt happen when you slow down by closing the throttle. The flow of petrol is then gradually checked, and it responds to gradual measures.

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