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FORD VAN POINTERS.

26th December 1922
Page 24
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Page 24, 26th December 1922 — FORD VAN POINTERS.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

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

S011EBODY has said that he succeeds best in life who makes the fewest mistakes. I do not think that that is an altogether complete account of success; but there is certainly something in it as regards the driving of a motor vehicle. A driver's mistakes are more likely to be sins of omission than sins of commission. It is what the driver does not do, rather than what he does, that makes for trouble. Avoidance of mistakes means formation of

habits.

512.—The Habits that Make a Good Driver.

Nobody is a qualified driver till he has got to the point, where he automatically remembers to do the right thing at the right time. Control of a motor vehicle is largely a question of habit—of doing the right thing without thinking when and how to do it. Of course, a driver must be, in some sense, thinking all the time ; he must be attending to his job, and not letting his thoughts go wool-gathering. But he is not a competent driver till he governs his controls without conscious mental effort.

The competent driver will never excuse a blunder with "I forgot!" for he knows that competency cannot forget: it can only neglect.

The driver easily makes mistakes as to the daily attention needed by his vehicle. It looks as if it ought to be a simple matter to check 'petrol, oil and water supplies. But a little familiarity with these

necsssary jobs often breeds contempt for them. The. radiator will be run half-full • engine lubrication will be regarded as "good enough" if the oil will flow out of either of the tell-tale cocks; the petrol supply will be taken as " all right' if it can be sem when the filler-cap is screwed out of the tank.

There is one golden rule regarding water and petrol: see that you start with all you can carry. Half-measures here are mischievous—shortage of water, because you can get into all sorts of troubles if the engine overheats ; shortage of petrol, because you can get stranded at very inconvenient points. As regards oil, there is no one invariable rule to

bear in mind. It depends." During the first 5(X) miles that a new van or truck is driven the oil should be carried, at the day's start, at the level of the top cock—not higher. During the next 500 miles the level should be giadually reduced till it stands, -say. half an inch higher than the lower petcock. The reason for having a very liberal supply of oil in the crankcase when the engine is new is that everything then is a tight fit. -Unless, therefore, everything is soused in oil, undue friction is sst up, 1332

with consequent heating of the parts concernea, and things get badly worn—perhaps burnt, or even melted out. As the working surfaces get" run-in," polished to a nicety by their Own well-lubricated movements, friction is reduced, oil gets easy access, and so, little by little, the liberal supply of oil becomes not merely wasteful, but mischievous.

The average driver likes to know that he has "plenty of oil" slopping about inside the crankcase. " Plenty Of oil " is like lots of grub." It is good to be well fed, but it is horrible to be gorged. On an engine that is well run-in, the high level in the crankcase means gorging with oil—something like biliousness.•

The driver new to his van is nervous. He fears that something will " seize up." He had better fear that than err in, the other direction. A scant 'oil supply means bad mischief—mischief that it. will take both time and money to set right. But the driver should, nevertheless, know that, after an engine has been run-in by, say, 750 miles' use, the oil supply is sufficient for the time heing when it will run out of the bottom cock. So long as it will run out there, the engine can come to no harm.

It is because we want to provide for some hours' running after the start that we fill the crankcase above that lower level, not bpeause damage will at once arise if we do not fill higher. If the oil is snowed to flow out of the lower petcock till it will ,sv no more, or will only just drip, and the cock is ;win closed, and a pint of oil is added, that should be sufficient for at least. 50 miles' running in any circumstances—however steep the road and however heavy the load.

But till you know what your engine needs—and Fords differ enormously in this respect—see how long that added pint lasts. Test at 25 miles, and at each 10 miles thereafter. You will then get to know exactly how much oil you should start with—above the level of the bottom cock---and how often you should add more.

Run on as little oil as you can without taking risks. Your risks begin only when the supply will not show when the lower cock is opened. Even if the oil falls a little lower than that, no trouble will immediately arise ; but if it falls much lower than that, serious trouble can arise—almost at once.

513.—The III-Effects of Over-oiling.

Over-oiling is wasteful. The higher you carry your oil level in the crankcase the more quickly will your supply disappear if the engine does not really need it. You can easily test this for yourself. If you have a gallon of oil in the sump, it will speedily be reduced to half a gallon ; but if you start with half a gallon it will take a long time to reduce it to a quart.

But economy is not the only consideration in lubrication. Over-oiling fouls the engine badly. This means two bad results:—(1) Flooding the sparking plugs; (2) deposition of carbon. The flooding of the sparking plugs means ignition trouble—only remedied by a thorough cleaning of the plugs. Carbon deposit means frequent need for decarbonization—a job that takes a deal of time, and time is money.

But presence of carbon works other mischief which is not so readily remedied. Carbon behind the piston rings is a common cause of loss of power ; and it is not so easy to remove carbon that forms there. Carbon in the exhaust pipe and silencer also means loss of power, and it is a long and filthy job to clear it out.

So do not over-oil—for the various reasons stated. I get a good many letters--'-mostly from inexperiQuest' drivers—in which they complain that their front

cylinder is always soused with oil and that they are, in consequence, always having to clean the front plug. I will not go so far as to say that this sousing is always due to over-oiling, because it may, in rare cases, be due to other causes; but I will go so far as to say that this sousing ceases in most cases if the oil level is lowered to a sensible point. The reason why the front cylinder suffers most from over-oiling is that, if the supply in the crankcase is too liberal, it flows forward on downhill runs, and, naturally, most of it collects under' the front . cylinder. It has nowhere else to go. It then gets thrown up in huge quantities by the dipping of the front big-end. The Ford engine is designed with the idea that the little sumps which you can see under the engine in the crankcase lower cover shall be just full of oil all the time. The oil is circulated from back to front of the engine by means of a pipe, into which the flywheel delivers the oil, via a funnel. Through that pipe it flows down and forward. But on the steep downhill run the oil flows forward independently of this •pipe, if the supply is at all excessive, and so souses the front end of the engine. A glance at our picture will show that this must be so.

The Time to Check.

The best time to check the height of the oil level in the crankcase is some little while after the engine has stopped running and when the oil is still warm. You get very little idea of the oil level if you open up a petcock immediately after the engine has been stopped ; none at all when the engine is actually running. What one wants is to get all the oil into the crankcase, and it does not all get there until it has had time to do so; for it has been splashed about in all directions by the engine so long as it was running. On the other hand, a test when the weather is cold, and the engine cold, top, is useless, beczneiv;:the oil gets "gummy" and will not flow -through the petcock. It would seem to be common sense that the oil level should not be tested when the van or truck is standing tilted, either fore and aft or sideways. At all events, it is common sense. Obviously, if the test is made on a steep hill,. you will not get true indications. If the radiator is facing up-hill, for instance, your petcocks will trickle, when opened, even though your oil supply may be getting low. And you can get misleading indications when you test at the side of a steeply cambered road. Make it a point to pass a wire through each open cock occasionally ; otherwise there will be no through-way, and then you may be badly deceived as to the amount. of oil in the crankcase. The cocks are apt to clog with dirt—especially in the case of a new engine.

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Organisations: US Federal Reserve
People: R. T. Nicholson

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