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MORE TIPS ON STARTING.
Page 137
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Interesting Contributions from Our Driver and Mechanic Readers.
Easy Starting in Cold Weather.
MHE tip for starting in cold weather. which is sent by " I.S.B.,"of Worthing, is not entirely new, as we have described something of this kind before, but being a very useful means for ensuring all the vehicles ina fleet starting easily, we repeat the suggestion as described by "I.S.B.," who has had considerable experience in the running of fleets of buses and public-service vehicles.
The plan he mentions is that of running off the water from the engines and storing it while warm in barrels covered with sacking and with some insulating material between the sacking and the wood. The bottom of the barrel should also be covered with a layer of insulation and the cover treated in the same way. Our correspondent suggests sawdust, but hay is as good as anything, or the powdered cork used for packing grapes in is a very good non-conductor of heat. A layer of insnlation about 5 ins, thick is suggested.
Stopping on the Choke.
FROM " F.C.L.," of Long Sutton, we have received the following :—" When stormily, my engine at night I always shut the air shutter on the carburetter instead of switching off ; this chokes the -engine with too rich a mixture. Having driven a Dennis for the last three years, I have never 'MOW)) my engine to require more than two pulls up to start it."
He, like other correspondents, says that the stiffness one feels when turning an engine is not all due to the engine, and that by holding out the clutch by jamming a piece of wood against the seat and the pedal he is able to swing his engine with more ease.
Pencilling the Points.
AMONGST the great number of letters we have received on the above subject, each containing some tip, that from " G,E.A.," of Loughton, Essex, is perhaps the simplest ; so simple is it, that one is inclined to think that our correspondent is joking. For the easy starting of an engine in any weather, and even with a weak magneto, he tells us that he has never known his tip to fail. The tip consists of removing the sparking plugs and rubbing the points with an ordinary lead pencil—" pencilling the points."
A Useful Plan.
AS may be expected, many of these
letters deal with the same remedy over and over again, so we try so far as possible to select them so that the same information is not repeated. " II.T.'W." strikes a somewhat new note in telling us of a plan which he has adopted ; this is of a permanent nature and entails no work each time the engine is started. Being in charge of a fleet of 30 4-ton vehicles, he is able to judge the efficiency of his method. While the engine is thoroughly hot and has been in-inning, for some time, he starts and stops it several times, beginning with the ignition well retarded, then advancing it each time of starting until a slight tendency to back-fire is felt. When this point is reached, the magneto is marked, and retarded about * in., and the position of the timing lever marked so that it can be exactly repeated wheu starting again. While finding this position it is as well not to crank the engine any faster than would be possible when it is cold, otherwise a position may be found that would be dangerous when cranking a cold engine. When this position is once found, it should not want any resetting, so long as the same magneto is used. When the engine is brought in for the night, he suggests that it should not be stopped by switching off or by turning off the petrol, but by cutting off-the air from the carburetter, either by closing the air shutter or by placing the palm of the hand over the air intake. Some carburetters will not stop an engine in this way, but with a little manceuvring such as opening the throttle with the air cut off it can generally be done. When starting the engine up from cold, the air shutter should not be closed tightly, but should be about a quarter of an inch open and the throttle very slightly open. These he has found to be, in his case, the correct positions of all parts affecting starting, and his contention is that if all such parts be correctly set there should be very little difficulty in starting. He has had 5* years' experience with the plan and is using nothing but No. 3 petrol. , Leaving a Rich Mixture.
THERE is little doubt that the way in
which an engine is stopped has a great deal to do with any difficulty that may be experienced in starting in cold weather. " L.A.H.," of Plumstead, attaches great importance to the method used in stopping, and gives his views on how an engine can be started easily enough, provided it be stopped properly.
Before giving his instructions, he assumes that all ordinary precautions have been taken, such as seeing that the sparking plugs are clean and have their gaps properly adjusted and that the magneto and carburetter are in order. His method is then to stop his engine by choking it with too strong a mixture, and to accomplish this he holds up the needle of the carburetter and at the same time closes the air intake until the engine stops. He is then sure that his cylinders are full of mixture, which, although too rich at first, -will become weaker if left for sonic time, and the engine • will not requIre priming when started the next morning. Ile advocates the use of an impulse starter, and says that the engine of his vehicle usually fires on the first firing stfO'ke, as it is on that stroke that it invariably stops by his method of choking. The plan is a simple one and is well worth trying.
The Difficulties of Jacking a Pneumatic-tyred Lorry. wE have on many occasions called the attention of designers to the poor provision made for raisirtg a vehicle with a jack, and the difficulty is much more pronounced when pneumatic tyres are fitted, as not only has the vehicle to be raised higher, but a tyre might require changing when standing on a bill, or in other circumstances which do not afford a very good place for a jack to rest upon safely. "AC.," of Derbyshire, calls attention to the difficulty he has experienced when having to change a tyre, and says that on many of the vehicles he has driven he has found this almost impossible owing to there being a tie-bar in the exact place where he wanted to put his jack.
To overcome this difficulty he has made a piece of wood, as shown in his sketch. When he wants to raise the lorry he places this block in front of the wheel and drives the vehicle on to it. He then manages to get his jack into some place where it can be trusted to hold the weight, and by slightly raising the jack is able to withdraw the block.
Another correspondent calls attention to the same defect in the design of many vehicles.