• FORD VAN POINTERS.
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By R. T. Nicholson (Author of "The-Book of the Ford ").
IN THE ISSUE of November 11th, 1 began to deal with the subject of Electric Light Troubles and had got halfway through it 'when the editorial " cease fire" was sounded because I had already filled by allotted apace. I had quite intended that my remaining notes on the subject should form my next contribution, but there must have been some compelling influence about that set of Pointers already in the Editor's hands, dealing with a. number of wrinkles, for they forced their way ahead of the lighting matter. Hence these tears? In Pointer 153 I dealt with the first principles of 'electric lighting and dealt with the most common trouble—the burning out of one or other lamp—the mode of testing and of effecting a cure.
• 163.— But it is Not Always the Bulbs.
But the fault may not lie in the bulbs—one or both —at all. If, tinder the tests described you cannot get a light from either lamp the trouble lies elsewhere. It may lie in the the electric-light wires having come away from the wire-holders at some point. There are four points at which the wires enter the wireholders—two points in each wire-holder. They are held in the wire-holders by small brass screws, which press on the wires when tight. They sometimes work loose. You can see the screw-heads if yOu turn off one of the thimbles. , Sometimes the trouble is—not with the wires slipping out, but with their breaking, and the break may be hidden under a thimble. Whether it is a question of the wire having come away from the wire-holder or of a break, you can tell if there is anything wrong at this point 'by pulling lightly on each of the wires. If unhitched or broken, the wire will easily come away towards you through the thimble. But do not pull with brute force, because that will bring the wire out anyway.
A -Loose End.
When a wire has come adrift from its anchoring in the wire-holder take the thimble Off by unscrewing it, and push it back along both wires—that is, keeping both wires threaded through it. Then with a narrowbladed screwdriver or a bradawl loosen back the brass screw in the wire-holder, which should press on and anchor the wire end in question. Then twist the wire end to bind up the strands together and push into the little brass tube which should hold it. Pushing it well in and home, tighten the set-screw to anchor it. Be sure to get the strands well home : it is easy to .think they are -well home and under the screwend when they are short of it. If they are short of it, tightening the screw will not make them stay put.
A Broken Wire End.
Loosen the set-screw and shake out the broken strands from the wire-bolder. Then 'bare about half an inch of the wire by cutting away the insulation or covering, twist op the strands, and insert and fx as before. It is important that the insulation should reach right up to the socket into which the wire goes. Otherwise, if the two wires in one wire-holder touch at bare points, the lamp to which they belong will not light, though the other lamp will.
A Caution.
See that you do not drop one of those small screws that anchor the wire ends. If you drop them anywhere there is precious small hope of finding them, and without some means of anchoring the wire-end you get no light. I have managed to anchor the wire
end for the time being by using a bit of a match as a screw, but it is an uncertain makeshift.
It is best not to have to dicker with those small screws on a dark night, with the headlamps out. Watch them and tighten -when necessary in broad daylight. Then, never turn tlft wire-holder so that its hole points downward. If you are dickering with both screws in one wire-holder, never have two screws loose at °nee, or one may fall out while you are attending -to the other.
Other Possible Troubles. .
A short in the electric-light wiring at any other point will, of course, put your headlights out. Generally speaking, however, a, short will make your lamps flicker or maylpossibly put them out and turn them on at odd times. By a "short" I mean contact of a bare part of the wire with tome metal in the neighbourhood.;
When your light flickers, or comes and goes, Suspect a short of this kind. When the coating or insulation gets chafed off and leaves the wire bare the current gets back to the magneto by a short cut, and does not pass through the lamps. Then there is no light. If, however, vibration cures the short by shaking the bare spot clear of metal, the light will come
• up again.
If you run the engine in the dark, with the light switched on (but not burning, owing to a short), you will often be able to see the current "earthing" by its short out, showing sparks at the point where the fault lies. Note.—This trouble is not likely to hap-pen --in the tube which carries the wire behind the radiator, because there can hardly -be fraying of the insu lation there. •
The remedy for this kind of trouble is to cover the bare spot with insulation of some kind, insulating tape being the handiest thing of the sort. A piece of rubber tied on with string will, however, serve. Keep an eye on the wiring for frayed points and cover them up—by daylight.
Weak Points in the Circuit.
A wire may be broken or partly broken under the insulatien. In this ease -the light will generally come and go, or will become very dim, though still glowing faintly. If the -wire is broken right through, no sound Rtrands being left, the light will generally come and go as the van nuns, and the broken ends get shaken together or separated by vibration. If both the lights go very dim, this generally means that the current is travelling somewhere by only one or two strands of wire, which will carry some current, but will not carry enough. The same effect is also produced if the anchoring of the final (short) earth -wire is faulty, either through partial breakage of the wire or through the final contact being poor. This, however, can hardly happen if the wire is soldered to earth : but if the soldering has been broken and the wire is earthed by being twisted round a bolt or other piece of metal, the earth contact may quite well be poor—especially if dirty. Then the lights dim.
Light Current Shorts Affect the Enghie.
When there is a short in the electric-light circuit it will often affect the running of the engine, because the short will rob the magneto of a great deal of current, so that not enough is left for ignition. When ignition flutters, and the lamps play pranks too, suspect a short at once. The ignition does not suffer if a wire is broken or weak, because then the light eirsuit is taking very little current.
THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR 412 Switch Faults.
It is very rarely indeed that anything goes wrong 'with: the switch. You have only to see that the wires are properly anchored there. If you inspect the switch, •unhitcli, the wire that runs up to it from the magneto, as well as that which runs from the back of the switch to the right-hand lamp. Then press the two ends together, with the engine running. If that makes theheadlamps light up when they had previonsIy gone out, the trouble was with the switch. ,'You can get home with tee two ends of the switch Wires tightly tied together. Put things right by daylight. I will not waste space on switch troubles— quite unlikely to happen—because you can see for yourself how things should be with the switch.
Anticipate Trouble.
Again, do not wait till trouble comes. Anticipate it. Keep an eye on the whole circuit. Tighten up terminal screws occasionally. Cover worn or frayed points in the insulation. When a bulb gets very black, take that as a sign that its day is nearly done, and be prepared to replace with a spare when it fails. Always work by daylight, when possible, because, Avhen you come to think of it, the light will not be there to help you when your headlights douse.
Lamp Fronts.
The lamp fronts that carry the glasses are held on by bayonet catches. To remove, twist heftily to the left a short distance, pressing backwards towards body of the van. Then, after the twist, pull forward. In replacing, see that all the bayonet catches snap in. You may think that the lamp fronts are anchored when only one catch is in but, in point of fact, the lamp 'front will, in that case, fall off on the road, and if you do not lose it altogether, you may at all events expect to find the glass smashed.
Switch Shocks.
• You ought not to feel any tingling electric shocks when you switch off. (It is only a low-tension shock —so that it does not hurt anyway, though it may make you jump.) If you do, it is either because your coil-box, or something connected with it, has got wet, or because there is something astray—a nut or what not—in the coil-box. Look for one or more of the small nuts used in assembling the switch: they sometimes work loose and off, and lie in the box.
164.—Oil and OK Make no mistake about it: there is oil and oil. Ford drivers are a happy-go-lucky lot—orsome of them are, at all events. Any oil will do. " Got a drop of oil to spare, mate ? " is a " hail-fellow-wellmet ' question often heard on the road. Now, I would as soon think of borrowing a drop of oil as of borrowing a comforter for my baby. (As a matter of fact, I have not got a baby ; but you know what I mean.)
I do not trust the other fellow's oil. It may be all right, but, then, it may not. I have a special
c32 , brand of oil, which is worth its weight in gold, and does not cost it—even in these jays of high prices. I have tried lots of oils, latitthis is the oil. It is known as the— (Cannot allow any free advertising, Mr. N.—Ed.) (Well, is not that just like an 'editor l—B.T.N.) It was a revelation to me at iirst trial, and it has remained a revelation. and helped my revolutions ever since. It makes my engine purr in absolute contentment. It turns over at the slowest speed without bucking._ When called upon to do so it runs ' all out "with its heart in its work.
It is well on the light side. Little and often is the rule, .for a liglit'oil used in excess tends to foul the engine rather easily,', as it creeps,up the cylinder walls readily. It .pours like liquid gold—not like golden syrup. It makes starting easy. My — oil is, however, not the only oil, though, it is good enough for me. The point I want to make is that you ought to be particular as to what oil you use—not out for "any old." oil. A second point
want to make is that you ought to choose an oil on the light side, especially at this time of the year, when there is often a nip in the air. That makes for easy starting and good running. Until you are really satisfied, experiment a bit with oils. When you are really satisfied, stick to your choice.
165.—Carrying Oil.
A gallon can of oil may quite well carried on the left-hand aide of the engine, under the bonnet. There is;plenty of DOOM for it : and one advantage of carrying the supply there is that it gets nicely warmed up by the engine, so that it flows freely when you next want to replenish through the breather-pipe.
166.—Test for Oil Circulation.
-There is often a worrying doubt in the minds of i
Ford users whether the oil s circulating properly its circulation depending, of course, upon the oilcirculating pipe being clear. " You can tell whether the oil is flowing properly through this pipe if you take out the right-hand front bolt that holds the crankcase lower cover up. You will then leave a leak in the cover at that point, through which -rile oil will flow in a constant stream if the oil pipe is working, . and through which it will not flow if the oil pipe is clogged. For this test, you must, of course, have your engine running: but do not keep it running for more than a few seconds while you are testing, and run it as slowly as possible, or you will starve your, big-ends of oil, and they may burn out—which will mean a costly repair. You only want to see if the oil is flowing properly—not whether your engine will run without oil—which it will not! Set the engine running before you remove the bolt, so as to give a little time for the oil to get circulating: then remove the bolt: then, in a few seconds, when you are satisfied, stop the engine, and replace the bolt. Better give a little extra oil through the breather-pipe, to make up for that which has flowed out. Do not forget to replace that bolt!
167.—Tyre Valves.
Will anybody tell me, please, why some inner-tube makers will persist in fitting the tubes with such long valve stems I It seems to me. as a mereamateur, that a short valve is all that is wanted. After i
all, t is only necessary that the valve tube should" he long enough to house the valve proper—the detachable part with the central stem 2 ins, at the outside ought to be enough for that. As it is, the valve tubes are often made up to 3i ins. or 4 ins. long. The consequence is that it is very difficult to get out an inner tube fitted with such a stem. Clearly, a tyre of 3 in. diameter gives no room for removal of a tube with a 3i in. valve. Even with hefty use of tyre levers it is almost impossible to pull the cover back far enough to allow you to push up "and through the valve hole the absurdly -long valves often fitted. I maintain that the valve, when in working position, ought not to extend more than, say, l in., or at most 2 ins., beyond the woodvork of the wheel. Cannot it be done. Mr. Maker