HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1969-10-23, Page 5•
Even if you plan to avoid wintery blasts in a warm
climate or, indeed, live where it's balmy, it's al-
ways a good idea to have your car in top shape.
This young lady is apparently having some steer-
ing problems, something her skilled serviceman
can remedy in no time at all. In any case, she's
learning about car care when she is young; hope-
fully, a habit she'll retain when she's driving a
real car and is facing real traffic problems. For a
cared for car is a safe car at any season of the year,
If You Were A Sign Painter
2.t.4towaicav itA ti. )04W
— What words would you put into these
shapes? This is a test of your ability to recognize
"signs of life" along the highway. Write what you
think is correct in each of the shapes shown above.
Then check the explanations below to see how
right you are.
`Shapes' Can Flash Messages of Safety
To Motorist Who Knows Their Meaning
This is an oil filler cap. It is sup-
posed to breathe through a wire
mesh filter. This one choked to
death long ago and its engine suf.
feted the tonSequenceit,
What do you do when the spark
plug insulator breaks?' 'Wrap it
With scoriae plastic tape and keep
on driving but probably not
for long,
CAR CARE SUPPLEMENT 0c-tabor 23, 1969
For Safe, Carefree
Driving This Winter...
Planning Long Trip This Winter,
Then Give Car 'Shock Treatment'
Care for Your Car
Here's how to make sure your automobile
gives you the most pleasurable, trouble-free
and safe performance it can deliver - especially
during fall and. winter.
Planning to visit a distant
relative over this winter?
Counting the days until you
head for Florida for a week or
two?
Your dreams of a beautiful
Christmas could turn into a
nightmare if you should en-
counter snow as you mush over
the river and through the
woods to Uncle Charlie's house
or that place in the sun you
aim to claim . .. if you are not
prepared, that is.
Snow tires, studded tires or
chains, a shovel, a bag of rock
salt, plenty of anti-freeze (in
your windshield washers as
well as in your radiator) , and
all the mechanical parts of
your car working right can
help you get through the worst
weather with the least prob-
lems.
Hidden Snow Hazard
One of the hidden dangers
of snow driving is the effect of
snow packed by hundreds of
wheels in a short time. Some-
times this forms huge bumps
of ice, Hit a series of these ice
lumps at even moderate speed,
and your wheels may start
hopping. This can be the first
step toward a hopeless slide.
It is not uncommon to see a
car in a snow drift or a ditch
because the driver lost con-
trol on bumpy, packed ice.
This danger is greatly in-
creased when your car's shock
absorbers are weak. Because
springs and tires want to
bounce when they hit a bump,
your wheels would hop up and
down with every irregularity
in the road unless they had
some arresting force to keep
them where they belong . • . in
contact with the surface of
the highway.
This is what shock absorb-
ers do * or are supposed to do
when they are working right.
When they are worn, they are
just going along for the ride.
Essential on Ice
So when wheels, or some-
times the whole car, seem to
begin a bobbing motion, the
only answer is shock treatment
. new shock absorbers. This
kind of control, plus generally
stable, tight steering, is essen-
tial when you must drive over
rutted, icy streets.
Sometimes at this time of
year we get so carried away
with all the excitement — with
Aunt Minnie's first fruit cake
of the season or the way Sister
Susie is going to flip over her
new ski togs, we forget all
about one of the most impor-
tant parts of the whole vaca-
tion trip: the faithful friend
that will haul all of us there
and home again, hopefully
without any problems,
Before you set out on that
trip for the big family get-to-
gether, or whatever else you
have in mind for the holiday
season, give your car its
Christmas present early. ,Give
it a full treatment check up
and servicing at your favorite
auto shop.
0,1
•
`Stay On Tap Of
Weather' Advice
To Motorists . • •
Smart automobile owners
make it a special point during
fall and winter to "Stay on top
of the weather."
This means knowing in ad-
vance not only what weather
conditions spay be tomorrow,
but what they are like in the
area toward which the motor-
ist is headed on a longer than
"just about town" trip.
It is the car radio, of course,
that is your "any time" pipe-
line to the wanted weather in-
formation, available from sta-
tions everywhere.
When on a trip, one should
have no difficulty in picking up
broadcasts from stations in
areas toward which the motor-
ist is travelling. In addition to
call letters they usually iden-
tify the city from which they
are broadcasting.
Guess What Tops List of Careless Car-Owner Woes
The tip of this coil was so badly
eroded it had completely die,.
appeared on one side. Plastic tape
to the rescue . . • temporarily.
When the air filter is so badly
clogged with dirt it can't be
cleaned any more, you have two
ehoicest buy a new one or ven-
tilate it 4 as was done here.
In plabning your car main-
tenance, it's wise to know
where trouble is likely to strike.
A list of the most frequent
causes of trouble is contained
in a survey of the Missouri
Auto Club in the U.S.
The Club's recently opened
St. Louis diagnostic center
tabulated defects found on the
first 1,603 cars to pass through
its lanes, According to the re-
sults revealed by F. B, Oldham,
Club technical services dime-
tor, these Were the most fre-
quent critical faults:
1. IGNITION (points,
condenser, dwell and variation,
coil, timing, spark plug per-
formance, ignition under load)
—.4 4500 defects or ,94 per Car.
2, FOONT END — (includ-
lag alignment, front gospel'.
Shift pivots Mid Aliocka)-1,450
defects or .90 per ear.
3. I3RAKES (including
brake lining thickness and
condition, Adjustment, Mani!.
brake, drum or disc condition,
brake hoses, pedal pressure,
brake balance and progres-
sion) -- 1,354 or ,85 defects
per car.
4. HEADLAMPS— (includ-
ing candle power, aim, warn-
ing lights and retraction) --
1,055, or .66 defects per car.
5. TIRES ,— (including tire
pressure, tread depth and
walls) 922 or A per car.
6. STEERING LINKAGE—
(including steering box, tie.
rods, steering arm and ball
joints) — 402 or ,25 per car.
The St, Louis facility, first,
of its kind ever run by an Auto
Club, performs only diagnostic
work, Repairs, if needed, are
performed at area facilities
with the Club making no rec-
ommendations on where to go.
The Club will perform re-
checks of work perforrned,
consulting, on request, with
the mechanic doing the repair
Work,
Heavily encrusted with deposits,
this spark plug was still firing
. . . sometimes,
This distributor rotor was .so bad-
ly cracked it was falling apart.
The owner wrapped it with cord
so that it managed to hold to-
gether and somehow kept on de-
liveting its spark,
Signs helping the motorist
to safety on the highways have
distinctive shapes. What they
mean can frequently be "tele-
graphed" — especially during
inclement weather — to the
motorist who can recognize
their meaning, even before he
may be able to read lettering.
Now, here is what each of
the shapes mean:
The upright rectangle, upper
left, means that some special
One of the major oil com-
panies recently announced the
resultS' of an inspection pro-
gram involving thOusands of
its customers' cars. An alarm-
ing statistic revealed was that
eight out of ten of the cars
tested had unsafe windshield
wipers.
Why such a high rate of bad
wipers? Probably because most
of us pay very little attention
to them until we have to use
them. Then it is inconvenient
to have them replaced, And
after the rain, we forget about
the wipers until we have to use
them again.
Why unsafe? Because on-
coming headlights are magni-
fied in the smear caused by
regulation, such as "Do Not
Enter" or "Keep Off the Me-
dian" or "Do Not Pass," is be-
ing flashed to you.
The octagonal shape, center
above, means unequivocally:
"Stop,"
The circle, upper right, car-
ries a warning that you are ap-
proaching a railroad crossing,
The diamond shaped sign
warns you to "slow down."
The horizontal rectangle is
streaking Wipers. Because in a
downpour, worn wipers will not
clear your Windshield proper-
ly. You need every inch of
your windshield, clean and
clear, if you are to drive safely.
Equally frightening is the
rude awakening to the fact
that you are out of washer
fluid when your windshield
has been splattered with mud.
When this happens, even the
best wiper blades can cause
Smears that cause accidents,
All wiper blades dry out
eventually and become hard,
due to exposure to sun, wind
and oily road film; so you can-
not expect to get longer life
from your wipers just because
you don't use them much. They
used to furnish you with direc-
tions such as "Main Street
Next Exit" or "Springfield 30
Miles."
The inverted triangle carries
an imperative concerned with
entering a stream of traffic, Its
message tells you to "yield:"
signifying that the cars in oth-
er lanes have the tight of way.
*
How did you make out on the
test?
will deteriorate anyway over
a period of time, and a hard
blade is just as ineffective as
a worn one.
Don't wait until you can't
see out to realise you should
have investigated new wiper
blades the last time you stop-
ped for gas. It might be'too
late.
Instead, have the blades
changed every spring and fall.
And when new blades still
seem to be ineffective, perhaps
new wiper arms are needed.
They wear out, too.
Then ask your service sta-
tion man to cheek your wind-
shield washer fluid while he
is probing around Under the
hood of your car. Little things
like this can save your life.
You're Right It's Ignition; Tests
Reveal Critical Fault in Every
Automobile Examined
Clear Vision Through Your Windshield
Calls for Fresh New Wiper Blades
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