The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-10-31, Page 36Page 10
In Germany Car Care is Given To
Service, Maintenance Now Seen
As Most Important Phask 'of
Automobile Ownership
By OLAF GEORGE WILLIAM 1 ERSEN
The Germans are frequently accused of loving their
cars more dearly: than their children, A status symbol
as well as a means of individual freedom of movement,
the car in Germany is valued as an important personal
investment that_ has to be taken care Of.
Rising prices and increasing labor costs, the critical
space problem on a par ly, obsolete network of roads
and ,the latent threat o1 higher taxes and gas prices
.are a constant worry to oar owners..
Service and maintenance these days are definitely
ranging before perform- -
ante and prestige value ' in
prospective buyer consid-
erations.
The liberal use . of salt
as a means of melting ice
and snow: on wintry roa,.ds
has taught many car own-
ers the hard way the
meaning of rust corrosion.
Statistics figure out the
average loss of value per
care and yearDy corrosion
to be around 200 Deutsch -
Marks '(
s$ 155).
Marcy car manufactur-
ei ;fit their products .with
10nglife - unde.rsealing
these. days. • In all cases
where this' ,is not being
done, purchasers are well
advised to have their new
cars undersealed when
new -- before costly clean-
ing and de -rusting opera-
tions become necessary.
Body Protected,
During the last two
years two other systems of
n protection against corro-
sion have proved their
worth: spraying of all
chassis and body box sec-
tion internals with a pro-
' tective coating or filling
them with plastic foam.
Mounting labor costs
have steeply increased
maintenance,and servic-
ing bills more recently. A
new regulation requires
workshops to hang out the
amount charged .per.hour,
so customers can figure
out what their bill may
look like. With labor cost
. ,_etween 30 and ..45
Deutschmarks '($8 to $11)
an, hour many car -owners
have to revert to do -it=
yourself practices. The
garage trade tries to court- -
ter this with publicity
methods.
The currently' threaten-
ing fuel -shortage, how-
. ,ever, seems to .make- all
ether worries look minor.'
The discussion between
-motorists seems to center-
OLAF GEORGE WILLIAM .
FERSEN, who contributes
the accompanying article on
Car Care in Germany, is a
former United Press Berlin
correspondent, who at one
time was in the repair busi-'
ness and later a chief editor
of the magazine Automobil- ,
Illustriertc. He continues to
specialize in writing for mo-
toring magazines in many
countries.
about one theme only:
how to achieve improved
Biel economy?
The most efficient recipe
seems to concern both car
and driver,' If carefully
applied it may well mean
fuel savings of up to 20%.
First requirement,ob-
viously always is a good
mechanical condition of
the car. `'.
20% Fuel Savings
To save fuel and to
lengthen the life expect-
ancy of your car, two
things should be kept in
mind: "Rude ridirig•.meth-
ods melt your money
away" and --""Rust never
rests" --- so you. ,have to
fight it, wherever it shows.
Complete
Body Work
Specializing in:
Spray Painting
- Front End Alignment
Wheel Balancing
Blue eater
Body & Fender (G�denck) Ltd.
J. W. COOK
232 Picton St.; East, Goderich
514-4161
Priority
\Sl
•
Off the major traffic arteries ,tourists can still enjoy the romantic atmosphere of medi-
eval Germany. German motorists keep cars i top iiiape to @njoy trips to places like this.
Seven Points to Help
You Start Cold Motor
1.'Transmission: To
lessen the load on the
starter, release manual
shift transmissions by de-
pressing. the clutch pedal;
place.automatic transinis-
sions in "neutral" before
attempting to start the
engine.
• 2. Electrical Ac.esso-
ries: Shut off lights, wind-
shield wipers, •defrosters,
heater, radio, etc., before
attempting to start the
engine. This will assure
maximum voltage avail-
-able for both the stiirter
motor and theignition.
system.
3. Choking: While
complete setting of hand
choke is obvious, some
drivers don't realize that'
most automatic chokes
must be set "on" by de-
pressing.., the accelerator
before starting. (Many
cold weather starting fail-
ures are due entirely to
this oversight.)
4. Pumping 'the Accel-
eratorr An additional one
or two pumps on the ac-
celerator pedal will dump
Like people, car engines
are reluctant, to get going
on cold mornings.' It's a
small wonder when near -
zero temperatures thicken
various lubricating oils
and greases which makes
it tougher for parts of the •
engine to move. •
Also, the colder the'tem-
perature, the less efficient
the battery becomes. At
zero degrees,' for instance,
the battery is only about
half as efficient as on a
normal summer morning.
' • Herewith is a list of tips
from Champion Spark .
Plug Company. These will •
keep voltage demands on
your car's battery down
during the vulnerable pe-
riod when the battery loses
much of its punch.
raw •gasoline into the in-
take manifold and- help
get enough vaporized fuel
`unto the cylinders during
.very cold weather. '
5, Throttle Setting:
When the starter is n-
ergized, 'the accelerator
should be about half way
down to get • enough air
rushing through the mani-
fold to pick up the fuel
and ,sari y it into the cyl-
inders.
b. Starter Motor: Ener-
gize the starter at relative-
ly ,short 'intervals. Avoid
grinding away or you may
overheat the starter motor
and cause excessive drain
onthe battery.
7. Shut-off: Place
transmission in "neutral"
and run engine at' fast
idle. When' switch is off,
depress .. accelerator to
"flood" the engine. This
will insure, a supply of
gasoline in the cylinders
for the next start.
A complete check of the ..
ignition "system and spark
plugs before the first cold
snap hits is advised. A
weak ignition coil, defec-
tive distributor points or
worn spark plugs can kick
starting voltage require-
ments way up. And, of
course, if ,.battery voltage
i too. low to meet • these
incret"sed demands, the
engine won't start.
For Automobile Insurance
W.I. HUGH'ESINSURANCE
AGENCY
524-8100
We Represent: -
3 8 . EAST ST..GODERICH
DON MacEWAN
MALCOLM. MATHERS
Dominion' of Canada
Economical Mutual
Gore Mutual
Guardian
Lufbernen
Comnarcial Union
524-9442
Perth Insurance
Royal Insurance
Shaw & Begg
Waterloo Mutual
Wawanesa Mutual
Zurich Insurance