Loose terminals.—The car may run badly on account of a loose terminal of the wires on the sparking-plug or battery. This is simply a matter of thoroughly tightening up the various little nuts with a spanner. It is a good plan to just look over these occasionally, for when the terminals once begin to work loose they will gradually get worse and you will probably have a stop on the road.
Irregular petrol-supply.—If the carburetter is getting too much or too little petrol, it should be remedied by readjusting the needle valve in the carburetter. When once it is properly set it will sometimes go for years without readjustment.
Punctured float.—I mention this trouble as I have personally experienced it, but it is very rare and may not occur in the whole life of a car. The float is a hollow cube, for the purpose of regulating the height of petrol in the carburetter. The float, if punctured, allows the petrol to enter, causing it to remain at the bottom of the carburetter, gradually taking in more petrol. The effect of this is that the float does not perform its office, as it becomes weighted with the petrol, and this holds open the petrol inlet, which overflows out of the carburetter.
I believe I have now enumerated all the troubles that you are likely to meet with, and which you can look after yourself, but because the list is long do not think for one moment that every time you go out in your little car you are going to experience them. You may drive for weeks, months, almost years, without
Photo, H. W. Nicholls.
BE SURE THAT ALL NUTS AND BOLTS ARE TIGHT—A RATTLE IS ANNOYING
a tiny bit of trouble, if you are careful. The looking after the little things saves a heap of trouble. The testing of this thing, the dusting of that, the tightening of a nut, the loosening of a screw—all these may be commonplace trivial matters, but if attended to will pay in the long run.