Putnam's Automobile Handbook: The Care and Management of the Modern Motor-Car

by H. Clifford Brokaw; Charles A. Starr

FOREWORD

Much of the material, here assembled for the first time, has been printed in the automobile section of New York City newspapers. It has stood the scrutiny of the wisest men in the automobile trade and has been read eagerly by owners within the sphere of the newspapers’ limited circulation; some of it has been reprinted in papers all over the country, which is evidence enough of its practical value.

The publication, however, has been without sequence and all of it has not appeared in any one paper. Moreover it has been reassembled and rewritten and much has been added to round out the story of the automobile and to adapt the material to the use of everyday men who do not understand or care for the more technical works.

It should not be taken as the last word concerning the auto. That will not be written until after the automobile has been driven out of business by the airplane or something else and is as obsolete as the oxcart of a century or two ago. There is nothing new in the principle of the gas engine, but new appliances and new methods are constantly being invented and discovered.

All that is herein contained is the result of years of experience at the Automobile School of the West Side Young Men’s Christian Association, New York City. This was one of the pioneer schools and for fourteen years has turned out more than 1000 trained drivers each year who know their engine and working parts thoroughly. Last year the number was nearly 2500. Naturally in handling these thousands of bright men the instructors were stimulated and themselves learned as they taught. The consensus of this ripe experience is given here.

Lest there be misunderstanding, it were better said at once that if the reader has come to this book to learn how to be a garage mechanic, how to qualify as an expert in automotive technique, or how to learn common sense, he should at once seek another source of information. This book makes no pretensions of teaching the last word in automobile repair. But if the automobile owner desires to have a working knowledge of his car, to know how to find and overcome the ordinary ills and troubles to which it is subject, and how to diagnose and prescribe for it when it begins to wheeze or squeak or groan or knock, let him read on. The book is for him.

In other words this is not a sine qua non, but a friend in need; it is not a know-it-all, but a first-aid treatise. It is a leaf—several in fact—from the book of experience, relating not to the engineering problems of the automobile, but to the things which the engineer overlooked or could not solve, and which the ingenuity of men who lay no claim to the title of engineer, has enabled them to learn so that they may take a bucking auto and make it feed out of their hands and stand without hitching.

One of the first essentials of an automobile is that it shall go, and that no amount of perversity shall prevent the owner from “driving it back home under its own power.” Anyone may be towed in, if there is a horse or another automobile handy; the wise owner will prepare himself to avoid this. Except for serious breaks of parts, or forgetfulness which permits oil or gas supply to run out, there is seldom reason why the average owner should not “get out and get under” to find out what the trouble is and, having found it, to remove the cause and start the engine. It usually should take only a few minutes. System in locating trouble and knowledge of what to do to remove the trouble are within the compass of all; if there also reside within the individual a few grains of common sense, his problem is simplified, his troubles are lightened.

Let it be said also that this book does not in any way pretend to supersede an automobile school for the owner who desires to make all his ordinary repairs, and do more puttering about the car than the average owner cares for. All owners would save the cost of instruction many times over and repay the lost time by taking a course of instruction in a reputable school. Many Y.M.C.A. branches all over the land have well equipped schools, and there are many others in the cities; there are also many where time spent would be wasted. There are several in one of our large cities where the expense is very small, but it is dear at any price. The “course” consists largely in putting the student to work in a garage as an apprentice, where his instruction is confined to verbal orders of how to repair a car which comes in. In time, of course, the student comes across a large variety of troubles, depending upon the character of the garage trade. Meanwhile the garage-auto-school proprietor permits the student to pay for the privilege of doing the repair work at the institution. No wonder the course is advertised as unlimited!

It should be understood that this book does not pretend to tell all the troubles attaching to automobiles and how to end them; but it covers the general run of difficulties experienced on the road and a close study of its pages and an application of its advice will make an owner who has the least mechanical genius independent of the garage man, with his delay and extravagant charges; at least it will enable him to get to the home garage in most cases, where repairs may be effected with a minimum of expense and annoyance.