The Mail-Journal, Volume 7, Number 37, Milford, Kosciusko County, 14 October 1970 — Page 19

Teach-In Reveals How Pollution is Reduced

A drastic reduction In motor vehicle emissions —by as much as 55 per cent on the average — may be achieved, if only car owners tune up their vehicles for low emissions. That is one of the major findings reported by a group of University of Michigan engineering students who conducted an emission tune-up clinic during the Environmental Teach-In here last spring. More than 85 per cent of

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PLEASE Help stop pollution. You can help. A recent tune-up clinic conducted by engineering students at the University ot Michigan found that on average, a tune-up will reduce a car’s exhaust pollution by 55 '. So please. Take your car in for a tune-up. You'll have a better, smoother running, more economical car. And you’ll breathe easier. ~ M QfPfttOABLE ? LI‘CS s*

the cars, the students said, showed a decrease in hydrocarbon emissions following a tune-up (spark plugs, points, ignition timing and carburetor adjustments). The carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbon emissions were reduced by an average of 55 percent at idle, the U-M students reported. A car, at idle, releases the greatest concentration of emissions. “Some cars came in with seven to ten per cent carbon monoxide in the exhaust and

left with a fraction of a per cent. Some had unburned hydrocarbon concentrations of 3,000 parts per million which were reduced to several hundred parts.” the students said. “The data indicate that pre-1968 cars have much RlGHT—University of Michigan Engineering students found as much as 55 percent less air pollution after tuning can.

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higher average hydrocarbon emissions than post-1968 cars showing the same mileage.” These and other data have led the U-M students to observe: “Could it be possible that some of the same people who have been blaming the engineer for an ecologi-

cal imbalance have allowed their automobiles to degenerate by neglect — and have allowed excessive quantities of pollutants to be released into the atmosphere?” One thing is certain, the students said: “It should be emphasized that it is the owner’s responsibility to maintain an automobile, not only for his own interests, but also for the well-being of the community.” New Rigors Shorten Plug Life In the old days, the richer gasoline mixtures served to cool the combustion chambers and render an easier explosion, even if large quantities of unburned hydrocarbons were dumped into the air. / The new rigors inside the combustion chamber also serve to shorten the life of a spark plug. As one of the experts pointed out, one spark plug firing intermittently will double the harmful exhaust emissions of a standard V-8 engine. Air filters and idle settings on the carburetor also are critical to economy, performance and clean exhaust, they said. A dirty air cleaner element makes it more difficult for the engine to inhale and acts to choke the engine all the time it is running rather than only when it is cold Radical Changes Radical weather changes also affect the life and performance of an engine in other ways, Buxton said. It can cause moisture to gather inside the engine while not running. The moisture combines with the oil to form acid and the acid eats at the metal. That’s why it is better to drive a car 10 miles than two miles, Buxton said, because it gives the engine a chance to bum the moisture out. “You take a car and don’t maintain it, and it might go 100,000 miles,” Buxton said. “I’ll take care of mine — and drive it 150,000 miles.” A TOUGH GRIND Do your standard transmission gears grind on a cold winter morning? The likely cause is that your gear lubricant is too' heavy for the temperature, especially when starting out.