The Mail-Journal, Volume 14, Number 15, Milford, Kosciusko County, 4 May 1977 — Page 28

Tune-up tops on car care list

The mechanic, his onceblue uniform smeared with grease and faded from countless bleached washings, comes through the garage door, chomping simultaneously on a cigar butt and a toothpick as he ambles in your direction He draws nearer and you can almost read a name encircled in red over hjs left shirt pocket, but by then your heart is beating so fast you can’t put the individual letters together in your mind He removes the cigar, shifts the toothpick with his tongue and leans down close to you. a small smile cracking the edges of his mouth as he pronounces sentence . . • YOUR CAR NEEDS A TUNEUP" It sounds like pt*rfeet material for a nightmare, and for many car owners it has become just that The mere thought of a tuneup of that mysterious tinkering with the even more mysterious inner workings of the automobile leaves many a moAir ist in panic Mhhil«l read manual* The tuneup goes right at the top Os the list of automotive maintenance requirements It is, by far. not the only periodic maintenance required, but it does rate as one of the most important for a smooth-running, gas-sav-ing and pollution-free automobile. The tuneup involves the two major areas — ignition' and carburetion —- that supply the impetus to make everything else in the automobile work The carburetor supplies a mixture of gaspline and air.

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and the ignition supplies the electrical spark to ignite that mixture and begin the energy train that eventually turns the wheels and propels the car. “I think the majority of car owners know that you have to put new spark plugs in, I think they know that,” explains Clyde Griffin, service manager at Dick Strauss Ford, Inc. But if the car isn’t running right, of course most people don’t know what’s causing it, and there could be three or four things in the tuneup that could give the same signs. That’s when it takes somebody who knows What he’s doing to tell exactly what’s wrong.” Herr'* the beginning The spark plugs are only the beginning of what should be included in a tanfiard minor tune up. Distributor points and condenser, air filter, fuel filter and PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve should all be replaced. battery terminals cleaned, spark plug wires, ignition coil and distributor cap and rotor inspected 'and replaced, when necessary), and the carburetor, choke and ignition timing adjusted. “I’d say there is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 or 60 per cent of the cars on the road today need maintenance work on them, and almost all of it would be right in the tuneup area,” explained Birdsong, who added that the motorists are only hurting themselves by not getting the proper maintenance. W hy (he need “You just don’t have the power in today's cars like

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you once had,” Birdsong added. “The octane on gas has been lowered, engine compression has been cut way back, rear ends are geared higher for better mileage, and it all means you need to keep a car really right to keep it running right.” In addition to running smoothness, acceleration and consistency, failure to have proper tuneups can have drastic effects on pol lution and gas mileage. Any misfiring in the ignition system (due to wear or carbon buildup) leads to an overabundance of fuel in the affected cylinders, and the fuel eventually finds its way into the exhaust discharge. “There's always a question of just how often a car needs a tuneup. and you just can’t draw a line at any certain amount of time," Griffin said. “A lot of people get them tuned up religiously, right according to the owners' manual every 10 or 12.000 miles, and then you have a,lot of people who don’t have them tuned up until they start running badly.” Time to tune up "A lot of the manufacturers will say their plugs are good for 10,000 miles, but that's just an average. I have pulled plugs out of a car and found them completely corroded at 7.000 or 8.000. And then I've pulled some out at 20,000 and they’re still in pretty good shape.” As for the rest of the tuneup menu, the wear and tear of driving a car takes its toll in the same way. Various air and fuel filters get clogged, the distributor points and condenser (in conjunction

with the ignition timing) become pitted or burned from sending thousands of rapid-fire • electronic impulses to the cylinders,

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and the spark plug wires, ignition coll, distributor cap and rotor all break down eventually under the strain of the engine.

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