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Show FEW REASONS WHY CARS CATCH FIRE Principal Cause Is Backfiring, Caused by Using Mixture That Is Too Lean. (By EHWIN GREER, President Greer College of Automotive Engineering, Chicago.) Every owner and driver' ought to know what to do In case the car begins be-gins to burn up. The principal cause of such fires Is backfiring. The chief cause of backfiring back-firing Is too lean a mixture fed to the cylinders. When there Is a backfire a sheet of flame comes from the air intake in-take of the carburetor. If there is anything any-thing Inflammable near by it Is very apt to catch on fire. Gasoline vaporizes so rapidly that If there Is gasoline in the drip pan there is almost sure to be a sufficient mixture around the carburetor to make trouble. Therefore, keep the drip pan free from gasoline. See that there is no leak In the supply pipe or In the connection to the carburetor. Also see that there is no overflow coming from the carburetor due to poor seating of the float valve. . High Speed One Cause. Running a car at high speed for a long distance may cause the exhaust pipe to become hot If it is next to any wood, this may cause a fire, especially espe-cially If there Is an accumulation of grease and oil on the woodwork. Therefore minimize this danger by driving a little slower than top speed and by keeping the woodwork free from grease and oil. The exhaust pipe also heats up when the engine Is run with a greatly retarded spark. Sometimes it will become be-come red hot and set the woodwork on fire. Fires have been known to catch by opening the muffler cutout In starting up. This danger Is greater Inside the garage than out of doors, since there is usually more or less of grease and gasoline on the garage floor. Another cause of fire comes from ehort-clrcultlng of the ignition or lighting light-ing systems. A short circuit may heat one of the wires red hot and burn off the Insulation. If there Is any accumulation accu-mulation of grease or oil or gasoline by, a fire may start Static electricity is sometimes a cause of fire. This is generated when gasoline Is filtered threugh chamois under certain conditions. Some funnels fun-nels have a chamois strainer. If such a funnel does not teueh the gas tank a static spark may cross the gap and set fire to the volatizlng gasoline. Insurance Protection. ! It Is taken for granted that the owner own-er of a car has Insured It against loss by fire. His car Is much more apt to burn than his residence, and practically practical-ly everyone nowadays protects his home through fire Insurance against loss by fire. Another form of fire In- , surance protection which ought to be a part of the equipment of every car I Is one or two fire extinguishers. Some i fire Insurance companies Insist that there be fire extinguishers on all cars they Insure, and most Insurance concerns con-cerns give a reduced rate to cars thus equipped. , |