CHAPTER IX
THE CAPRICES OF THE PETROL MOTOR
By the Hon. Charles S. Rolls
The intending owner of a motor-car will often say, 'What in the world should I do if the thing were to break down on a country road?' and the object of this chapter is to enable the novice en panne quickly to recognise the symptoms of his case (so far as the engine is concerned) and then at once to 'spot' the probable cause and remedy.
In order to make these remarks complete, I have been compelled to enumerate a very long and somewhat formidable list of evils, and lest a glance at this should frighten off any would-be motorist, it must be clearly understood that the list comprises possibilities as distinct from probabilities.
What is here said should therefore be looked upon in the same light as a veterinary surgeon's book on horses, and readers must not think that if they purchase cars all the troubles here mentioned would necessarily occur to the motor any more than they would imagine that all the diseases described in a horse-doctor's book would happen to a newly acquired horse. Many cars have been run by amateurs for thousands of miles without the occurrence of any trouble. In proof of this I may observe that a member of the Automobile Club recently stated that, although he had previously no engineering experience, he had run his car ten thousand miles without having to effect any serious repairs, and had experienced no trouble whatever except on two occasions, when the slight repairs necessary were done in a very short time.
