FALL-WEVTER 1972
B ige 3
Motorists to
Welcometotbe rotary dub#
— the rotarydubofD r.F eH x Wankel, whose revolutionary
new engine made Its appear­
ance la Oensany in 1956, and
la possibly going to be the
power plant for many auto­
mobiles in ten years.
The rotary-powered Maz­
da, made by Toyo Kogyo
Company 'in Hiroshima, Ja­
pan, haa already made Its
appearance In this country
with the RX2 sedan.
Experts In the automobile
industry .say th a n Is a real
possibility th at dom estic ,
m ade rotary-en gin ed cars
will be in the nation’s showroom san a limited basis by
1974 or 1975.
Sooner or later you may be
driving — maybe even own­
ing — one o f these remark­
able cars, so you’ll want to
know a little about what
makes Jhe engine go.
It’s agasollne-burnlng, ln tern al-com bu stlon engine
which uses rotary motion to
drive' the,wheels instead of
the upland-down motion of
a piston engine. I f you were
to take the cover off the top
o f the rotary and look down
into & you .would see what
looks like a triangle turning
inside a"fchamber which is
shapedUhce ikJlightly flat­
tened cfiWe.
range,. the .life of - the seals
and b ea rin g s. should' ~*un
between- 60,000 and 100,000
miles.-As the rotary state-ofthe-art is perfected, th at life
should be extended.
After you’ve joined the ro­
tary club you’ll be pleasantly
1.' O n m lw a t m krim n
tp K i
lotskt
cycle btfin*.
surprised to learn that for all
its differences, the rotary still
u ses the same carburetor,
wiring, tubing, alternator, ig­
nition system, etc. as the pis­
ton engine. The «nmA tools
are used to take it apart and
put it back together again.
S .-JH a rto f' conaretafon
eyd*. flhxt asmber
M ftM brtaks cycle).
9. Power cycle fontln.
oes. (Third chamber
bedm lntske cycta.)
Careful attention to ’ little niek« and scratchW'ott ypiii- car" Will
help them from becoming large rust holes. Maying a professional
do the needed repairs, may Save you hundreds o f dollars hi traded
in value for that’s the difference'between a car in top shape'and
one that shows body damage. (Photo Courtesy o f The DdVitbiss
Com pany).
UntarrtfotKC*, fuel/
sir mixture b drawn
throuih carburetor
Cwrana
3. Chambar marly filled
wits fMI/alr mixture.
Three Chambers
Each side-of the triangle
blocks Off an arc of the cir­
cular^chamber to form three
sm a ller, crescent-shaped
chambers. As the triangle, or
rotor; tUfh»; the posltlons o f
the ,three crescent-shaped
chambers move around in­
side the large, circular cham­
ber. The lntake-compresslonignltlon-expansion-exhaust
sequence occurs in the three
crescent-shaped chambers,
causing the rotor to spin.
The rotor, which turns not
on its. axis but In a slightly
eccentric motion, is attached
to a driVe shaft to turn the
car’s wheels.
The rotary motion Is al­
most vibrationless, and it
constitutes one of the rotary
engine’s most significant advantages over the piston en­
gine.
Ignition in the rotary is
caused by two spark plugs.
Because o f the rotary’s char­
acteristics, the plugs have to
function with a considerably
reduced cooling cycle. T o do
the job properly an entirely
new plug' was developed by
Champlon Spark Plug Com-
4. Chamber has reached
maximum volume.
, .Cartaifftpr. Infrl^ Is..
almost closed and
compression starts.
Four Simple
Precautions
Using a jumper cable /to
start a car with a run-down
battery is a relatively simple
matter. That is, if you know
what you are doing and take
some simple precautions.
Battery technicians suggest
the follow in g procedures
when using Jumper cables.
1» Start the engine of the car
wed as the “booster.*’
2. Connect one aid of the
positive cable to the posi­
tive terminal of the boost­
er battery. Then pot the
other positive cable to the
positive terminal of the
disabledbattery.
pany. It has two grounddccS. Connect thenegative cable
trodesifistead or .the usual
to thenegative post of the
one. m addition, a copper-'
, > boosterbattery. Then eon- .
■- Wattvthe’-dAw 'fibiprtire '
to jMbmlt .the better heat
■cable to the bumper, - •
conductivity dem anded. hy
... fisme M engine Mock of
the rotary.
the car to be.started.
4. Nowtry to start the“dead”
No Pistons
.engine. ■
Dr. Wankel’s creation has
Do not connect' with-.the
no pistons,' as we said before;
negative post o f the disabled
neither does it have a crank­
battery. The spark create^
shaft, camshafts or valve
by the connection cou ld cregearJtt,Isremarkable in that
ate anexploklon i f there, is
it Uses about one-third' th e"
an excess o f gasoline fumes
number o f parts o f a piston
or raw gasoline present.
engine, is one-half the weight
o f the piston power plant,
Positive terminals are usu­
and ,develops the horsepower
ally designated by + (plus
o f a piston engine twice its .
sign). Negative terminals are,
fllBBe
' r- ■
usually Identified by — (mi­
Reasonable fuel economy v' nus sign).
(on unleaded, low -octan eOne last word o f caution.
gasoline) ahd acceptable oil
If you are not certain you’re
consuiflption are characteris­
doing It correctly, don't do it.
tic of n ta ty engines..
Instead, cajl a professional,
What about service?
service man. It could save
you expense and trouble In
If the engine is operated
w ithin the recom m ended - the long run.
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