Very long term storage of an engine
Discussion
I've just picked up a spare Rover K Series for my Elise. It's just been removed from an Elise last week that is having a Honda engine fitted. It's only done 50k miles. I've only bought it as a spare, my own engine is A1 but the car is a keeper (owned over 12 years already). Obviously they won't be making anymore so a spare isn't such a bad idea going forwards.
What precautions should be taken to keep it in optimum condition? It's a bare engine with no anciliaries or manifolds fitted. It still has its oil in the sump. I was thinking of adding another gallon to completely submerse the crank in oil. Remove the plugs and drop a small amount of light oil down the bores and re fit the plugs. Then perhaps turn it over every 3 months and let it rest in a different position each time?
It'll be living inside the house, under the stairs.
What precautions should be taken to keep it in optimum condition? It's a bare engine with no anciliaries or manifolds fitted. It still has its oil in the sump. I was thinking of adding another gallon to completely submerse the crank in oil. Remove the plugs and drop a small amount of light oil down the bores and re fit the plugs. Then perhaps turn it over every 3 months and let it rest in a different position each time?
It'll be living inside the house, under the stairs.
If it's living inside the house and away from any damp I wouldn't worry at all. Maybe just wrap it in a blanket or 2 just to keep any chance of corrosion away and make sure(as much as possible) that all the water galleries are dry.
The only problem I can see would be seals drying out and cracking/shrinking. There isn't really much you can do to prevent that.
When we used to have racks full of engines, we would just clean them, dry them, leave the oil in and wrap them in cling film/shrink wrap. They would sit for a couple of years with no problems.
The only problem I can see would be seals drying out and cracking/shrinking. There isn't really much you can do to prevent that.
When we used to have racks full of engines, we would just clean them, dry them, leave the oil in and wrap them in cling film/shrink wrap. They would sit for a couple of years with no problems.
Oil in the btm end isn't an issue so don't worry about that, people tend to think it can somehow leave the components it's attached to and go off somewhere on its own. It can't, trust me and i've stripped plenty of 10yr + old motors which have been stood.
The parts which will need extra attention are the cam lobes, they can rust because they will have been naturally wiped of most oil when they were running, the bores also - pour some oil in and revolve engine.
Your biggest enemy will be internal corrosion. How you deal with that now is up to you, but what you should have done is flushed and put some OAT in there whilst it was still running.
Old coolant and antifreeze slowly turn acidic, you can guess the rest.
If there is a drain plug then drain off.
The parts which will need extra attention are the cam lobes, they can rust because they will have been naturally wiped of most oil when they were running, the bores also - pour some oil in and revolve engine.
Your biggest enemy will be internal corrosion. How you deal with that now is up to you, but what you should have done is flushed and put some OAT in there whilst it was still running.
Old coolant and antifreeze slowly turn acidic, you can guess the rest.
If there is a drain plug then drain off.
Old oil in the engine is a no no. It tends to be acidic which damages the engine, particularly items under some pressure like the piston rings, cam lobes, valve tips, cam buckets. The damage shows up as blackish inclusions. This is very common where the rings have been stood. We tell folk to drain old oil, change filter, add new oil, spin it up to get oil pressure, fresh oil added to bores, spin it over then leave alone. Can you rig up a battery to the starter motor to do this?
Peter
Peter
Engine oil is a very poor anti corrosion fluid unless the parts are submerged in it. It just runs off stuff over time and it actually seems to be slightly hygroscopic i.e it attracts water vapour when there's just a thin film left. The only thing that keeps rust at bay for ever is grease. Old engine oil is a bad idea. Drain that and refill with clean oil. Whip the cam cover off and coat the cam lobes, followers etc with grease using a toothbrush or spray them with motorcycle chain lube. Pour a good skelp of oil down each plug hole and put the plugs back in. The main thing is you're keeping it in the house where it'll be warm and dry. That achieves more than everything else together.
For marine applications they use an oil (or possibly an additive) that continually vapours of to stop internal corrosion. Possibly worth a check on Google.
I worked on a pre war car engine that had been sat for 25+ years, the only issue with that was the back in the day oils didn't hold the contaminants in suspension, so most of the oil ways or anywhere oil would sit for that matter was pretty badly gunged up.
Chris.
I worked on a pre war car engine that had been sat for 25+ years, the only issue with that was the back in the day oils didn't hold the contaminants in suspension, so most of the oil ways or anywhere oil would sit for that matter was pretty badly gunged up.
Chris.
taz turbo said:
For marine applications they use an oil (or possibly an additive) that continually vapours of to stop internal corrosion. Possibly worth a check on Google.
I worked on a pre war car engine that had been sat for 25+ years, the only issue with that was the back in the day oils didn't hold the contaminants in suspension, so most of the oil ways or anywhere oil would sit for that matter was pretty badly gunged up.
Chris.
Are you thinking of fogging oil? Normally done with the engine running which in the OPs case might be difficult!I worked on a pre war car engine that had been sat for 25+ years, the only issue with that was the back in the day oils didn't hold the contaminants in suspension, so most of the oil ways or anywhere oil would sit for that matter was pretty badly gunged up.
Chris.
paintman said:
taz turbo said:
For marine applications they use an oil (or possibly an additive) that continually vapours of to stop internal corrosion. Possibly worth a check on Google.
I worked on a pre war car engine that had been sat for 25+ years, the only issue with that was the back in the day oils didn't hold the contaminants in suspension, so most of the oil ways or anywhere oil would sit for that matter was pretty badly gunged up.
Chris.
Are you thinking of fogging oil? Normally done with the engine running which in the OPs case might be difficult!I worked on a pre war car engine that had been sat for 25+ years, the only issue with that was the back in the day oils didn't hold the contaminants in suspension, so most of the oil ways or anywhere oil would sit for that matter was pretty badly gunged up.
Chris.
Not just my imagination
Don't know if I'd want it unsealed in my house though!
Chris.
MJK 24 said:
'overfill' to some extent.
I don't see that giving you any benefit unless you propose to submerge the bottom end - which would make oil leaks a certainty.Unless there's something especially precious about this specific engine I suspect you may be over-thinking this. And if it really is a precious engine for some reason, you probably want to dismantle it and protect the individual parts.
taz turbo said:
No there are specific oils for marine lay up situations, not talking seagull outboards here. Few minutes on Google came up with this...
Not just my imagination
Don't know if I'd want it unsealed in my house though!
Chris.
Neither am I, a quick squirt of oil into the bore & turn over by hand was fine for themNot just my imagination
Don't know if I'd want it unsealed in my house though!
Chris.
Other than the plug fouling issue - carrying a spare plug & plug spanner was essential - they were virtually bombproof.Things have moved on a bit.
I use the Mercury branded one on a 135hp Mercury V6 outboard.
Edited by paintman on Wednesday 4th January 08:43
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