starting from hibernation for over 6 months

[pants19]

Havent used tvr for over 6 months and want to get it going again soon. I was wondering if theres a way of starting the engine without incurring excessive wear..?
Someone told me I should not let it start and turn it over on the motor first to get oil around engine again ?
Anyone got any thoughts or other ideas ?

4.0 HC engine

[Leadfoot]

6 months....oohh that's gonna be one dry engine.
I would - take all the plugs out & get some oil down the bores,pull out the fuel pump fuse & then crank the engine over until the oil pressure warning light goes out + a bit more. Refit the plugs & see if it starts.

[apache]

beat me to it mate, I'd also change the thermostat JIC

[kevinday]

Plus consider that the oil pump may need priming and also the fuel will need replacing, because the octance will have declined to a lower level.

[shpub]

Leadfoot said: 6 months....oohh that's gonna be one dry engine.
I would - take all the plugs out & get some oil down the bores,pull out the fuel pump fuse & then crank the engine over until the oil pressure warning light goes out + a bit more. Refit the plugs & see if it starts.

Oil down the bores screws up the cat big time. Not a good idea. Take out the plugs and turn it over by hand using a socket on the crank. If it feels smooth then turn it over with no fuel fuse. Then start it up.

Steve

[Leadfoot]

Yeah but the bores & rings will be bone dry. I know which I'd rather risk.

[incorrigible]

A quick squirt of WD40 won't do that much harm especially if you crank it with the plugs out, although I'd wash the bores out after with a windlolene bottle with some petrol in it DON'T SMOKE Don't put the plugs back in until you've got the oil pressure light to go out, if it doesn't go out the oil pump may need priming (as mentioned before)

[shpub]

That sounds a better option. Keeps any cat damage to a minimum if at all.

[pants19]

thanks once again for all your help..
hopefully get it going this weekend... without too much damage...!

[SGee]

How long can a Chimaera be left unused before one should follow the above advice?

[dontlift]

The question is how long can one be left without being driven - I reckon on about 30 to 40 minutes

[GreenV8S]

shpub said:
Oil down the bores screws up the cat big time. Not a good idea. Take out the plugs and turn it over by hand using a socket on the crank. If it feels smooth then turn it over with no fuel fuse. Then start it up.

Steve

If you flood them with oil they probably won't thank you, but these engines burn oil at a fair old rate anyway. Is a few splashes of oil really going to do that much harm?

Anyway, Is it really worth oiling the bores? I can't see any harm from dribbling half a CC or so in each cylinder and just turning the engine over by hand once or twice to distribute it, but surely the main problem is the cam? If it's dry, cam wear is going to be tremendous, and cranking it over for long periods or running at low RPM will make it even worse. But short of stripping the engine or force-feeding it with oil from an external source, there's not much you can do about this. I reckon your best bet is roll it in gear to make sure everything moves, put some fresh petrol in and clean plugs, and assuming it fires up, run it at 1500 revs or so until the oil pressure comes up. If it doesn't come up promptly, switch off and go through the pump priming routine. But if Joolz or Tim say different, then I agree with them!