advice on starting engine after 4 years
Discussion
Make sure you use a small quantity of oil- a couple of teaspoons, tops. In my experience it just sits in the pocket on the top of the piston and makes an almighty mess of the garage when it starts.
Personally I'd rather just turn the engine on the crank pulley by hand to check it's free, then turn it over on the starter with the fuel injection disabled to build up a little oil pressure and get some oil to the top end. Then just start the bugger.
Of course if the engine is of unknown provenance you'll probably want to do a cambelt first. Even if you know it was done before the car was laid up, 4 years is probably close to the periodical service interval anyway.
Personally I'd rather just turn the engine on the crank pulley by hand to check it's free, then turn it over on the starter with the fuel injection disabled to build up a little oil pressure and get some oil to the top end. Then just start the bugger.
Of course if the engine is of unknown provenance you'll probably want to do a cambelt first. Even if you know it was done before the car was laid up, 4 years is probably close to the periodical service interval anyway.
HustleRussell said:
Make sure you use a small quantity of oil- a couple of teaspoons, tops. In my experience it just sits in the pocket on the top of the piston and makes an almighty mess of the garage when it starts.
Personally I'd rather just turn the engine on the crank pulley by hand to check it's free, then turn it over on the starter with the fuel injection disabled to build up a little oil pressure and get some oil to the top end. Then just start the bugger.
Of course if the engine is of unknown provenance you'll probably want to do a cambelt first. Even if you know it was done before the car was laid up, 4 years is probably close to the periodical service interval anyway.
Yes, it makes a hell of a mess. I had a properly stuck mini and used diesel as I was going to change the oil anyway, and got it about 10 feet into the air. It was quite pretty.Personally I'd rather just turn the engine on the crank pulley by hand to check it's free, then turn it over on the starter with the fuel injection disabled to build up a little oil pressure and get some oil to the top end. Then just start the bugger.
Of course if the engine is of unknown provenance you'll probably want to do a cambelt first. Even if you know it was done before the car was laid up, 4 years is probably close to the periodical service interval anyway.
If you've got carburettors rather than fuel injection, simply removing the plugs will stop fuel being put into the pistons because it's sucked in by the pistons normally.
Turn the engine by hand (if you can't get to the pulley easily, jack the car off the ground, stick it in top gear and turn a drive wheel) and if that works OK I would drain and replace the oil as it is probably a bit manky. when I do this I usually use cheap oil, which I then drain and replace again before driving the car.
Once you've got the oil back in, crank the engine on the starter with the plugs out for a while (it won't hurt the starter to do this 20 seconds or more as there's no compression to work against) to get the oil squirted around the engine, replace the plugs, cross fingers, and turn the key.
Absolutely change the fuel in the tank. WD-40, or a similar liquid, squirted into the cylinders is a good lube. But first, if you can borrow a bore-scope, pull the plugs and look @ the cylinder walls to examine their condition. Then squirt the liquid into the cylinders, crank the engine for 20-30 seconds, then re-examine the bores again with the bore-scope. If there is some 'shine' to the cylinder walls, install new plugs & crank 'er up! -Dave-
There's no telling to where the engine was stored, if it was filled with new oil before it was put up and all that.
In general:
Make sure there's fresh oil in the engine before you start it. You don't want 4 years of sludge buildup being sucked in by your oil pump, since there's a 90% chance the oil is so thick and cold, the filter will be bypassed and all the crap ends up in your narrow oil galleries, possibly blocking them and/or damaging main and big end bearings and such.
Check coolant level and inspect hoses for possible dried out weak spots.
If at all possible, get the cam/rocker cover off and lube a bit extra there. A dab of moly grease on the cams and/or rockers helps.
Inspect the belt and tensioners, if the engine has a belt drive distribution. Tensioners have a habit of getting stuck on one position so try and wiggle/wobble them a bit if possible. If the belt looks dried out or otherwise questionable, replace it before starting the engine.
Take the spark plugs out after you've cleaned the area around them, you don't want debris falling in. Check them and replace if not "as new", but don't put them in yet.
Rotate the engine the proper direction by hand, to feel for snags and blocking.
If all seems okay, disable high voltage ignition. Either pull the 12V from your coil(s) or unplug the crank sensor if it's an electronical system.
Disable fuel injection by unplugging the crank sensor or pull all plugs on the injectors (make sure you know which one goes where)
Crank the engine for up to 20 seconds, check for oil pressure. If you only have a warning light and no dial, you may want to keep the cam/rocker cover on loosely. After those 20 seconds, check for fresh oil on the cams. Repeat a few times if required. If repeating doesn't get you any oil pressure, either your indicator is broken, or you have a serious problem with your oil system. Check and repair where required.
If you have a freely running engine with oil pressure and fresh oil everywhere, you can put it back together again.
If at all possible, get fresh fuel, 4 year old fuel isn't going to be the same. Gasoline is a rather active mixture of hundreds of chemical components. Some vaporize, some react with each other, so after 4 years, it won't be the best anymore. You may be able to run an engine on it, but I'd toss it in a shopping vehicle that's running well, not in a car that could use all the help it needs to get going again.
Make sure the clutch engages and disengages and you are in neutral before you attempt to start the car. You wouldn't be the first to depress the clutch and still have the wheels connected to the engine. Plates stick sometimes.
Start her up! Let her warm up, check for defects, damages, strange noises and such. Let her run until the fans kick in and let her cool off.
Then replace coolant if you haven't already. Yes, that stuff is a chemical mix as well and needs replacement after a few years, even when the engine hasn't been running. It reacts with air and it has corrosion inhibitors that have to work inside your engine, whether you run it or not.
Once you have that sorted out, make sure you have tires, brakes and other safety features checked and fixed before you drive the car. Brake fluid also needs to be changed, same story about chemicals, reactions and in this case, water taken in. The stuff attracts water and you don't want your brake pipes to rust, clog up or boiling brake fluid.
In general:
Make sure there's fresh oil in the engine before you start it. You don't want 4 years of sludge buildup being sucked in by your oil pump, since there's a 90% chance the oil is so thick and cold, the filter will be bypassed and all the crap ends up in your narrow oil galleries, possibly blocking them and/or damaging main and big end bearings and such.
Check coolant level and inspect hoses for possible dried out weak spots.
If at all possible, get the cam/rocker cover off and lube a bit extra there. A dab of moly grease on the cams and/or rockers helps.
Inspect the belt and tensioners, if the engine has a belt drive distribution. Tensioners have a habit of getting stuck on one position so try and wiggle/wobble them a bit if possible. If the belt looks dried out or otherwise questionable, replace it before starting the engine.
Take the spark plugs out after you've cleaned the area around them, you don't want debris falling in. Check them and replace if not "as new", but don't put them in yet.
Rotate the engine the proper direction by hand, to feel for snags and blocking.
If all seems okay, disable high voltage ignition. Either pull the 12V from your coil(s) or unplug the crank sensor if it's an electronical system.
Disable fuel injection by unplugging the crank sensor or pull all plugs on the injectors (make sure you know which one goes where)
Crank the engine for up to 20 seconds, check for oil pressure. If you only have a warning light and no dial, you may want to keep the cam/rocker cover on loosely. After those 20 seconds, check for fresh oil on the cams. Repeat a few times if required. If repeating doesn't get you any oil pressure, either your indicator is broken, or you have a serious problem with your oil system. Check and repair where required.
If you have a freely running engine with oil pressure and fresh oil everywhere, you can put it back together again.
If at all possible, get fresh fuel, 4 year old fuel isn't going to be the same. Gasoline is a rather active mixture of hundreds of chemical components. Some vaporize, some react with each other, so after 4 years, it won't be the best anymore. You may be able to run an engine on it, but I'd toss it in a shopping vehicle that's running well, not in a car that could use all the help it needs to get going again.
Make sure the clutch engages and disengages and you are in neutral before you attempt to start the car. You wouldn't be the first to depress the clutch and still have the wheels connected to the engine. Plates stick sometimes.
Start her up! Let her warm up, check for defects, damages, strange noises and such. Let her run until the fans kick in and let her cool off.
Then replace coolant if you haven't already. Yes, that stuff is a chemical mix as well and needs replacement after a few years, even when the engine hasn't been running. It reacts with air and it has corrosion inhibitors that have to work inside your engine, whether you run it or not.
Once you have that sorted out, make sure you have tires, brakes and other safety features checked and fixed before you drive the car. Brake fluid also needs to be changed, same story about chemicals, reactions and in this case, water taken in. The stuff attracts water and you don't want your brake pipes to rust, clog up or boiling brake fluid.
DutchWhizzMan said:
There's no telling to where the engine was stored
The car's been in my garage [nice & dry - but obviously temperature swings over the winters]But many thanks for the very detailed reply / advice. I will certainly take it all on board.
Will give an update when I've got it running.
The advice from Dutch Wizz Man is spot on. I recently restarted an MGB that had stood for 7 years, and did pretty much the same things. Making sure everything's free and that there's oil being pumped around is the main thing.
It ran on the old petrol, just, on about 2 cylinders. But as soon as the fresh stuff started comming through, it picked up immediately and ran fine.
Oh, and stuck clutches can be freed by starting in gear and then hitting the brakes as it lurches forwards...apparently
It ran on the old petrol, just, on about 2 cylinders. But as soon as the fresh stuff started comming through, it picked up immediately and ran fine.
Oh, and stuck clutches can be freed by starting in gear and then hitting the brakes as it lurches forwards...apparently
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