fivepint

Hi all, a mate is putting his car back on the road after approx 6 months of sitting idle, any precautions we should take on initial start up, obviously new battery, was going to turn it over for a while to get oil pressure, maybe remove the plugs while doing so? would there be much moisture in the block? could it have any ill effects in the long term? its a fiat coupe 20vt BTW anything else that would be worth doing?

Cheers

scoobyslut

I would , as yousay, use a good battery,disconnect the ignition pack, so it will not fire, thus allowing you to get some oil pressure around the engine.
When allowing the engine to fire up and run,try running for a few minutes [maybe 5] then switch off and check for external oil leaks from seals, as due to standing, a seal may of gone very dry or brittle, so now being fed with oil,some may now start to leak.
if all seems ok, then run up on tickover till full normal engine temp and the cooling fan has cut in.
Then you can see about seeing if the clutch will "break" as it has probably rusted to the flywheel. Thn of course, there is the brake discs to consider, are they too badly corroded? Have the gone black? Do they need replacing too?

johnfelstead

disconect the cam sensor so it wont fire.

Check all fluid levels.

Take the plugs out and turn it over by hand using the front pulley bolt and a socket. Hopefully it hasnt got a sticking piston ring. When you lay an engine up for this length of time you should treat the cylinders with a bit of oil just to help keep things lubricated.

If it turns over by hand without feeling like its jamming then crank it on the starter until you get oil presure, once you have oil presure reconect the camshaft sensor and fire it up. Bring it up to temperature without loading it up, you will probably have lots of steam from the exhaust etc due to condensation.

fivepint

Thanks lads, i did tell him to turn it over now and then let it warm up etc... but did he listen!!! ah well hopefully it'll be alright

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

Think I would remove the plugs and put a small amount of oil in and then as John says turn over by hand..

JGM

richrussell

If he left it with fuel in the tank, drain it off and replace with new - it'll have gone stale and have an octane rating somewhere around 50RON rather than 97RON by now...


Rich

misty

There may be a small chance the cambelt has deteriorated, Personaly I would change it just in case!!
dave

fivepint

Way to ruin Christmas dave

do you know how fookin awful a job that is on the Coupe!!! hehe

Cheers

RON

I've now got a car that my dad bought in 1963, he used it as a main car in the 60's, and a second car in the 70's, I went to it a couple of years ago, it had been standing idle for at least ten years, I put a charged battery on it, and it started first hit of the button, it's a 1929 Morris Minor by the way, the original one!!

fivepint

thx for the info lads, she started on the button and is running like a dream top end didnt even rattle for too long! I was expecting some scary noises for a while hehe

happy Chrimbo

Cheers

johnfelstead

did you take the plugs out and hand crank it first?

fivepint

John I did remove the plugs, but i couldnt hand crank it, its tranverse mounted and i reckon the italian enginneers sweet talked it in there because its an engine out job to do the belt its a feckin tight fit! As im against child labour I couldnt get me little finger down there

i did put it in gear and rock it gently, then cranked it on the starter, best i could do to be honest, took long enuff to free the bonnet, I know it wasnt best practice, but its running well now, so hopefuly all wil be well, thx agin for the tips though

Cheers

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Glad it is working - spoke to a guy at my Porsche specialist. They had a car that had not been started for six years. They followed JFs advice and having done it - it started straight away! Pretty impressive I thought!

Rannoch