I have a late 80 early 90 buick regal (looks like the olds cutlass calia ) its been parked in the back yard for over 5 years. need to know what to do to bring it back to running condition. its a 4 banger so its what I need and it was running good before my parents parked it after my aunt quit driving. car is in sound condition. never burnt oil. I know I should do a pistion soak through the spark plug holes but dont know how to do it. so some steps of what to do will apprishate it guys and gals.
need advice on bringing a car out of mothball
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All rubber needs to be inspected. Every piece.
Change all parts that are part of routine maintenance.
Say a prayer that it actually works.
I'm sure you'll get tips from people who have done this, so don't listen too much to my advice!
Change all parts that are part of routine maintenance.
Say a prayer that it actually works.
I'm sure you'll get tips from people who have done this, so don't listen too much to my advice!
Whatever you do, if you put any liquid in the cylinders, turn the engine over a few time with spark plugs removed before you try to start it. If you have too much liquid in the cylinders and try to crank it with the plugs in you will bend or break something.
Not a Regal, they didn't have 4 cylinders.
Skylark and/or Summerset were the Buick version of the Calais.
Skylark and/or Summerset were the Buick version of the Calais.
Only real concern at first is conditon of fuel. I'd try to drain as much as possible with siphon, or disconnect fuel hose and jumper wire fuel pump to drain into container. Then add fresh fuel and crank. If it runs, put a hundred or so miles on it (to make sure it's worth spending any more on)then service engine, cooling system, and trans. Don't sweat the small stuff. Drive trains are unbelievably tough!! New belts and hoses probably a good idea in the future.
Bob
Bob
Bob
Bob
And be careful with those old tires.
I will replaced the tires. quite sure they are flat spot real bad. I will drain the fuel and put new fuel in and give it a crank.
so should I dump any sea foam in to the spark plug holes? or jsut try and start it and say a lil prayer. the car had a new timming belt put on before it was parked. so one thing I dont need to worry about going out.
so should I dump any sea foam in to the spark plug holes? or jsut try and start it and say a lil prayer. the car had a new timming belt put on before it was parked. so one thing I dont need to worry about going out.
I'd give the cylinders a squirt of MMO or seafoam and give it a day to soak before I put the plugs back in. On any car that has sat for this amount of time, the muffler and tail pipe wont last very long once put back into regular use. I wouldnt change them outright, just saying that they wont last.
Does the engine have throttle body or multi port fuel injection? I would be concerned about stale fuel having fouled the injectors. A strong (double the reccomended rate) dose of Berrymans chemtool and some MMO in the gas after removing the old fuel would be on my list. For the piston soak be sure whatever you use has some lubricity (add a little MMO). You wouldn't want to wake this old gal from her nap with dry rings etc. In fact if it was mine I would skip the soak and just dribble a little MMO in the the throttle body as it fires up. Of course check and change all the usual suspects (trans fluid filter,coolant etc.) I wouldn't spend a lot on it until certain that it runs OK. Good luck Rickey.
will give it a soak of MMO then. then add it to the gas after I drain it. I hope I can get this old lady going. be nice to save a lil gas. right now on my V-8 Dakota I get 16 MPG so its really bad. hope this thing will get atleast in the 30's.
I get more than 16MPG on my Ram!!! I would do the same try and salvage this car if I where you.
Is there any way you can turn over this engine by hand after the piston ring soak?
We cranked up an old pushrod engine on the starter motor, and it bent a couple of pushrods because of stuck valves. If we had known better, we would have removed the valve cover and tapped each closed valve lightly with a rubber mallet beforehand.
We cranked up an old pushrod engine on the starter motor, and it bent a couple of pushrods because of stuck valves. If we had known better, we would have removed the valve cover and tapped each closed valve lightly with a rubber mallet beforehand.
Leave the spark plugs out and turn it over by hand with a wrench on the timing pully nut.
Correct. It's bad news to just crank up an engine that has sat this long. Everything is dry. Get the open cylinders wet FIRST, and then hand crank it through a couple revolutions. I'd mist them down with a straight 30 dosed with a little LC or MMC and let it sit evernight. Once it can spin, if it's got a distributor, pull it and prelube the entire system with a drill gun adapter. Then you can start it safely.
Get the old fuel out of the system ASAP.
Depending on where it was kept, it could still require an extensive going over. Five years over dirt is murder on a vehicle in many instances.
Get the old fuel out of the system ASAP.
Depending on where it was kept, it could still require an extensive going over. Five years over dirt is murder on a vehicle in many instances.
Might want to disable the coil with the plugs out and turn the engine over till you get oil pressure.
This will pre-lube the bearings and is the next best thing to turning the oil pump with the engine static.
Then install plugs and plug the coil feed 12 volt input connecter in then start it up. I agree about draining the fuel and putting some oil, MMO, seafoam, or anything that has lubricating quality to it.
Good luck
This will pre-lube the bearings and is the next best thing to turning the oil pump with the engine static.
Then install plugs and plug the coil feed 12 volt input connecter in then start it up. I agree about draining the fuel and putting some oil, MMO, seafoam, or anything that has lubricating quality to it.
Good luck
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