Originally Posted By: newbe46
That's interesting. I have heard people manual cranking the engine while the car is in storage to keep most of the moving parts lubricated.
You mention depressing the gas pedal fully when turning the ignition and the engine won't fire. Do you mean depressing the clutch?
I always wonder how important it is to crank the engine during winter storage. I have heard both sides of the argument and I'm at the point where I don't even know which side to take.
Depressing the gas fully on an injected engine shuts off fuel, it's a "clear flood" mode built into the computer. You could also pull the fuel pump fuse. Doing it on a carb'd engine, well, anything can happen.
It "should" hold the choke off but the car might still catch and then rev to the moon, which would be dramatic.
On spring resurrection of a classic car I would not touch the gas as it would not set the choke. (You could even throw a screwdriver down the carb throat to make sure it doesn't set.) Crank it until the oil light goes out. Then give it a couple pumps of the gas.
Don't crank sleeping beauty. Don't start it either unless you plan to warm it up and drive it. Some people like to put a wrench on the big bolt head at the end of the crank and turn the engine over just a smidgen so the rings don't stick in one spot.
If your car is a true classic it won't have a clutch interlock as those nannys came around in the 1980's. It's better for your crank thrust bearing if you aren't pushing on the clutch and crank/start in neutral. When you press on the clutch you press against springs which push all they way lengthwise down the crank up to the thrust bearing on the other end of things, and the first start you worry about might have this drier than any other time of the year.