Cold Start idea after sitting for weeks

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by Kurtatron
Speaking of a year or more, my van has been sitting for a year exactly. I was planning on driving it this weekend to burn off the old fuel, use the A/C, and lube the seals. The fuel had stabilizer added in it. You guys think the OPs procedure would be of any benefit to a car sitting for a year? Or just fire it up like normal?It's been sitting in a garage all this time.



Only thing i might do is add a can of berryman b-12 or some techron to the fuel.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted by Silver
Originally Posted by Nick1994
The wear you save will be offset by wear on your hood latch from popping the hood and the wear on your fuel pump relay pulling it out and back in, and the wear on 10 unnecessary seconds of cranking on your starter.


But those are easy replacements.

Going a month without starting the engine isn't going to blow it.

 

[BigShug681]

Wouldn't turning it over cause wear be it running or just from the starter, if using the logic that the parts could possibly be dry from sitting???

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted by Chris142
Cranking speeds are often not fast enough for the oil pump to pick up oil in a timely manner. Your better off to start it. It will pump oil immediately.


I'm not sure this makes sense.

I'd think oil delivery is directly related to revs, but wear is related to load and revs.

If it takes 1000 revs to fully oil, and it cranks at 500 rpm, it'll take 1000 revs over 2 mins to fully oil, during which it'll only be under compression load (or essentially no load with the plugs out).

If the engine idles at 1000 rpm and it starts instantly it'll fully oil in a minute but it'll be under firing load for the same 1000 revs, resulting in greater wear.

The time taken doesn't seem to be a relevant variable.

 

[compratio10_5]

I have researched cold start-ups for emergency generators and other back-up engines. Here is what I have found. The most highly stressed part of the engine is the cam/lifter interface and cranking the engine without starting does not help the cam. The best method seems to be just to start the engine under minimum load and speed and let it idle for a minute or so before driving gently until it is warmed up. The really important thing is that once it is started, it should be operated under load for at least 30 minutes to be sure the oil is hot and moisture in the oil has a chance to evaporate before shutting the engine off. Emergency generators are test run at least once a month but I have frequently stored my vehicles up to 6 months but that is indoors in a dry climate. Keeping moisture out of the engine is the key to preventing corrosive wear.

 

[Shannow]

Never have I pulled apart a dry engine, regardless of sit time (no not rusting relics in a paddock, but engines in cars, engines in wrecker's yards).

eljefino's flat to the floor and crank works to kill injection...a mate had timing chain rattle on his V-6 holden, and I got him to use that technique to see if it abated by cranking before starting...it did.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted by Kurtatron
Speaking of a year or more, my van has been sitting for a year exactly. I was planning on driving it this weekend to burn off the old fuel, use the A/C, and lube the seals. The fuel had stabilizer added in it. You guys think the OPs procedure would be of any benefit to a car sitting for a year? Or just fire it up like normal?It's been sitting in a garage all this time.



Great decision to use Stabil!

No need for special actions, just fire it up, let it warm up, then take it out for a brisk drive. It would be great if you could burn the gas down to 1/8 or less, then refill with fresh.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I've had vehicles sit longer than that and hopped in, turned the key and fired them right up with no noises or any indication that there was any damage to the engine.

The only time I've done anything to preoil is when I had to loosen up the crank bearings up while changing the rear main seal. That caused a lot of the oil that would normally sit in the engine forever to run out of it. I pulled the plugs and spun the starter over until it built oil pressure.

 

[Rand]

Turn key.

unless its a classic that sits for a year at a time.

 

[GenesisGuy70]

Fire that sucker up