Starting A Car That Ahsnt Been Run In A While

[DearmanKE]

hey guys,

just wondering what advice you would all give to tryin to start a car that hasnt been started for a few years(in the case of the engine running fine uintil it was left)

apart from makin sure the batery has charge what else is ther to do?

such as oil? and fuel? and anything else u can think of to give maximum chance of the engine running again

all advice is welcome :P

oh and the car(s) in question are a sprinter with a 4ac and 92000 on the clock not started in 2 years and also a ke70 with a 4k and 300XXX + on the clock

so yeah give us ur tips :yes:

cheers

[Trev]

Take the spark plug leads off and turn it over via the starter motor to get some oil around the engine then put the leads on and hope it fires up but don't rev it, Just let it idle a little bit, What's the go with the sprinter?

[DearmanKE]

I'm getin sprinter off an old bloke for 600 bux, hes just had it sittin out front of his house for 2 yrs,

it needs work(cracked windscreen and some rust) but for the k's its got on it n the descent nice interior its prety cheap

I'm realy hopeing i can get the 4ac running,

just been googling now n so far ive come up with a list of things to do when ig et it

 

drain fuel tank, replace fuel filter, get new fuel,

replace oil, get new oil filter

replace rad fluid

do the thing u sed n get fuel around with a few turn overs

then try n start the thing

 

any1 else got tips for me to add to my list? wana do everythin possible to make this baby live haha

only got 92000 k's on it so woudlnt be a tired out motor, the guys had it since 1992 n he got it on 70,000 k's for 9 grand!

[Rosegum]

1. Dump the oil and give it a fresh gutfull that way some of the oil will coat the insides as it filters down.

 

2. Install a healthy battery, and check fuses for blowouts. Replace where necessary. A fuse blowout denotes a failure in the electrical system and if fuses blow regularly consult an Auto sparky immediately. My mother's tarago nearly went up in flames because my step father thought seeing a 10A fuse kept blowing he put in a 40A. The direct short cooked a relay and set fire to the fuse box.

 

3. Get a can of start ya bastard or whatever you can find and spray a decent amount into the induction, about 5 seconds worth.

A) EFI is a little trickier, hopefully there is a rubber hose attached between your plenum chamber and your air filter box, disconnect the end closest to the plenum chamber, and spray into plenum, reattaching hose before attemting to start.

B) Carbed is easy, remove the air filter and spray through the barrels of the carb.

 

 

4. A) If it's EFI check that the fuel pump is making noise(most commonly in the tank), wait for 30 seconds then start the engine.

 

B) If it's carbed pull on the choke a bit unless it's auto choked in which case you don't get a choice. If the engine doesn't self advance at cold start the auto choke spring may have worn and needs to be replaced to maintain fuel efficiency. Start the engine and let it idle out the SYB sprayed in, if the engine stalls spray more in and repeat 3 or 4 times. If the engine fails to maintain idle after that remove the fuel pump and check the diaphragm for holes, splits or tears. Replace pump if necessary.

 

 

let the engine idle up for 5 mins before revving especially in a carbed vehicle sitting for long periods as the jets can calcify or get blocked up with carbon and it takes a little while for the fuel to clean the junk out. If the engine takes in large amounts of air and little fuel it is very easy to get pinging or pre-ignition which can burn the bejesus out of your valve faces and seats.

 

With any luck it should start fine.

 

Being 4a-c it's carbed, i'm not big on sprinter info, does it have accommodation for EFI?

 

The old pushrod 4k would enjoy a heavy grade old engine oil, But i've always recommended Castrol GTX-2 for the 4a-c it's what it rolled out of the factory with why not keep it that way.

Edited August 22, 2007 by Rosegum

[DearmanKE]

its a toyota sprinter, or aus spec ae86 with a 4ac which is carby

thanks for the tips

il have a look for some start ya bastard when i get sum fresh oil and such, i think they are autochoke aswell

 

how can i tell rigth away if its pinging/preignition? so i can stop it right away if it is hapening?

smoke white or black? or is it noise il have to listen to?

I'm excited about this thing i get it next week, i hope it starts, if not its still worth it but yeah running motor would be awesomeo!

 

dw bout the 4k btw that was askin for a frend but he decided not to spend money on the poo ke70 taht it was lol, nto sayin ke70's are poo jsut sayin that 1 was, lol

 

castrol gtx-2 ey, i should get sum then?

 

what do u reckon of the idea of getin cheap oil n then in 200k's or so replace with good oil because woudl u expect the oil to get dirty quick in this situation??

 

ps: the 4ac would be the same as in any ae71, and similar to an ae82 4ac just a rwd version

Edited August 22, 2007 by Shizotimang

[Raven]

The fuel will be stale (have bugger all octane from sitting for so long).

 

Best bet is to slap in some fuel and a bottle of octane booster.

 

I used to work at a BP Service Station for 2 years :P

[Rosegum]

its a toyota sprinter, or aus spec ae86 with a 4ac which is carby

thanks for the tips

il have a look for some start ya bastard when i get sum fresh oil and such, i think they are autochoke aswell

 

how can i tell rigth away if its pinging/preignition? so i can stop it right away if it is hapening?

smoke white or black? or is it noise il have to listen to?

I'm excited about this thing i get it next week, i hope it starts, if not its still worth it but yeah running motor would be awesomeo!

 

dw bout the 4k btw that was askin for a frend but he decided not to spend money on the poo ke70 taht it was lol, nto sayin ke70's are poo jsut sayin that 1 was, lol

 

castrol gtx-2 ey, i should get sum then?

 

what do u reckon of the idea of getin cheap oil n then in 200k's or so replace with good oil because woudl u expect the oil to get dirty quick in this situation??

 

pinging sound's like your valves are bouncing off the camshaft, sort of a tick tick tick. It happens when there is too much air and not enough fuel. When air is compressed it get's hot and if the fuel vapour is too thin it can ignite from the heat of the air pressure before the plug can spark which creates 2 waves of energy which crash into each other and make's the noise you hear, like thunder, or a sonic boom inside your engine, because the fuel burns quicker it burns hotter which toasts your valves. they aren't cast like a block they are machined from softer metals making them easier to burn(lower melting point).

 

and oil, if you want your engine to last, flush it with some cheap woolies rock oil and get 2 oil filters, 1 for the flush and 1 when she's ready for driving. After flushing fill it with GTX-2. I've had friends try synthetic's but they all had tappy engines after a few days. The older engines like the heavy stuff.

[DearmanKE]

ah k that ticking noise that ur talking about happens sumtimes in my ke30 when i start it up but it only happens for about 5-10 seconds or even less

could that be pinging? it has a 5k btw, n its desperatly in need of an oil change to,

[Rosegum]

The fuel will be stale (have bugger all octane from sitting for so long).

 

Best bet is to slap in some fuel and a bottle of octane booster.

 

I used to work at a BP Service Station for 2 years :P

 

From a chemist i once had the foolishness to talk about "Stale fuel" with he informed me the half life of unleaded petrol is approximately 25 years, which means it takes 25 years to lose half it's energy. So over 2 years the octane may have dropped maybe 1 or 2 ron, not enough to make a noticeable difference in an older engine.

 

Of course that's only if the fuel hasn't already evaporated.

[DearmanKE]

fair enough, il probs stil fluch it out just to be sure, i think i got a half bottle of octane booster lying around sumwer aswel

[Rosegum]

fair enough, il probs stil fluch it out just to be sure, i think i got a half bottle of octane booster lying around sumwer aswel

 

Good luck be sure to let us know how it goes.

[Guest Sbox]

Deleted

Edited May 24, 2008 by Sbox

[slapper]

what they said ...

 

Take out plugs and put 50ml oil in through the holes, wind over by hand till most of the oil is out then once you have done everything else you can wind it on the starter with no compression then re-install plugs.

 

after you plut the plugs in, disconnect spark lead between coil and distributer ... crank until red oil pressure light goes out ... now you have oil pressure. Reconnect coil lead and try to start the engine - use "Aerostart", "Start Ya Bastard" etc

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the fuel if the tank is sealed and you don't suspect ingress of water/shit ... just make sure you have a new fuel filter in place.

 

cheers,

Slapper

[coln72]

went through this with my KE20 a little while ago. Had to prime the fule lines as the pump (electric) wouldnt suck the fuel out of the tank.

[ca18rolla]

id be puting some oil in each cyl and crank it over by hand put a socket on the crank pulley to do it and wind over before using the key!