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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / April 2007things to get an old car running
I'd like to know general things you should do to get an old car running if it has been sitting outside several years. I'm thinking mainly engine work. What stuff would you put in the gas tank to clean out the gunk, gunk? gumout? What would you do for the carb, fuel injectors? answer here or redgreen202 at yahoo <xxx@xxx.xxx> > I'd like to know general things you should do to get an old car running if > it [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > What > would you do for the carb, fuel injectors? Depends on the car. Personally, I would want to run the oil pump before starting. And you can do that on a lot of cars, but not all. Next best would probably be to pull the ignition coil wire or wiring harness and let it turn over with the starter for a few mins (like 5-10 5 second intervals or whatever - check for oil in valve cover opening to see things are flowing) to get things circulating. Gas - not such a big deal, IMO. Drain and/or dilute with several gallons of fresh stuff, then maybe add a couple bottles of injector cleaner to the tank. - D Gas - not such a big deal, IMO. Drain > and/or dilute with several gallons of fresh stuff, then maybe add a couple > bottles of injector cleaner to the tank. Depends on how many years. If only a couple years, I agree with you. I recently had the "pleasure" of getting a car running that had been sitting since 1979. The gas had not been drained from the tank and had actually rusted out the gas tank from the inside out. Talk about stink. Anyway, get this. The car was a 1979 Lincoln Continental with 120 miles. Yes, 120. Not 20K, not 120K, only ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILES. It was a long story, but the owner drove it from the dealer, garaged it and left it set. It still had the new car smell. Must be nice to have all that money. Getting back to the original post, change the fuel filter and drive it. You might not have all the power of fresh gas, but it will probably be okay. > Gas - not such a big deal, IMO. Drain > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > it. You might not have all the power of fresh gas, but it will > probably be okay. You don't say how many years and it makes a differance. If battery is more than 2 or 3 years old, has sat for more than 2 or 3 years, plan on buying a battery. If in doubt charge the old one over night then test it. Or start cranking. Priming the oilpump is a good idea but if the oil is older than 1 year I would want to change the the oil even before priming the system. Filter too. After car starts, run 10 mins or so then charge oil and filter again. Smell the gas. Old gas has a distintive smell to it. Might be saved if dilluted with new or sometimes easier to replace. disston Thanks everybody, that was all good advice. Yeah I guess I should have told you more about the car, although I wanted to know for all cars in general. The one I'm going to be working on is a 72 Honda 600 Coupe. It has a 2 cylinder, 600 cc, air cooled engine with carburetor and points. It has been sitting outside in cleveland since about 2002. Yeah I know, bad bad. I was driving it before then and it ran very well, although it had just started to run a little rough before I parked it. I think it doesn't have an oil filter or it is a reusable one. The gas is probably evaporated and I know the battery is dead. When I do get it running I would like to put something on the ignition system called capacitive discharge. It takes the load off the points and makes them last a lot longer. Does anybody know anything about this? Where to get one? And last, what can I do to preserve other cars that have been sitting outside? Probably pretty much the same thing, huh. What can I do when first storing a car outside? What do you do about mice? Would you put a cover on it and if it snowed would you clean the snow off or let it set? > That's a good idea to remove the plugs but remember to disable the >ignition system before cranking. Cranking the engine without plugs can >damage the ignition system. How's that? Is that on newer cars or will that hurt an older car with points? On Apr 9, 10:46 am, x...@xxx.xxx wrote: > > That's a good idea to remove the plugs but remember to disable the > >ignition system before cranking. Cranking the engine without plugs can > >damage the ignition system. > > How's that? Is that on newer cars or will that hurt an older car with points? You just have to make sure that the ignition current has some way to flow from the ignition cables to ground. For instance, leave the plugs plugged into the cables, and ensure that their casings are touching grounded metal. If you don't provide that discharge path, the current will find one for itself elsewhere, possibly a destructive one. >On Apr 9, 10:46 am, x...@xxx.xxx wrote: >> > That's a good idea to remove the plugs but remember to disable the [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >If you don't provide that discharge path, the current will find one >for itself elsewhere, possibly a destructive one. Ok thanks. another thought for an engine that's been sitting, not run for awhile, is to pull the plugs out before turning it. That relieves pressure and lets what still spins do so easier while oil starts to recirculate. While your at it, you can then look at the plugs to get an idea of general engine health or plug condition. Might not be a bad idea to put in some fogging oil into every cylinder, prior to turning it over, either.  SignatureKnifeblade_03 http://www.automotiveforums.com > another thought for an engine that's been sitting, not run for awhile, > is to pull the plugs out before turning it. That relieves pressure and > lets what still spins do so easier while oil starts to recirculate. > While your at it, you can then look at the plugs to get an idea of > general engine health or plug condition. That's a good idea to remove the plugs but remember to disable the ignition system before cranking. Cranking the engine without plugs can damage the ignition system. > Might not be a bad idea to put in some fogging oil into every cylinder, > prior to turning it over, either. Mike, thanks. I didn't put that in, good looking!!!!!!! SignatureKnifeblade_03 http://www.automotiveforums.com |
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