Starting a neglected engine

[WVBill]

OK, I'm bad - we haven't used our motorhome in 8 years. It's been sitting in the barn neglected. I started it about 3 years ago when I thought a neighbor wanted to buy it but not since then. Now I want to put it up for sale on a consignment lot.

So what precautions do I need to take in starting up the Chevy 454 engine for the first time in 3 years?

I know I should change the oil first. Probably should drain the gas and put in fresh but as I recall, it's 100 gallon gas tank was almost full. Maybe start it off of the 30 gallon tank after draining and re-filling.

Should I take out the spark plugs and squirt oil in the top of the cylinders to pre-lube them or something?

How about the Onan generator. Anything special there?

Bill

 

[Egon]

ah, just start it. Don't worry about the gas and change the oil after it has been warmed up.

 

[tugboat-2]

OH BOY! .... sitting that long is definitely NOT good. The gas will be stale and probably troublesome, carburetor should be gummed up and varnished by now. Your brakes will be siezed on so I doubt you'll be able to move it without some work.

You could be lucky, but things like "rubbers" (gaskets, seals etc) dry out with time and I would think the mice would have infiltrated upholstery etc,...you will "smell" that immediately upon entering.

As I say, (and sincerely hope!!) you may be lucky, but I think you are looking at a whole lot of work to put 'er back on the road at this stage. Just as a small example of what happens to some things, ..."try" to carefully lift a w/wiper blade off the glass!

~"If"~ you do get it running, ...start all movements, power steering, brakes, anything power or hydraulic,.... VERY, very slowly at first, give them all a moment to break free of their frozen state and oil to move into place, seals to swell prior to pressure. In other words take it slow,... don't take 'er out and right down the highway for a spin! But OH Yes,...I would take the trouble to do what you suggested with oil in the spark plug ports,...for sure! Then before cranking it,...rock the engine a bit by leaning on the fan belt and pulling on the fan blade a bit to give the rings a chance to break free. (8 years is a long time to sit !!)

Very best of luck to you!
. . tug

 

[tugboat-2]

BY the way Bill :, . . . I (for one) would be most interested learning how you make out with this ~"Sleeping-Rig"~! What you find as you observe it on approach, if any tires are down etc,... what do you smell when first entering the rig?

Were you able to "lift" the wiper blade off the glass? Have the mice been living inside? what did it take to eventually get the engine to a decent idle? What did you do to release the brakes?

How did you cope with the various problems associated with a ~"Sleeper"~ and did you in fact, ...ever get it out for a slow idle around the yard?

Some photos of the rig when it was "new" and you were excited about it. More photos of anything you find of interest "NOW" ? It just may surprise you to find there are others out there that may have just been inspired to grab a flashlight and a "dusty" set of keys and slip out to the barn, shed, under the tarp etc to check on their own "almost" forgotten ~"Sleeping-Rigs"~,...to see just "how" they have survived the past few winters,....parked.

Could make an interesting "Photo-Documented" Thread to help a lot of folk?

Anyway Bill,...I realize I have not been very "encouraging" to you and others but it might encourage some of you to do something about it,...prior to things getting any worse. Perhaps doing what has to be done to get it "sold" BEFORE you have to "pay" someone to remove it for "scrap" !!!!!

I sincerely wish you well with this project Bill!!!

Happy New Year !
. . tug

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Personally, I'd dump a bottle of Sta-bil in the tank and let it sit for another day. This should help with the gum that gas forms when it gets old. Wouldn't hurt.

Cliff

 

[Frosty2]

Carb or FI? I'd at least change out fuel filter to see how bad the gas looks. Take the aircleaner top off (mice?).If you could get to the spark plugs, I'd pull them, crank over the engine over to at least get the oil pump primed and ready. Starting without oil moving is a killer on engines. Might want to consider spraying a little WD40 type lube in the intake after you get it going. Good Luck.....

 

[Matt_Jr]

Tugboat-2 hit all the points. I too would like to know the results. Is it fuel injected or carburated? I would use a turkey baster to remove the brake fluid in the reservoir and powersteering pump, and refill with new, as well as change the oil and filter(filling the filter if possible). I would add some rislone oil additive to the new oil, disconnect the coil, remove spark plugs, and put a couple teaspoons of rislone in the sparkplug holes. I would also remove the distributor, and turn the oil pump with a drill to get oil flow before even cranking. After that, reinstall the distributor with a new o-ring/gasket, disconnect coil connector and fuel pump, then crank the engine. Reinstall the plugs, coil connector, fuel pump wire, and allow to idle until warmed up. Watch oil pressure and have someone else keep an eye on the oil filter. I've seen them rupture on engines that have sat a long time because the oil pumps pressure-relief valve rusts in place and causes way too high oil pressure bursting the filters. You may want to change rear diff fluid too. After warming up, shift the trans through all the gears before driving. If you set the parking brake before storage, you may have to free them giving quite a bit of gas to free them. I would remove the wheels afterwards, and check to make sure calipers move freely. Pull off the calipers, and before pushing the piston in, remove the dust seal around the pistons and lubricate with fresh brake fluid. Apply fresh brake grease to slides. If it has rear drum brakes, pull off the drum, and make sure the wheel cylinders aren't seized also. Use a prybar and push the shoes side to side, moving the pistons in the wheel cylinder back and forth. Not too far, just for a little movement. Too far and you'll need to put the pistons back in and bleed the brakes. May need new wheel cylinders if the bleeder screws are frozen. Use some emery cloth or sand paper and scuff up the rotors and drums. Visibly check all brake lines, fuel lines and hoses for rust and dry rotting. Watch out for spiders, fyling stinging insect nests, and snakes. The a/c compressor should be off at first. After warming up the engine, turn on the a/c compressor(on the engine) and cycle on and off every 5 seconds. This gets the compressor oil lubricated if the oil settled in the system. Don't do this with the a/c system on your roof, you could burn up the compressor motor. No worries on the a/c compressor run off the engine. And like Tugboat-2 said, slow going with the power steering. Next, flush all the fluids. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Egon]

Sounds like a rebuild is in order before you try starting it. Have it towed to a shop and rebuilt!

 

[Cat_Driver]

I am the kind of not staring equipment or maybe it's just that time flies by too fast.

I had a Kubota I didn't start for 10 years and did nothing but fill the tires and put in a new battery and it fired right up. That was three years ago and I have yet to do anything to it but top off fluids and it still runs strong.

I had a Ford E350 that I didn't start in 7 years and did the same thing, new battery and it fired right up. The fuel smelled as it burned but it ran for the guy that was thinking of buying it. I filled up the tires and drove it over and cleaned it out. Mind you I'm in the desert, so there was dust everywhere you could imagine.

My last vehicle is a 2005 Jeep that only has 10K miles on it so you know it doesn't get started much. It's funny I only use it for snow trips and the last time I used it was last Dec. so last month November I took it in for an oil change and it fired right up - again battery was dead. I checked the mileage because I thought I had put miles on it last year, but ope the guy said I only put on 400 miles last year.

 

[kenstrac]

Clean out around manifolds and heat shields and entire exhaust system the little critters build some nice nest in those area's and when the engine heats up you could end up with a fire.

 

[tugboat-2]

oh, oh,...do I suspect a little sarcasm there Egon? Surely I don't know you "that" well yet,.... so I could be mistaken? (prolly just that "coaster" sense of humour,...eh?, ha, ha!)

Good thinking Kenstrac,...critter nests are usually built with easily combustible materials,.....in the darndest locations!

I would guess from the sounds of "us",.... that many of us have been in a very similar position at one time or another Bill,.... or at least been in a position to have some experience with this sort of thing,.. so good luck once more!

CHEERS!
. . tug

 

[Matt_Jr]

I've been working in the automotive repair field professionally for over 15 years, and had many customers that had problems with vehicles after extended storage. I suspect the problems are worse here on the east coast than in the desert, having high humidity, rain that has a lower ph level due to the power plants slightly to our west being fueled by coal, and drastic weather changes that allow for 70 degrees one week and in the teens the next. That coupled with condensation and lack of bringing the vehicle to running temps, the only place I think would be worse is on salt treated roads and on the beach. I don't know, but I work on a lot of makes and models from Kia's to Bentley's and everything in between, and not all will have the problems associated with the preventive measures that I have written about on my earlier post, but I've seen them all on differant makes. Vehicles found in barns that their grandparents or parents left them, childhood taxi's with sentimental value, that they want to get running and drive around on sundays. Usually checking all this stuff prevents much much more costly repairs later like warped rotors, out of round drums, leaking p/s pumps and gear boxes, transmission problems, scorched cylinder walls, major oil leaks, busted lines leading to accidents etc. If the OP was in the desert there'd probably be a lot less to do, but in West Virginia.. I live right on the other side of the state line, I know what I'd do.

Oh, and to prevent critters from building nests in exhaust systems, put a stainless steel scouring pad in the tail pipe before storage. They don't like to mess with that stuff, hurts their teeth.

 

[Reg]

I would AT LEAST pull the plugs and spray a whole lotta WD-40 in each cylinder.
Do it again a couple of days later, then try to start it a couple of days after that.

This will give you time to look around at everything else, mouse invasions, etc.
I would lift each wheel in turn and at least see if they rotate freely, might pull calipers to free them up, and/or drums on the back - gee, I guess they could be drum brakes on the front too.
I doubt the battery (or plural) is worth a dam, might as well go shopping for that (/those).


Yeah, you got some catchup to do.

 

[WVBill]

Thanks for your inputs, everyone - and for not dwelling on how stupid I've been to neglect the RV for this long.

I'll try to get out there this weekend and check out the interior / take pictures & let you all know if there's a critter problem.

As far as getting the engine going - that will have to wait a while until the weather warms up a bit. It's 22 outside today & probably about freezing in the barn. Its hard enough to start my regularly used vehicles this time of year.

WVBill

 

[texbaylea]

When starting a "dry" engine the best thing to do is pull the distributor and figure out a way to drive the oil pump. I have used the blade from a large, long straight bladed screwdriver or have welded a hex key to the end of a HF long extension, or what ever will fit. Driven by a cordless drill this gets oil everywhere it is needed. If possible I pull the valve covers to be sure the valve gallery is oiling. A few squirts of oil in the spark plug or injector hole is good too

The next best thing is to turn it over a few minutes without letting it fire up. It minimizes the dry wear.

Vernon

 

[coffeeman]

It ain't a 454, but I started up a Super C after sitting 15 years. It started right up after replacing starter, rebuilding carb and installing a used battery. New tires all around, a tune up, new seat, new manifold, new muffler and a paint job; complete with decals...I'm ready to go. Now, where do I go? It's too nice to use it.

Good luck with your project....

 

[Soundguy]

I like to add atf oil to the cyls, then let em set.. then spin it out, replace plugs and then do the gas treatment mentioned.. and an oil change.. plus air filter.. good luck on the fuel system.

soundguy