Should I Start My Car Up?

John3200

Junior Member
Messages
32
Hi Everyone,

I took my car (2001 3200 Auto) off the road last June when I left the country for work. It has been parked under the proper indoor cover in my ventilated garage on a ctek, its parked on tyre savers with over pressured tyres, and I've put silica desicant inside to keep away the damp. I also put fuel stabiliser in the tank.

I'm back in the UK for a couple of weeks and am wondering whether I should attempt to start or crank over the engine.
All the fluid levels are ok and there are no drips under the car.
So far I have just lubricated all the locks and checked everything sounds normal with the key in the last position before it would fire up.
I will also treat the leather again while i'm here.

I expect that it will be laid up for another 2 or 3 years, when I intend to get the car trailered to Marios for recommissioning.

Will I cause more harm than good by running it up to temperature and moving it 10yds on my driveway? The cam belt is 3 years old now but I haven't put many miles on it since.

Any advice will be greatly received.

Thanks, John3200
 

beau

Member
Messages
1,391
If it was mine I would remove the fuel pump fuse, turn it over for about 10 seconds, then put fuse in and start it, let it run for 20 minutes and do this every 6 months

Belt having done no miles should be fine, but you should start it more regularly than yearly
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
^^^As Beau says plus I would ditch the fuel quickly and get some fresh in there but it should be good enough to start. If it smell of varnish, dont run it.
 

John3200

Junior Member
Messages
32
They were quick replies, thanks guys :)

Looking in my handbook it looks like I have to pull fuses 1 and 4 in the boot fuse box. Is it as simple as removing these and cranking it on the key?

John
 

Needamaser

Member
Messages
1,491
I add fuel stabiliser to my bikes when stored over winter. Some are on 2 years now and fuel is still ok.
If oil has not been changed since you laid her up I would be tempted to put fresh oil in her. Contaminated oil sitting in the engine is not good.
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,549
After 3 hours of a money audit being asked questions I didn't understand never mind know the answer I need calories.

I find typically our auditors don't understand the questions. Sadly the interpretation of the answers is far far beyond them :(

C
 

John3200

Junior Member
Messages
32
It was fresh oil when it was parked up, so I should be ok there. I've got the fuses out, just about to give it a go. Fingers crossed lol.
 

Needamaser

Member
Messages
1,491
I find typically our auditors don't understand the questions. Sadly the interpretation of the answers is far far beyond them :(

C
Pretty much the experience today. Resorted to looking her straight in the eye and saying confidently we always/never do that judging what the correct answer should be. One particular question I didn't want to answer so spent 20 minutes pretending to find the info on the system and she gave up and asked another question.
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,549
Pretty much the experience today. Resorted to looking her straight in the eye and saying confidently we always/never do that judging what the correct answer should be. One particular question I didn't want to answer so spent 20 minutes pretending to find the info on the system and she gave up and asked another question.

Nicely done!

C
 

Contigo

Sponsor
Messages
18,376
Yes fuel normally goes off after 6 months so I'd at least brim it with SUL or siphon the tank. I reckon if it was put away with new oil and has been kept in a nice dry place it should fire up no issues. The main thing as Beau says is to try and get the oil pressure up before it fires, being a wet sump most of the oil will have run off the top of the engine into the sump so by cranking it for a good 10-20 seconds you will hopefully be moving the oil around and building the pressure.
 

John3200

Junior Member
Messages
32
Sorted!

The car actually wanted to fire up just off the fuel that was in the lines when I cranked it with the 2 fuses out! I was reading a good oil pressure pretty quickly, then put the fuses back in and it started first go. Sounded a bit tappetty for about 10 seconds but then sounded normal again.
No CEL's, full oil pressure from start up and then I let it idle for 25mins, with it settled out sat at 90 degrees bringing the fan in, and with hot oil about 3.5 bar oil pressure which is normal for me at idle.
If its better weather tomorrow/weekend I will get it out the garage just so it turns the gearbox and wheel bearings and give the steering a few lock to lock turns.

I'll try and start the car every 4 months from now on, but by following the same procedure.

Thanks very much for the advice, I wasn't brave enough just to turn the key and hope!

When i put the car away originally I jacked each corner on to the tyre savers because I didn't want to drill my garage floor and the tyres were spinning up on the concrete rather than driving up the ramp. Has anyone got any recomendations for a good silicon sealer or similar that will hold plastic to concrete well enough to drive on to? Preferably something available at screwfix or toolstation...

Regards,

John
 

Gp79

Member
Messages
1,393
I would warm it up and then take it for a proper run (dry road!) so it is up to normal temp and oil is fully hot, you don't want any condensation.

This way the gearbox oil will be circulated and clutch used etc
 

John3200

Junior Member
Messages
32
I would warm it up and then take it for a proper run (dry road!) so it is up to normal temp and oil is fully hot, you don't want any condensation.

This way the gearbox oil will be circulated and clutch used etc

It's not insured for road use, not taxed and not MOT'd, so using it on the road isn't possible. When I'm home it's not really for long enough that I want to use up 2 days of my leave taking it to Autoshield and then picking it up again so i took the decision to garage it. The money I'm saving will all go on getting it recommissioned when I'm back home for good. It's an auto so only has the lock-up clutch in the torque converter and from what I've read they aren't an issue with these cars. (Note, I know nothing about gear boxes so that last sentence may be 100% wrong...)

John
 

Navcorr

Member
Messages
3,839
Hi - am I reading correctly that you want to fix the tyre savers in place? Plastic & concrete are not ideal surfaces to bond together. Particulalrly, in this instance, as each tyre saver provides a relatively small surface area. Wood on the other hand can be directly fixed successfully using an appropriate polymer adhesive. As you're not looking to drill the concrete perhaps fix pieces of wood, with a larger surface area, and then screw to the wood. I've used Rewmar MS Polymer previously (for flooring purposes) and its excellent - not available at the sheds though:

http://homeoffloors.co.uk/REWMAR-MS-POLYMER-WOOD-FLOOR-ADHESIVE-LIQUID-DPM
 

outrun

Member
Messages
5,017
Some fuels contain higher content of ethanol which is hygroscopic and that can be a bad thing when a vehicle is laid up for some time. The fuel system in any machine is designed to allow in air to replace the fuel in the tanks as the level drops. Enough air and the ethanol will turn to a volatile gas however the amounts created over time are so tiny that there is no danger. Best advice I heard is from the boating world (my dad was a yacht broker for years) where owners will fill the tanks to the brim before laying up a boat over the winter. The other advice is to try to use a super unleaded rather than a normal 95 octane fuel, especially those marked E10 which shows a 10% ethanol content. In a year, stored well without too much air in the tank, the fuel will not go off enough to cause any issue to a fuel injected car which will adjust. Carb equipped engines however could cough and splutter as the mixture is too lean while the fuel burns off.

Anyway, good to hear it's running well.

Fuel stored properly in a sealed container, filled to the top, will keep for years.