Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[drdean]

Hi All

I've not started my E93A sidevalve since the end of last summer (about 6 months). Prior to this I'd installed a new recon/rebuilt engine.

I've been told that before the first start of the season its good practise to remove the spark plugs and turn the engine over by hand to get the oil up and down the potentially dry cylinders. Do other owners undergo this procedure? Or does it not really matter?

While we're at it, has anyone got any further tips on starting 'post-storage' or after long periods of non-running? Is there a rule of thumb as to how long a car is stored after which it is safe to just turn it over?

Cheers
Dean

[Rick]

I think a lot depends on how well the car has been stored.

With the Dodge, which hadn't run for several months, I charged the batteries, span it over plugs out until it came up with oil pressure on the gauge, checked the points, popped the plugs back in then went for a start attempt. A spray of WD40 or a drop of oil down the bores first wouldn't harm at all, and with a sidevalve might help lube the valve stems too.

If you still have old fuel in the system, you may need to drain it out as it seems to go off quicker nowadays. When I put the truck up on stands last year I drained all the old fuel out, then put fresh in prior to starting it a week or so back.

RJ
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[ukdave2002]

Interestingly re the petrol.... My z van still has the same petrol that the previous owner (known on this forum ) filled some 3 or 4 years ago, it always starts on the 3rd turn of the starting handle (battery is on its last legs)..... I'm wondering how much starting may improve with fresh petrol and a new battery?

Dave

[Greg]

With my pop, I check water, engine & gearbox oil, make sure battery is fully charged, with ignition OFF, crank the engine over a few times to get the oil round, prime the fuel pump...then start the engine, let it run whilst checking the tyre pressures, brakes, lights etc before trundling onto the roads
I usually run the engine throughout the winter occasionally anyway.
All the best,
Greg

As Rick says, a squirt of WD40 or clean engine oil down the bores is not going to hurt.

[Rick]

[Riley Blue]

[Jim.Walker]

Petrol is a blend of different distillation fractions plus additives.
The lighter fractions ignite more easily and to start a cold engine more of the lighter fractions are needed to support combustion.
Pulling out the choke increases the intake mixture strength from around the usual 15 to 17:1 to around an initial 5:1 to introduce around 3 times the lighter fraction for starting.
The lighter fractions (including Ethanol as Rick says in modern petrol) are the first to evaporate leaving "stale" petrol and difficult starting.
Not only that. Petrol is blended according to climate and that sold in winter has more lighter fractions than summer blends to aid winter starting.
Jim.
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Quote from my late Dad:- You only need a woman and a car and you have all the problems you
are ever likely to want". Computers had not been invented then!

[lowdrag]

If you do an internet search you can find the date in October (from memory the 23rd) when deliveries change over to winter specification. It is also now recommended to top up the tank before wintering to avoid evaporation of the lighter elements. Goes without saying that the battery is kept on a top-up charge all winter and (maybe I'm just lucky) I've had one battery 12 years another 10 and one at least 8 and all are in good order still. Even the garden tractor one lasted 12 years and that by charging and then disconnecting.

As regards starting, I just let the electric pump chortle away and then just press the starter button. it always seems to work, the engine fires, and the bores or rings must be in good condition because even after over 100,000 miles the oil consumption is negligible. While on this kind of subject, my father always taught me to blip the throttle before turning off the engine to get oil into the top half of the engine. Is this just an old wives tale or is there some substance?

[Jim.Walker]

Cant see that happening Lowdrag.
I have always avoided blipping the throttle in fear that the unburnt petrol intake as the engine slows down will wash oil off the cylinder walls. I think the reason most people did it was in the belief that it left the cylinders charged with fuel for a good start next morning. But that is only going to evaporate the lighter fractions more quickly.

Take your pick!

I never blip the throttle but I always let an engine idle for a couple of minutes if I have just stopped from a hard run (Motorway stop or mountain pass?) to prevent a possible head boil or "running on".

Jim.
_________________
Quote from my late Dad:- You only need a woman and a car and you have all the problems you
are ever likely to want". Computers had not been invented then!

[bob2]

I was told just that jim, to leave it idle for a couple of minutes but also to turn it off on top gear after a hard run to avoid overrunning.
Is that last part true?

[Mog]

I don't think giving the throttle a blip before switching off would be a good thing. Just my view. Extra petrol would wash the oil off the cylinder walls.

[Rick]

Do they do it with race cars? just wondered if it helped clear the plugs ready for the next start-up? Not something I do myself with road cars, it just seems to ring a bell for some reason.

RJ
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[Jim.Walker]

[MikeEdwards]

Only thing I read about blipping the throttle just before turn-off was to not do it on a turbocharged car as it could get the turbo spinning just before the oil supply is cut off. I guess that depends on age and design of vehicle too.

As for starting, I try to run mine once a month over winter if I can, for about half an hour at a time. It's interesting to hear about the components of the petrol that aid starting also being the first to evaporate - for the last couple of years I've had trouble with the engine running badly by about March when I last filled it up in September just before it goes off the road for winter.

In contrast, I started a car up a few years ago on 4-star petrol that had been in the tank since it last ran in 1999 or thereabouts, and it started up without too much trouble. Petrol was the colour of a decent bitter, and I helped it along with a couple of sprays of 'easy start', mainly because it's a 2.3 Vauxhall with mechanical fuel pump, and they crank over so slowly it's often not enough to drag the fuel from the tank.

[Julian]

One think I wonder about is if modern petrol stores OK for long periods in a tightly sealed jerry can? We know that the problem with storage is that the lighter aromatic fractions disappear first, so in a tightly sealed jerry can.....

Julian.