Hi guys, I've had my car in storage for almost 9 months now and concernd about firing up. Just wondering which fuises to pull to have the engine rotate with the starter but not start to just sort of prime the internals with oil. I'm thinking it's the fule pump, fuel injector fuses, as for the spark plugs i'm not really sure but I think it's the coil on supply fuise by looking through the manual. Maybe i'm being to cautious and doesn't really need to be primed but it will help me sleep better at night if I prime it first before taking out for the first time in 9 months.

 

I'd be thinking along the same lines or possibly put a little oil in each bore with the spark plugs out and might even crank that way too.

See who else has ideas as this isn't my area of expertise at all.

 

I would trip the inertia switch to disable the fuel pump. Then with a battery charger hooked up crank the engine until the red oil light goes off.

I would be worried about how nasty the gas got setting for 9 months. Did you put any fuel stabilizer in the tank before you parked it??
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How old is the oil in the engine? Was the vehicle parked indoors or outside? Did you notice any condensation, such as a brownish-milky substance on the dipstick or on the inside of the oil filler cap?

The correct procedure under these circumstances would be to change the engine oil and filter; remove the spark plugs and squirt a mixture of clean engine oil and perhaps something similar to 'Marvel Mystery Oil' into the cylinders, then turn the engine by hand with a 24mm spanner (wrench) several times to gently move the piston rings from where they were against the cylinder walls. If you use the starter motor to rotate the engine, you will surely be adding a significant amount of wear to the rings/cylinder walls as they are quite dry by now. The cylinder walls are lubricated mainly by oil being splashed onto them by the crankshaft and connecting rods while the engine is running.

Once you've turned the engine over BY HAND at least nine or ten times, remove the fuse controlling the fuel pump circuit and use the starter to spin the engine over for no more than five or six seconds at a time. Do that until you see the oil pressure warning lamp go out. You can then reinstall the spark plugs, coil-packs and replace the fuel pump circuit fuse and attempt to start the engine. That is when you'll find out if the fuel remaining in the tank is still good.

If you're fortunate enough to have the engine start, check for any oil and coolant leaks and immediately fill the tank with a good quality fuel.

NBCat

 

No, no fuel stabilizers in the gas tank when I stored it but i made sure that the there was very little gas so I left it close to empty on the fuel gauge so all I have to do is dump about a gallon or two of premium in it. Unfortunantly I don't own a battery charger, as for the fueses I mentiond pulling above are they the correct ones to disable the engine from starting?

 

You may be better off removing the fuel pump circuit fuse and not get involved with the ignition circuit at all.

NBCat

 

Dang I was hoping it was gonna be as simple as just removing a couple of fueses. well the oil has been changed already no odd colors on the dip stick or cap. As for lubricating the cylinders will motor oil alone do the job with out that marvel mystery stuff? I've never seen that stuff at my local parts store so I have no idea where to get it besides the internet.

 

The fuel injector fuse because even if there is residual pressure, the injectors will not open, so no start and die as you might find by pulling the fuel pump fuses.

You can also pull the fuel pump relays.

If you want to lubricate the cylinders, a few squirts of motor oil in each cylinder would be just fine.

Instead of hand turning, you can bump the engine with the starter by momentarily engaging the starter with the key a few times before going for the full hold and crank.

 

Understand on the STR the bottom of the pistons and the cylinder walls are lubricated by piston squirters which the NA cars do not have. So it's not splash lubrication.
Jaguar did a nice job when they designed the 4.2 for blower use. External oil coolers too. All good stuff for SC engines.

I have started engines that were sitting for years without any special prep other than what I said. Remember that if your just cranking the engine with the starter that is a very low speed operation. Much different than actually starting the engine. It won't hurt to do all the rest but it's not needed.
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Use a mixture of two parts engine oil with one part automatic gearbox fluid. The reason for using something such as Marvel Mystery Oil, which is available at most places like AutoZone and PepBoys, just to name a few, is to allow the thinner fluid to reach around the rings. Just using engine oil will not allow the rings to be lubricated as you start to rotate the engine by hand.

NBCat

 

The piston 'squirters' are not functioning on an engine that has no oil pressure.

I'm sure the engines you've started ran fine after sitting for a long time, but you definitely will cause a significant amount of wear to the cylinder walls and rings by using the starter, especially a gear-reduction type.

NBCat

 

Most engine oils are pretty thin these days at room temperature.

The trick would be to let it sit and seep for a few minutes, and then to progressively bump the starter a bit at a time to let everything move around.

Even just buttoning everything up after squirting in the oil is going to take a few minutes.

 

Engines sitting for 9 months (or 9 years) don't really have less oil sitting on critical surfaces than an engine that's been sitting for 9 hours.

Turn the key and fire it up.

Yes, I have real world experience to back it up if you want to hear about it.

Gasoline is usually good for about a year if it's kept in a sealed container like a gas tank on an S-type.

 

Lol I'm releived to hear this.

 

Better than that, how about links to credible engineering documents?

They would make interesting reading. At least for some people.

 

Had I known such things would have been of value, I would have kept copies of the reports I authored on the subject. They were left behind when I took retirement. Sorry.

 

Just picked up a bottle of marvel oil at autozone. when mixing the additive and the oil do I do a 50/50 mix? Gott a have this baby ready for tomorrow morning to take it in for a trasmission leak that i'm pretty sure it's comming down from the electrical connector, common leak I hear.

 

This is a little of topic but just curious as to why JTIS didn't mention the squirters when reading through the lubrication system on the 4.2? Or is this only on the SC V8? Are they galleys in the piston rod that go up to the writst pin or are they actully jets? Again just out of curiosity I love learning new things about the engines in my cars. I'd like to build one some day.

 

Just took the first coil pack off and had now idea how deep the plug well was. My oil squirter can I picked up at autozone just barely makes it to the spark plug well threads. At this point all I can do is squirt directly inside. I was hoping I would be able to angle it around to lube around bettween the cylinder and piston. Only the bottom end of the piston will be getting the lubrication at the very least. I really don't think there is gonna be much benifit if I can't get it all around. Doesnt seem like its worth the work of removing all 8 coil packs and plugs.

 

To turn the engine over without starting on newer EFI cars just need one easy step. Step on the gas pedal all the way down(pedal to the medal style) before cranking it and then crank it. No fuse pulling or fuel pump shut down etc. Works on pretty much any computer controlled car. With the pedal to the medal you can crank until the battery flat or starter burn out and the car will not start until the pedal is let go. The reason is it's design into the system so when that procedure is being perform it cuts power to the ignition system or sort like that. Very helpful to prime the oil filter after oil change.

Edit: I believe this protocol is only applied to OBD2 compliance car. Not sure about non-OBD or OBD1 compliance vehicle though.