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I still go with the crank until at least the idiot light goes out, preference is longer. On most of my 'classics' I have a kill switch (actually a push button onto a pair of relays) to prevent fuel injection or spark - think of this as a priming - and yes I know there are those that say this is bad, I am not one that is in agreement with that perspective, a healthy battery and starter should be more than capable of achieving oil pressure - and I'd rather kill a starter than an engine.
The second most important thing is the oil you put in these things, don't be fooled into thinking using 20/50 dinosaur juice from the last century is good - that was the best available at the time, there have been significant improvements in oil technoloigy - again there are those that would debate this to the grave no matter how much science is put in front of them.
The third is not shutting down until it is hot - and I mean hot, so once it is running drive it if you can, or you're storing up problems in the form of condensation, if you can't drive it what the video says about higher RPM to warm up is also spot on..
The fourth - don't leave for long periods without running it - more than a month is perhaps too long and then get it hot - this purges the condensation, and helps you burn that fuel since the new stuff aka bio infested hygroscopic ****.
And the other one feed into the warm up and get it hot - don't start it and leave it sitting there on tickover.
This is all particularly important for anything with an overhead cam.
My XF does the high rpm immediately on starting - Ford call it theatre - I call it BS, perhaps I'm too old school but one rule I learned back in the mid 70s when starting any engine was keep your foot away from the accelerator - if you need the accelerator to start an engine there's something wrong.
I like this one though - think Grant posted it originally (sorry for taking your name in vane if you didn't Grant) ... and no I don't think this is useful as anything more than a diagnostic tool - do I have spark or not.
Then it would be idling a bit too fast to put her into gear to reverse her out of the Garage without getting that 'Clonk' from the Gearbox
While at the same time I would have to let the Engine idle in order for the AAV to Close and bring down the Revs (where I've also read that idling is also not recommended for long periods)
So which would yourself or anyone else, say would be the lesser of the Two Evils
Although the reality being in my case is I've restricted the Air Supply to the AAV so She Starts and also Idles at 1000 RPM which seems to be a Good Speed to engage the Gearbox with a Minimum of 'Clonk' which then rapidly drops to 750 RPM which for me is the Optimum Hot Idle Speed and is then ready for driving (Just wondering if you approve of that or else maybe not?)
Your issue is the very one I have my 'prime' button for - hold it in and crank till I'm happy then release, on fuel injected cars I just break the 12V feed to the injectors, the carburated cars I just kill the coil for a couple of cranks - pretty much as soon as the oil light goes out. All this of course is total overkill for a car used daily or even weekly but most of mine aren't. Many of my classics are confined to the small road outside and the driveway - they never see winter roads. Thee video mentions that some engines are too eager to start and then go straight to high rpm either under the influence of choke or other 'poor' management systems, which is why he references pushing the choke in ASAP - and demonstrated the Bentley behaviour. You wouldn't leave it sat there just tickling over, once satisfied the oil was thoroughly circulated increase the RPM and hold them there as a warm up period (the Miura he started).
In reality it is all over once the engine hits high RPM, damage is done, you need the oil to get where it needs to be before any significant load is applied - the Jaguar V12 for instance is pretty lazy when it comes to getting oil to the top of the engine and that's with an engine in good condition with decent oil and no weepy O rings etc, the oil pump additionally needs to prime itself before anyone gets anything.
There is a camp that advocates high RPM on starting you may be able to tell but I'm not one of them. I don't claim to be the all knowing on this stuff, I just base it on lessons learned over the years - the biggest lesson learned was oil management caused by a Ford 2.0 Pinto OHC engine that ate cams for fun, proved to be 100% oil related at startup - high RPM and no oil in the spray bar knocking lobes off the cams, I've had oil paranoia ever since.
And though I've been using the V12 a lot this Summer, I've never bothered to count the Cranks on the Starter before She Fires, as it seems to be a bit 'Light Switch Ignition' so maybe about 3 - 4 Spins but I'm only guessing so I will check the next time I take her out
How many Cranks on the Key does it take before your Oil Light goes out as that could be an interesting Comparison
The light was out pretty quickly - never really counted the number of engine rotations, the oil pressure gauge response was dire and couldn't rely on it (way too slow to respond). Starting could be erratic on mine, and the tickover hunted like crazy bouncing between dead and 1500 rpm - AAV problems, massive air leaks (loose nuts on intake manifolds) and a fuel system full of crud. How it will be when I get it all back together I can only guess right now.
I push min out of the garage before starting. Hopefully this Friday I get the new expansion tank so I can let the engine run and figure out the high idle. I was just starting to lower it via the screw (7 minutes after starting, 1500rpm). Got it to about 1k before man patch job gave in to the XJS gods pressure. Temp gauge was slowly raising but was only at 1/4 the guage.
Should say mine barely cranks now though. I turn the key and fired right up last time.
Should say mine barely cranks now though. I turn the key and fired right up last time.
It should. With so many cylinders it should start faster. I barely have to turn the key and its running. Way faster than any other car I've owned. Although this is a recent development. As I've worked on it its gotten faster. I used to have to crank it for a while. I think it wasn't holding fuel pressure when off and replacing the lines in the engine bay fixed that, but it might have been something else.
It should. With so many cylinders it should start faster. I barely have to turn the key and its running. Way faster than any other car I've owned. Although this is a recent development. As I've worked on it its gotten faster. I used to have to crank it for a while. I think it wasn't holding fuel pressure when off and replacing the lines in the engine bay fixed that, but it might have been something else.
Same replaced everything now starts like a new car.
07-11-2022, 12:13 PM
