Starting Dormant Engines

I am about to try to start a F-134 that hasn't run in two years. I am going to pull the plugs and put some brake fluid on each piston to allow for some breakup of rust and anything else that might be there. This should also help free the rings i expect.

I don't know if there is a proper procedure for starting engines in this kind of shape or not, but after the trouble that I just got through with on the 231, I am going to try something. My 231 was supposed to have been rebuilt just prior to it being put up but after it started giving me a lot of problems after reviving it after two year, I was forced to rebuild it. Every sinlge ring was broken and there was virtually no compression. I am guessing that I cracked the rings when i turned over the engine for the first time in two years.

How do ya'll go about starting engines that have sat up, and is there anything that you should just absolutely NOT do? Will break fluid hurt anything inside the engine?

 

I don't know about brake fluid - I've always used Marvel Mystery Oil.
What I've done is:
Put some (like ~ 1/4 cup) down each plug hole and let it sit overnight. Next day, use a breaker bar and socket on the crankshaft nut and just kinda work it back and forth slowly, a little at a time, not rushing, not really forcing it...just working it. Whether the motor is stuck or not, this will help the rings move over the really dry cylinder walls.
This on top of changing all of the fluids, checking the ignition components and related wiring, new plugs (and wires/cap/rotor/points if you can) will help get you going.

 

X2 on the Marvel Mystery Oil. Good stuff, and made for things like this. It's billed as an "upper cylinder lubricant". Wouldn't hurt to put some in a squirt can and hose down every moving internal part you can reach, like the valves, rockers, lifters, etc.

Take the valve covers off the engine, use a flashlight, and soak everything you can see that moves. Put some in the cylinders too, but don't turn the engine over with the spark plugs installed. You'll want to leave an escape route for any liquid still in the cylinders, or you can hydro lock the motor.

If you put it in there and let it soak a couple days, you should be OK. You want it to get in all around the rings, valve guides, lifters, rocker shaft, etc. Helps to cut through any gummy crap and get some lubricant on things before you crank it.

Drain the old oil and put in fresh, and sustitute a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil for one quart of regular oil. Once you start it, the MMO will help to clean up the insides of the engine. It won't hurt to leave it in there, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to change the oil again after you've gotten the engine good and hot with a few hours/miles on it.

Once you start it, you'll be breaking loose all the sludge, gum, varnish, water and acids that have been sitting in there for years, and all that crap will go right into the oil. My personal opinion is that an engine that's sat idle for years should have several oil changes done after it's fired back up, and I'd use the MMO every time. But, I'm pretty anal about that stuff, I just want to get as much crud out as possible.

 

have backed the valves off before and used oil with compressed air in the spark plug hole to penetrate by the rings,have thought about draining the coolant and replaceing it with hot water just prior to start up,or engine rotation

 

someone said to put a little mystery oil in the gas tank. My engine is started regularly, but would it hurt to do that?

 

Nope, follow the directions on the can. Shouldn't take much.

 

Hmmm . . . The magical ingredient in Marvel Mystery Oil (guess you could say the "mystery") is methyl salicylate, or "synthetic oil of wintergreen." The same stuff that makes your athletic rub feel warm or icy-hot!
Maybe that old engine just needs a good rub down . . . an engine massage!

 

When i started my 59 after many years i just put new plugs and gas in it
It may have been a bad way to go but it runs perfect
did my 68 the same way