I have an '88 9000 Turbo that's been stored and covered in my garage for a little over a year and a half now, unfortunately I've been out of the country and it hadn't been started since being stored. My question is are there any precautions I should take prior to starting her up again. I understand an oil change and perhaps some light weight oil in the cylinders to prevent a dry start and through once over but aside from the basic stuff is there anything that I should be aware of? Just wouldn't want to spend extra time and money for some things I can avoid.
Ahh yes, the 20 second/20,000km problem.. Very basically, you don't want to shave 20,000km off the life of the car in the first 20 seconds after deep storage.
First, drop in a fresh battery or deep charge the one you have. Charge it out of the car. Swap out all the oils and filters (excluding fuel filter). Do not warm up the car to do this.
With the fresh battery in place, disconnect the fuel line at the engine, carefully put the line in a deep jar and have someone turn on the key to 'run' position (not start - just run). You want to get about 1/2 a litre through if you can. Stuff the top of the jar with a rag to avoid splash.
Then re-attach the line and pull all the spark plugs. Put a squirt or two of light household oil in each chamber. It's called '3 in one' oil here in Canada, basically - it's the old fashion canned stuff you get at the store to stop a squeaky hinge. Try to shoot it towards the high side of the piston wall, towards the back of the car.
Lunch/tea break.
With the plugs still out, slip the car into gear and push it out the of the garage, then put in reverse and push it back in. This should put a coat of oil on timing chain and get some into the valve train as well as move some oil over the gears (5 speed) or prime the automatic (if not 5 speed). This will also run the hinge oil up and down the chambers and prime the bearing mains from the sump.
Pull the air intake off the side of the turbo intake, give it a couple of spins with your fingers to make sure it isn't seized and get some oil moving in there. Spray lube the control rod on the underside.
It is a good idea to give almost all your connecting surfaces and bushings a good shot of silicon based penetrating lube as you go along. Don't forget to give your starter cog a good shot too. All of this will smoke and smell funny for a bit, but don't be shy with it as you go along.
Vacuum bleed each brake calliper and grease the calliper slides. Try to shoot some lube up the e-brake cables. Buff off any deep rust on the rotors and check the condition of the tires. If they will almost certainly be flat spotted if the car wasn't on blocks, but if they aren't - check for cracking or dryness in the sidewalls. Plan on new rubber sometime soon in any event.
While you are in there, take a moment to spin all the wheels to make sure you don't have a dry CV joint or bearing anywhere.
Remove and carefully clean the intake manifold at the engine, take special care to clean up/lube around the main air intake valve. Give the engine valves a light spray while you can see them. You can get and should use a proper intake manifold cleaner for this - although many folks use brake cleaner, it is not the right stuff for the job.
Finally check to see if mice have nested in the air filter, then using the old spark plugs, fire up the engine and assuming it isn't making any strange noises, let it run to temperature. Do not gun the engine or rush this phase. Take the time to reset the clocks and radio. It should smoke a bit on start and may take a couple of tries.
Then let it cool off over night with some newspapers underneath it to see which seals are leaking. They may or may not settle back into shape once you use run it around for a bit.
The next morning, replace the coolant and take her out for a really gentle spin. Burn off as much old fuel as you can (good time to shop around for fresh tires), then top it up with fresh mid grade fuel and change the fuel filter and spark plugs for new.
Try not to run it on the highway until you can confirm the tires are good and nothing is blocked up in the engine/brake/steering systems. Keep an eye on engine temp.
In a month or so, plan to have the brake system fully bled and the power steering system flushed. You may have to charge up your AirCo. Keep an eye on your vacuum lines and PCV valve for a while as well.
I think that is everything, I'm sure Fred, Grunff or Yao will kick in if I've missed anything. Best of luck relight the beast - take it easy for the first week or so on the turbo.
In addition to the other advice, disable the ignition safely (pull out the hall effect connector plug or disconnect the DI cassette plug) and crank the engine (preferably without spark plugs) to get the oil circulating fully again before you actually start it.
Good call brother Charles, and I did forget a couple of other things (in addition to not proofing the flipping post).
Add some methyl to the old fuel before you burn it off and keep the treatment up for the next couple of refills of fresh stuff - it will take care of any condensation in the tank. Also, if you have a leather interior, take some time to saddle soap and foot-oil the seats as they will be dry and can split at the seams pretty quickly if not cleaned and fed.
I pick up my supplies pretty cheaply at the local shoe shop.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.