Start up after storage

Hi all,

Been monitoring the group and had a quick question.

I've had my CJ in storage for the past year and am getting ready to redeploy this Spring and start it up again. Wanted to ask what the best way to do the initial start up is. Since it hasn't run in a year I'm assuming all the oil is down in the pan.

I plan to change the oil first, and thought about puling the valve cover gaskets and pouting a quart down each side when I refill it. Should I pull the plugs and put a _small_ amount of oil in each cycilinder? Anything else?

Thanks.

Reply to
83 CJ
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May want to pull the distributor and use a drill to turn the oil pump to pump a little oil through the motor before you start it.

Carl

Reply to
Carl S

Reply to
L.W. (Bill) Hughes III

Wouldn't hurt to drop a couple of ounces into the cylinders but the real key is to turn it over by hand or with the plugs out several times to lube the cylinder walls. You can also pull the distributor wire and crank it over several revs. I'd take Carl's advice and spin up the oil pump, then crank it with no spark or with a remote switch until it showed oil pressure. Biggest thing is to get pressure to the bearings and lube the cylinder walls before it ever gets to fire and run.

Reply to
Will Honea

And very important - when you change the oil filter fill it 1/4 to 1/2 way with new oil. It will absorb into the filter and provide oil to your engine faster.

Reply to
Thoth1126

Don't pull any gaskets. Why make more work for yourself than necessary?

Check what the oil in there looks like first. Make sure it's not ruined by water or otherwise gunked up. You'll want to change that oil anyway but if it's bad you'd want to do it before restarting it.

Pull the plugs. Put a bit of oil into each cylinder through the plug hole. Leave this in there for a couple of days. Get an attachment for your drill, pull the distributor (after marking it's placement FIRST) and use the drill to rotate the engine. This will SLOWLY turn the oil pump and get all the surfaces lubricated BEFORE it's ever started. Having the surfaces lubricated this way greatly reduces the likelihood of damage.

This is pretty much the same process anyone with a boat goes through when recommissioning in the spring. Which will be in about three weeks for ours.

Reply to
Bill Kearney

For only a year of storage, I would just start it up unless you are really paranoid. I would NOT change the filter (or the the oil for that matter) before starting up. Check the coolant level. Put the battery on the charger for a day or so to get it fully charged and warmed up. Pulling the plugs and adding oil is a nice thought, depends on what humidity you stored it at. A must on the gulf coast, the cold weather in the frozen north seems to put rust in hibernation like the rest of things.

The carb will be dry, it will take a fair amount of cranking before it starts, this will bring oil up into the mains and rods.

Let it run for 20 to 30 minutes, change the oil and filter. Check for leaks in the cooling system. Consider flushing and refill the coolant with new antifreeze.

83 CJ wrote:
Reply to
RoyJ

I had a friend that had a 73 Caddy Eldorado 503ci ( I know caddy has nothing to do with the group), it sat for 15years and when he started it, all he had to do was buy a new battery and put some new gas in it. but then once he got it out of the yard on the road, theres a different story, brake lines, tires, brake pads...

Reply to
abomb69

Sheesh! Letting any vehicle sit for 15 years means every piece of rubber hose, brake line, vacumn line, carb gasket, battery, should be looked at for replacement. And expect the brakes to be rusted solid, hope the rings haven't frozen in, etc.

But 1 year should be pretty much a "fire it up" if it was decently ma> I had a friend that had a 73 Caddy Eldorado 503ci ( I know caddy has

Reply to
RoyJ

I usually just pull the coil wire and let the starter prime the oil passages...

Pouring oil into the top of the covers won't do anything except make a mess.

I had my CJ7 down for over a year and basically just hand turned it first with a squirt of oil in the cylinders to make sure it was loose with new oil in the pan, then I just primed the oil with the coil wire off, shot a little gas down the carb, hooked the coil back up and away it went. It's still running strong 7 years later, knock on wood.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: N> May want to pull the distributor and use a drill to turn the oil pump to
Reply to
Mike Romain

It depends on the climate. If this car had been left in Colorado or New Mexico, there wouldn't be a problem with the engine starting. The Jaguar my brother parked in the yard for a year in New England needed a two by four and a sledge hammer to break the pistons loose.

Earle

Reply to
Earle Horton

I totoally agree. What do you think the RV'ers do when their rig has sat for a year? They just charge the battery and start it. Thats what I do to with my RV.

Reply to
ULB

.....possibly have some condensation in the gas tank, eh.

Reply to
Huck P

Thanks for all the advice (would have responded earlier but I was away from the computer).

How do you do the thing with the drill? I've heard about that before but never understood how to make it work.

Erik

Reply to
83 CJ

If you want to get really ambitious, you can pull out the distributor, which is no mean feat in itself without causing damage and you look down the hole. Down there you will see a slot that the end of the distributor fits into. This slot is the oil pump.

You can then cut off a flat head screwdriver which is another not so easy job, put it in a drill and put that in the slot. You then spin the drill in the correct rotation which will turn the oil pump.

You then have to try and get the distributor back into the hole in the exact same place with the rotor back in the exact same place which can be a 'real' pain in the butt due to the spiral cut of the gears and the fact you have spun the slot the distributor tail has to fit back into.

You then need to check the timing to see if you actually did get it back in place.

Or you can simply pull the coil wire off and hit the starter to circulate the oil before start up.... This also might prime the gas line too which the drill will not do...

The 258 is a bear to get the gas line primed. It takes a long time unless you use a shot of gas, twice usually, down the carb throat.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06
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Reply to
Mike Romain

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