Starting a car after a year

[ea90gl]

mate had an old XA 4.1 sedan that was lying around for a bit more than a year we drained the fuel and replaced with a new batch, changed the battery, bit of WD-40 in the bores (left it to soak for 10-15 mins), bit of petrol down the carb (pretty much what has been said allready) and she fired up nice and ran fine after a few seconds and still goes nice since. After that we done a decent service and also made sure all fuel hoses were still good as they may dry out and crack over time leaking fuel all over the place and cause the car to run like a dog

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

Never pour petrol down the carby in carby models, as I've heard too often of people suffering severe burns (including one related to a close work colleague). Dont do it, ever.

Let the fuel go down on its own accord with the air cleaner on.

pouring petrol down the carby didn't cause the burns! being stupid enough to lean over the carby while it was cranking caused the burns.

what ever you do don't cross the road i once knew someone who got run over walking down the street . he crossed the road without looking so crossing the road is dangerous . FFS we have enough of being told not to do things because idiots do things the wrong way

[AlbertM]

Check the fluid levels
Fresh fuel in the tank
Remove air cleaner
Connect fully charged battery
Spray Inox or WD40 in carby for a good 10second spray
Crack engine.
if fires then stops more spray down the carby and crank again

If you are worried about wear, take the plugs out and and spray a bit of inox in.

[TEaaron]

I bought an XE off my dads mate who went legaly blind.

The car sat under a tree for over 2 years.

I took the air filter off got my mate to crank it and hold his foot flat to the floor and I just sparyed some high octane carby cleaner straight into the carby, after a few second it fired up with the 2 yearold+ petrol.

Fair bit of black smoke but I drove it home. (well thrashed it home) then put some fresh petrol in it and it seemed to be fine.

That's crossflow for ya.

[nb_351]

i too will e doing this in a couple of weeks, in an xe aswell... i will be putting all new gaskets on the clevo as i cleaned the heads bores etc, still turns over by hand without the heads on...
all i will be doing running the fuel line from my elec pump into a jerry can with fresh fuel rather than all the way to the tank...
same with bores,will be spraying wd before refitting head gaskets etc...
and with oil, just crank her a few times after puoring oil over rocker gear...
not much more you can do really...
would be good if you could run engine at 10rpm or so so it primed and got itself ready, but you cant ...

[Dragoneletra]

I've been told diesel is better down the bores because it is less viscous. It will help free up the cylinders easier. and because you are draining out the oil anyhow it doesn't matter.
It worked well on my cleveland years ago.

Jc

[mustang70]

how about putting the air cleaner back on after pouring anything down the carb, thats what i always do, then i cant see how any backfire or flames or whatever are gonna do anything to you.

might be an idea to dump any fuel left in it. if there is any. run a fresh tank of fuel. mate got an XP that was sitting for a while, still had fuel, it ran then the valves stuck the next day as the fuel had gone bad and gummed up everything.

[GT-E]

I was always taught to:
Remove the plugs and put WD40 (a good spray) into each cylinder
Remove the motor oil and put in fresh oil
Jack up the car and hand spin each wheel

Crank the car over with the coil lead removed for 3 x 5 sec cranks.
This will reduce and rust affecting the rings, break the ring/cylinder wall seal and prime up the oil pressure.

The fuel should also be replaced, but should still be ok after a year.
Get a can of "start ya bastard" or put soem fuel down the carby, it is not dangerous, unless you are not being careful.

[nb_351]

i might try the diesel then... see how i go anyway...
anoter thing i will be doing is gravity bleeding all the brake fluid out of each corner... until a have put a fresh bottle through the system...

[JBomb3000]

It's a XE that's been sitting for a year FFS not a ferrari comming out of 10 years storage. Fuel down the carb and crank it.

[1970XW351]

Originally Posted by JBomb3000

It's a XE that's been sitting for a year FFS not a ferrari comming out of 10 years storage. Fuel down the carb and crank it.

I reckon! I fired up my parents VG valiant that had been sitting for 12 years, all I did was put a battery in it and fuel down the carb... Fired straight up, it was a bit tappety for a bit, but runs great again now. Conversely, they bought an xb panelvan which had been sitting for about the same length of time, we turned the motor before firing it and took the rocker cover off to oil the rocker gear, all seemed okay, but when we fired it we ended up bending quite a few pushrods. The moral is, a year of sitting won't do squat, so fire it up and enjoy... and 245 hemi's are stronger than pre crossflow 250's.... *awaits torrent of abuse* :

[nb_351]

yeah i lnow it should be right, but i dont want to have to buy another motor because i got too premature and went straight into it...
better safe than sorry...
and its not as if i have to pull it apartto do all this, its already got the heads off it, when i put it back together, ill do it accordingly and start it the same day...
if it was a ferrari id treat it just the same... even if it was a 120y id still do it, cause i want to drive it...

[toyxr8]

Originally Posted by JBomb3000

It's a XE that's been sitting for a year FFS not a ferrari comming out of 10 years storage. Fuel down the carb and crank it.

Correct.


Thread over.

[OJ_Pursuit]

This is unreal this thread, about 5 or 6 of you have ripped into a fellow member for providing a little bit of advice on safety.

Please, just because YOU know the risks, doesn't mean everyone does!!!

[toyxr8]

Originally Posted by OJ_Pursuit

This is unreal this thread, about 5 or 6 of you have ripped into a fellow member for providing a little bit of advice on safety.

Please, just because YOU know the risks, doesn't mean everyone does!!!

Fair point mate, BUT , If this question needs to be asked in the 1st place,
get someone else to do the job, somebody with general mechanical knowledge
ought to do the trick.

[nb_351]

why do you think he was asking in the first place? because he wasnt sure... he needed help, and got the courage to ask...
knowing what has happened in this thread, people might not bother even asking in the future... look what happens when you do...
you get ripped apart because you dont have the knowledge some people on here think they have...
i thought i would be nice and offer him help... its going to get to the stage where peoiple have to pm eachother asking questions...
everyone has their own level of knowledge in different fields...
i myself have no idea about lets say explosives... would i be an idiot if i ask a question before trying something at home myself?

[sgt_doofey]

Wow, post a thread and don't check it for a day and look what happens!

OK, so the basic gist of the story is:
Some WD40 down each bore through the spark plug holes and let it soak.
Perhaps a bit of oil in the top for some lubrication.
Fresh battery.
Crank without coil lead a few times to prime everything.
Try firing her up.
If that don't work, a bit of start ya bastard down the carby and try again.

It's not being done until probably Easter Saturday, so I'll let you know how it goes.
The motor is only 162,000kms old and in perfect nick, so my main concern is just getting a bit of lube in to the motor before cranking it over to prevent damage.

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by nb_351

why do you think he was asking in the first place? because he wasnt sure... he needed help, and got the courage to ask...
knowing what has happened in this thread, people might not bother even asking in the future... look what happens when you do...
you get ripped apart because you dont have the knowledge some people on here think they have...
i thought i would be nice and offer him help... its going to get to the stage where peoiple have to pm eachother asking questions...
everyone has their own level of knowledge in different fields...
i myself have no idea about lets say explosives... would i be an idiot if i ask a question before trying something at home myself?

For the car to catch fire, the fuel lines would have to be perished, the lines cracked, the fittings loose etc, or pouring fuel in while cranking in the event of a carb backfire. Something major would need to be wrong with the fuel supply system and if you dont know what youre doing, asking here isnt going to prevent it other than getting someone else to do it.

The dude being 'ripped' into posted about someone being severely burnt, enough to be in hospital as a result of priming a carb, that takes a lot more than a cap of fuel. Id be more worried about the bonnet struts failing (its an XE sitting for year) on me while I prime it than being severely burnt by a cap of fuel. As said, any danger is not from 'proper' priming, its something else wrong and if priming is a challenge, I dont like your chances of identifying the other problem anyway. As said, the amount and process was cleared up, he kept at it.

Priming the carb is a common enough trick. Failing to do so will result in a slow priming of the fuel pump as cranking has a slow effect on the mechanical pump, thus endless cranking with bugger all oil where its needed. Getting the engine to fire up quickly without excessive cranking will result in primed lines, and oil flowing faster resulting in less wear. You need to prime the carb, even if only for mechanical sympathy. Advising not to do it due to burn risk was over the top, there should not be any risk with even a little common sense.

Oh, and the OP was not ripped into, he was answered with a variety of options so that part is moot.

[nb_351]

thats right, he got a few answers regarding what he originally asked...
he also got some replies which were uncalled for...

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by nb_351

thats right, he got a few answers regarding what he originally asked...
he also got some replies which were uncalled for...

Who, the OP? The OP got answers, not flamed. Youre confused.

Someone else brought up being incinerated by a cap full of fuel, he went so far as to say, "dont do it, ever" in response to a common practice that does help the OP. Its the 5th or 6th post.

Priming the carb is an answer, and one of the better ones than endlessly cranking until fuel comes up. Its likely a mechanical pump, they dont pump well at cranking speed. The OP does not want to do damage, cranking without oil flowing will damage things. Getting it started quickly will reduce the time it turns over without lubrication as the pumps (oil and fuel) pump much better at idle than starter motor cranking speed.

[nb_351]

yeah thats what i meant the op got them, i dont think im confused... am i??? lol
he also got some answers that he shouldnt take into account...

[Kryton]

back on topic before the thread gets locked.

[sgt_doofey]

Well, the XE is now home!

What did we do before starting it?

• Change the Oil
• Change the spark plugs
• Spray RP7 (WD40) down the cylinder bores (whilst changing the spark plugs)
• Changed the coolant (not necessary, but we needed to do it)
• Cap full of petrol down the carby

Basically, the battery was stuffed, so we had to jump start it. But, we chucked a cap full of fuel down the carby to get it going. Fired up, ran for a few seconds and then spluttered and died. Another cap full of petrol and a bit of throttle saw it fire in to life. It ran a bit rough at idle for a while, but then settled down to a smooth idle.
It has a big flat spot when accelerating from idle at the moment, but that could be due to the battery being buggered. I'll test that out once we get a new battery.

Apart from that, it seems all good. No smell of petrol so it seems that the fuel lines haven't deteriorated.
I wanted to wash it before putting it in the shed, but the battery saw to that. So, probably next weekend when I get a new battery for it...

[nugget378]

sgt doofey,nice clean looking XE...

[vanman_75]

cool ya got it home

[efI_Fairmont]

Mate looks like it's in pretty good shape for an old girl. Used to have an XD I love the 80's Falcon shape. Not too many km's either, given it's age.

[Unco]

nice looking xe mate. are you gonna keep it?

[sgt_doofey]

Thanks guys. We'll be keeping her, yes. It's my late father's car and it has been in the family since new. Not long before Dad died, he transferred the title over to my brother and myself, so now we look after it. We haven't had anywhere to store it due to where we were living and Mum didn't really want it in her garage. Luckily, one of my brother's friend's has a large property not far from where I live, so we ended up storing it in his shed for a little over a year.
The wife and I now have our own house with a shed, so we have now put it in there.

As for the number of kms, it basically has spent a lot of time garaged. Dad always caught a bus to work and Mum had a small 4cyl car to drive. The 4cyl car saw most of the driving and the XE was basically used for towing, so it didn't really get used much for a number of years. My brother and I have only done a few thousand kilometres in it ourselves.

We plan to keep it original and probably use it in the future as a classic car, perhaps in the Bay to Birdwood, etc.

Anyway, have Easter to worry about today. Hope everyone has a great day!

[DBourne]

i reckon do a bit of work to in (in his honour of course).

[LOWBA6]

That is one of the cleanest XE's iv seen in a very long time. Seems to have been looked after in much the same fashion as my old mans XD, thats only just clicked over 100k as well.