gummie

I will (hopefully) be getting my 83 gsx started tomorrow. By my guessing, it will be the first time the car has been started in over a year although the previous owner claims otherwise. Either way, it will be the first time I will start it.

Yeah, yeah. I bought a car that didn't start. Hopefully it's just the starter.

Assuming I get it running, what do you sugest I do? The thing hasn't turned over in who knows how long.

How long should I let it warm up? How agressivly should I drive? Anything I should watch/listen for that would hint to a dead roater or something else that might be wrong with the engine? Should I worry about a missing spring in the transmission between the 1/2 and 3/4 gates? (if you pull out of first, the stick wont go back to the middle, it will just sit there. you can still go through all the gears though)

Any comments are greatly apreacated, so if you read all of this this post something

The_7

hmm after u get it running i would probably do a basic tune up - oil change, plugs, fuel filter, etc. check to make sure the omp is working. my guess would be to not drive it to hard for a while, kinda like a re-break in. then i would premix a little mmo in there and give it a few redlines to clean some of the crap outta there. also, if u have trouble starting it, try push/pull starting. GOOD LUCK!

RRTEC

iTrader: (13)

About the spring i drove without the spring for a while all it does is center the shifter...annoying Yes but crucial NO. I would take out the spark plugs and crank it with them out. put your hands near the spark plug holes and feel for 3 EVEN pulses out of the holes on front and rear rotor while cranking it . Don't waste time or money on the motor you have untill you know the seals are still good. take it from me, a simple tuneup on the car will cost over $100 in parts alone. See what you are working with before getting excited and trying to actually start it.

slowautoxr

iTrader: (6)

I've been driving an '81 lately that had been sitting for about 16 years. http://members.cardomain.com/slowautoxr and go to page 5 for some info.

Rutnick

Why or why did you change the nose on that car?

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Gummie,

If you don't know how long the car has been sitting, you should check a few things before trying to turn it over. There are a lot of things that happen to a sitting car - I know, mine was sitting for 4 years and I had a hell of a time getting everything tracked down. Here are a few pointers.

Before you even THINK of turning that key, you should check that the engine isn't siezed. Take the spark plugs out and try to turn the main (biggest) pulley by hand. It should turn fairly easily by hand. If it doesn't then you'll have to take steps to unsieze the engine before you try starting it. If you replace the starter and try to start it as-is you could snap an apex seal, and then you'd need to rebuild or replace the engine!

If your engine is seized, PM me or e-mail me. I've got some great info you can use.

Assuming your engine turns freely by hand, the next thing you should do is check that you'll have what your car needs to run once you get it turning. Go ahead and change the starter, charge up the battery, but don't start it yet. Do a basic tune-up of these things to try and stop problems before they start:

1. Change spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor. This will ensure that you have good strong spark to make that air/fuel mix explode properly

2. Change your fuel filter. It costs $5 and takes five minutes. It's located on the driver's side just forward of the tank. A clogged or dirty fuel filter can cause many a problem.

3. Change your oil. You have no idea how far that car went on it's last pan of oil, and sitting oil seems to get thicker, so it's a good thing to change. Don't forget the filter: use anything BUT Fram. Alot of guys on here only use Mazda brand filters, but generic NAPA ones should work.

4. Air filter. Remember Air + Fuel + Compression + Spark = running car.

5. If the car has been sitting a while, you should probably purge the gas and fill with new gas. Old gas turns to varnish, which won't burn well and may gum things up more than it's worth. There may or may not be a drain plug at the bottom of your tank depending on your car's year and trim level. If there isn't, then just try and dilute what's in there with a bunch of good gas, or use the Heynes manual procedure for emptying the tank.

Oh, I almost forgot - GET A HEYNES MANUAL. It's the best $20 you'll ever spend, truly.

Best of luck on getting your sitting car working, with some luck it should get on the road soon. I'm sure a 1-yr sitting car won't have nearly as many problems as a 4-yr sitting car, but you have to approach it intelligently. If you just blast straight into trying to start it you could severely screw things up. Take a few more minutes and a few more dollars and make sure things are okay. It'll solve alot of problems later.

If you need ANY help, PM or e-mail me at vipernicus42@hotmail.com . I've done alot of work and research on sitting cars and would be willing to help you in any way I can.

Jon

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Check this thread out, I outlined some engine un-siezing and a few other things about sitting cars here. Mostly the same stuff though:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...postid=2387337

That thread is actually listed in the FAQ sticky at the top of the main page, so check the FAQ for lots of other cool info you might need

Again, good luck and welcome to the forum!
Jon

dole2000

I had one time where the gas was so old it turn jelly. Really thick and had a real odd smell that didn't go away for awhile. The car I have now sat a couple of years. It has been a pain in the ***.

GavinJuice

Why do you reccomend to NOT use a FRAM oil filter?