I just bought an 88 GXL. It was sitting in someone's back yard for about 2 years without ever being started. It shows 133K on the odometer. I had my wife drop me off with a new battery, and it started up! (I was REALLY suprised) After about 4 minutes of the thickest white smoke I've ever seen in my life....it cleared up and I actually drove it home (sweatin bullets the whole time, because I couldn't believe this thing was actually running after sitting for so long!). Here's what I noticed on the way home:
1. This thing has HUGE power (until around 4K rpm)
2. Shudders and shakes a lot between 30-50 mph.
3. The brakes are pretty weak (spongy feeling)
4. The engine kinda dies off around 4K rpm.
5. It makes a lot of body "crackling and popping" sounds.
6. The clutch doesn't grab until the pedal is almost all the way out.

Finally: Only had to drive about 15 miles to get it home. In that short drive, I realize that I LOVE this car! I want to fix it up and give it much needed TLC. Where do I start? What should I check first? What sort of "just came out of long term storage" things should be done to properly revive this beast? Could I have damaged anything by firing it up without really "prepping" it? I mean....the smoke was so thick coming out of the pipes, I could have plopped a spoonful of it on top of pumpkin pie and served it....

 

The 4K power dropoff could be your 5th & 6th ports not opening or your secondary injectors not firing.

The clutch has an adjustment down on the pedal, but usually that means that the clutch is wearing out and will need service sometime in the near future.

CHANGE ALL FLUIDS b4 you drive it again. Drain the fuel tank and put fresh fuel in there. Run some good Chevron injector cleaner with high octane fuel for a tank and that should help clean out some of the built up garbage in the fuel system.

The shudder and shakes is probably from wheels out of balance or warped rotors.

The smoke is nothing to really worry about unless it continues.

Got any pics?

 

I cant believe that sucker started up, thats awesome! Sounds like all those problems are definately fixable.

 

You need to start off with a good baseline, change all fluids,filters including fuel oil air. also plugs wire and think about getting that old fuel out of the tank and run some injector cleaner through a few more tanks.

The shake may be due to tires sitting for two years.

 

also you might want to run some atf down in your plug holes to build up compression even if it is just a little tell us how it turns out

 

Do not forget MMO

 

once you changed all the fluids and everything, go out and beat on it. My car had been sitting for like 6 months before i bought it. I found that the harder i ran it the better in ran. These cars love the abuse.

 

Ok. I got the oil & filter changed. I'm going to get the antifreeze changed today (it's looking quite murky and dark?). When I originally posted, I had already been to the gas station and topped off the tank to dilute the old gas (probably should have drained it). I put in some MMO gas treatment. Should I use MMO in the oil too?? I've burned up about half that tank now. I drove her around all weekend, (couldn't resist) and I can definately tell she's coming around. Idle is rock solid...like a timex....never misses a beat! Still weak over 4k rpm, but seems to be getting a little stronger. Still has the hesitation at around 4k rpm, but it's becoming less noticeable. Still shimmies and shakes, but now it seems to be only at higher speeds 55-75, them smooths out over 80. I'm beginning to think it IS the tires. Seems REALLY loud running on the highway, especially tacking around 3k rpm. Is this normal? Feeling a little clutch slippage in 4th and 5th, but not excessive. A couple things I've noticed that I'm concerned about: both sets of wires that go to the split air solenoid are burnt. One set is burnt in two. I think this is just an emmisions thing, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know what this thing does. Can I just pull the solenoid wires off and forget about it? Also hearing a "clicking" noise in the front right wheel at low speeds...MUCH louder when I'm backing up. Wheel bearing maybe? I still need plugs, and I think I'm going to do the ATF thing just to clean out any carbon that may be sitting in there. Thanks for the advice! I'll keep you informed on progress. After a LONG LONG hibernation, she's waking up, and stretchin her legs. Oh she's beautiful! I'm anxious! I don't want to run her too hard after such a long sleep, but these darn coffee can honda drivers see her sexy lines and they won't leave her alone! She purrs like a kitten down low, but I know there's a tiger in there waiting to be released

 

You should probably drain all of your clutch fluid and bleed it....as well as the brakes. That should fix the spongy brakes and should help out with the clutch.

Michael

 

Oh yeah, lets all throw random chemicals into an engine...MMO, some ATF...Might as well add some root beer and Coke...

Seriously, the car has been sitting for two years and you just went and started it up? The damage has already been done, start saving for a rebuild.

 

I'm optimistic. No smoke since the initial startup. Maybe there WAS damage done...but as of yet I have seen no indication of such. Not even a puff on a cold start. I AM saving for a rebuild because she's my type and I realize (after the weekend) she's worth my time and energy. Hopefully she'll forgive me for treating her like a ***** in the beginning and we can have a lasting and meaningful relationship. In the mean time, I'm gonna drug her up on ATF and MMO until the pain is gone and I can forgive myself.

 

If rotaries have been sitting for a long time, and then you get them running again, they can go for a while (several months or more) without giving any trouble, and then just die.
Hopefully this will not happen to you

 

What the hell is that supposed to mean? They just die??? And what exactly makes them just die?

 

yea I wanna know too. Mine sat for 6 months before I got it.

 

I would definitely say your 5th/6th ports are stuck closed and thats causing the power loss. Change the tires and I guarantee you see a huge difference in the ryde. Just go ahead with all the regular maintence becuz you don't when anything was done or if anything had been changed. I would change :

oil(filter), plugs, wires, your filters and all the fluids

How much did you pay for it anyways?

 

She's still running strong. Just a touch of smoke when you first start her up now, but clears up within a minute or two. No smoke while you are driving. 5th and 6th ports are not working. 5th moves, but on the 6th I can't even get the actuator to move at all. The vibration is still there, but I'm pretty sure it's the rear universal, because I occasionally get the metallic sounding "PING" from the drive train. Strange thing is the vibration seems to subside after driving a while. I ended up having to put brakes on the back (piece of cake!, 10 min per side!) and a new front hub and wheel bearing (see new thread regarding wheel bearings/hub!) to get it through inspection. Also had a small exhaust leak that a friend of mine (J.B. Weld) helped me fix. I did get the coolant buzzer about a week ago, checked it and it was fine...not sure what that was all about, maybe there was an air pocket. That buzzer is REALLY something. I LITERALLY jumped out of the car when it went off. (parked, of course) By the noise, you'd think it was getting ready to explode.

In the glove box are maintenance records going all the way back to when the car was brand new. Seems I'm the third owner. Owner #1 kept records on EVERYTHING done up until just over 100K. New clutch installed @ 100K, but it's slipping! 2nd owner....no records at all. 30K+ miles of mystery following 100K miles of such impecible records is a little unsettling. The clutch WOULD have been fine, but it was out of adjustment when I got it, so I think owner #2 was driving around with the clutch slipping all the time. I'd tell you what I paid for her, but you'd never believe me. One of those deals where you have to pinch yourself afterwards... Thanks again for the help. I'll see if I can get some pics to upload.