At long last I have returned home. Sadly, it's been 2 years, worse its been ~2 years since my baby was started or moved at all. The thought alone pains me. At the very least she has been inside all this time...

This extended absence was far from planned so nothing was done to help her hibernate though this hellish time of neglect.

What I need is helpful suggestions to minimize the damage from this dry start from hell. I plan to drain the fuel/oil and replace of course. What else should I do to minimize the pain? Any tricks? Or do I just pray?

 

Shouldn't need much - change out the gas, change the oil/filter, maybe drain/refill the radiator. Might be worth pulling the plugs and squirting some oil in the spark plug hole, then turning the motor over by hand a few times.

Should be just fine, especially being inside.

Dale

 

You could also crank it for several short intervals (egi fuse pulled and battery jumped or on a starter/charger) until oil pressure registers on the gauge.

Did you even disconnect the battery?

 

I would change the oil and filter, check the coolant, put some engine oil in through the spark plug holes, pull the egi and fuel pump relay, and finally crank the engine over till you register oil pressure on the gauge. After all of that replace the fuses and relays and crank her up. Might not hurt to put a charger on it while cranking...

 

Change the belts & hoses, and all fluids - including brake fluid.

Pull the plugs, squirt some light oil in (e.g. aerosol misting oil), and crank until you have oil pressure. Replace the plugs and fire it up.

 

Good advise, thanks.

On a side note, I've always been skeptical about fuel additives other then Marvin's oil mix. Would this be a time to run some injector cleaner though?

 

LOL, same advice from all three...kinda like copy paste.

 

LOL, same advice from all three...kinda like copy paste.

 

dido!

 

One other thing to look out on a car that has set this long is the injectors. Since it has been sitting this long, the fuel can turn to varnish. This could cause the injectors to stick, worst case coming on boost when then secondaries should come online and they deliver NO fuel...

The Turbo II I bought had been sitting for 2 1/2 years and 1 of the injectors was stuck closed. I found this out when I pulled the manifold to replace all the vaccuum and fuel hoses before starting the car for the first time. When I applied power to the injectors individually, one did not click. So, I sent them all off to witchunter.com to be professionally cleaned. It was a good thing too, because the 550cc injectors were spraying 534, 540, 0 (stuck), 528.

Needless to say, I would recommend having them cleaned before driving the car, replacing the fuel filter, and fuel sock on the pump. As sensitive as the FDs can be, it would be worth the extra insurance :-)

As for fuel system cleaner, Seafoam is very good.

Vince