looking for some quick advice. picked up my fd last year, but haven't had time to mess with it. planning on working on it now.

bought it under the intention that it needed a rebuild, 84k miles on the odometer, still the original motor.

i was told it had been sitting for a few years, so i figured that meant three. well noticed the oil change sticker on the windshield the other day, and it said, "change your oil at 87k miles or may 2003, whichever comes first.

so i assume this car has been sitting for 8 years.

i plan on doing a rebuild regardless, but part of me wants to see if i can get the car started. the car doesn't want to start now. i bought a new battery, emptied out 20gallons of old gas, and filled with good gas. change the fuel filter. bought plugs, but haven't installed them.

should i even bother doing the oil/ATF trick and trying to get the thing to start, or should i just say **** it and just pull the motor?

thanks fellas

 

Based on that amount of time, I'd be surprised if the oil and and coolant seals are still viable. Did it sit with fluids in it?

 

push it and pop the clutch, or otherwise try to pull-start it. In my experience that works better than anything.

 

honestly i would attempt to start it, that will clear out any of the crap that is sitting in the motor and might alleviate some of the cleaning during the rebuild.

the other main reason i say this is it gives you a baseline for what to expect issue wise during the rebuild, unless you plan on replacing literally everything anyways.

 

Do the plugs, flush the coolant. Atf in chambers, pull start it and let it run for at least 20 mins.

 

There's no need in my experience to pull-start an engine. If you're attempting that, it's certainly a last-ditch effort. I've never done it in all my years of messing with these cars

 

if the seals are carbon locked it can bring an old motor back to life. i've dealt with plenty of engines that sat for periods of time and lost compression, but a little MMO usually does the trick without the need to pull start, so you probably are right if doing a revive correctly.

 

I've always pull started engines that have sat for a long time with just a little ATF. Including one car who's turbos had completely seized to the point that I couldn't turn them even by jamming a screwdriver in the impeller. Pull starting got it running, the turbos were preventing the car from low RPM operation due to the massive exhaust restriction, but the engine had great compression after I got it running.

 

We have had many cars in our shop that have previously sat for long periods of time. We have one right now that the owner blew up 4 years ago and it sat in his garage until he brought it to us 2 weeks ago. There is a good chance that the injectors and fuel pump are gummed up beyond actually being able to work. I would not just start pulling it around the block trying to pop start it. Do a compression test first and try to figure out what it is you are dealing with.

 

i recently bought a crashed fd thats been sitting for many years.the guy told me it was sitting for a few months but i checked the car fax and it was in the accident in 2003.first thing i checked was to make sure the motor was getting fuel,in my case it wasnt getting fuel so i changed the fuel pump and the car started right up.just make sure the fuel is getting sent and like stated above,do a compression check.

 

If it were me, I would not try to start it. However, if you wanted to try to I would def change fluids, obviously. Then ....ahhh, pull it out dude. That things not gonna like you tryin to start it and it could end up costing you more money for the rebuild. Besides that, if your planning on keeping/driving this car you need to know whats up w/that engine man. Pull it out, tear it down, clean & inspect parts.
Get some new bearings, seals, etc, etc, etc....While its out, flush the fuel system using the existing pump & lines, then bench test so to speak the entire system w/the rails & injectors (car itself is bench w/o engine) and visually confirm injectors spray & dont leak when lines are pressured up, just dont catch the thing on fire, safety first here!

I've pull started plenty, but only because car "thought" it was flooded. Eight years is a long time for a car to sit idle, especially a FD. That cars bound to have issues: drive belts, brakes, tires, fuel system, etc. etc. etc... On a good note however, you have a nice, fun project plus nobody has messed w/it for 8 years.

I suggest you pull the engine myself. Good luck.