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Dormant Engine Start-Up

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62BT7

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I need some advice on what is frankly a bit of an embarassing situation. My Healey's engine was rebuilt in the summer of 2009 and I was in the process of carefully breaking it in. I got to about 300 miles on the new engine before the fuel pump gave out. At that point (Nov. 2009), however, for a variety of personal and professional reasons, my interest in working on my car frankly evaporated. I know, heresy; it is what it is. But I'm now very keen to get back on track. Sooo...the car has not been cranked since Nov 2009. Assuming the fuel pump priming is handled well (I know that process well) what else would you do to fire it up? My thoughts are to change the oil to either a 5w/20 or straight 20w, and I've also thought about pulling the plugs and spraying some oil in the cylinders for the initial fire-up, but I suspect that will probabaly foul the plugs. A hand crank seems futile to me, way too laborious for the nominal amount of oil from the oil pump. Any ideas? Many thanks,
-Tom
 
Spraying some oil into the cylinders is a good idea. If you are worried about fouling the plugs, tape some paper towels or rags over the plug openings and turn the engine over a few times with the starter. More work, but removing the rocker cover and oiling the rockers and rocker shaft would be good also.

Doug
 
You better get some oil in the cyls. because it might have a light layer of rust on the cyl. walls. Use WD-40 or a good penetrating spray that will fog the cyls. You want the rings lubricated when they run against the rust. 2009 isn't that long ago so you should be fine. Like Doug said, oil the rockers up good also. I wouldn't change to a thinner oil, I would change it and refill with what you always use. Bob :cheers:
 
Superwrench said:
You better get some oil in the cyls. because it might have a light layer of rust on the cyl. walls. Use WD-40 or a good penetrating spray that will fog the cyls. You want the rings lubricated when they run against the rust. 2009 isn't that long ago so you should be fine. Like Doug said, oil the rockers up good also. I wouldn't change to a thinner oil, I would change it and refill with what you always use. Bob :cheers:
Click to expand...
Change the oil after your start up, or...

Flood the cylinders with a WD40 type oil, rotate the engine with plugs out (or you could pop a hole in a piston top__oil doesn't compress well) using the starter motor, in bursts. Let that drain through the rings, THEN change to fresh oil and filter.

I too agree; 2009 wasn't that long ago, I'm not sure I'd go to even this much trouble...
 
Other Doug: I assume lubing the rockers just means squirting some engine oil wherever it looks needed on the rocker shaft etc.?
Tom: popping the valve cover and lubing the valve train only takes a few minutes, and since that area appears to be a wear point, it would be worthwhile. Similarly with lubing the cylinder walls - you have to pull the plugs to do that, so crank it over while they're out.
I've occassionally thrown some two-stroke oil into the gas on a 4 stroke engine that hasn't been fired for a long time, with the idea of getting some additional lubrication in there on start up. All - any thoughts on whether this is a good idea? If you do do this, don't have a lot of gas in the tank as you'll be looking like you're fogging for mosquitoes, and may have plug fouling problems.
Doug
 
Doug, at the end of the (former homestead in Louisiana) mowing season, I'd dump whatever 2-stroke gas/oil weedwhip mix I had left into one or more MGBs or the Healey.

Yes, it'd smoke a bit, but the top cylinder lubrication justified it. The practice certainly never hurt anything, and at that time, I was out in the country, and didn't mind gassing out a few mosquitoes!
 
Hi All,

In 1986, after being parked (not stored) for about 15-years, I began to prepare to start my Healey for the first time. After installing a new battery and finally finding the key, I pulled all plugs, changed the oil, and put huge amounts of Marvel Mystery Oil in every cylinder to soak in for a few days while I cleaned and flushed the fuel system and carburetors.

When ready to start, I drained the oil and refilled by pulling the valve cover to pour new oil over the valve train and down through the push rods onto the cam. After slowly turning the engine to initially drain as much Marvel Mystery Oil as possible, I cranked the engine over with the starter to eliminate any remaining oil in the cylinder and build oil pressure. Following the installation of the plugs, I fired up the engine for the first time (surprisingly, it did start) to a crescendo of plums of smoke (from any remaining Marvel I think). Following a period of warm-up and some carburetor adjustment, the engine settled down nicely.

Although, today, I would probably have pre-loaded the pump and dropped the pan for pre-oil change cleaning, I probably would do many of the things I did.

All the best,

Ray (64BJ8P1)
 
As Ray states this is a best practice when waking any engine up.

"I cranked the engine over with the starter to ..... build oil pressure."

Also not a bad idea to have a fan on the front of the engine just to help with additional cooling. New or dormant engines can build heat quickly.

Best of luck,
Michael.
 
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