Starting up cruiser after storage? (1 Viewer)

[usmcruiser]

Well I did a searh and this is what I came up with instead of starting a new thread.

So let me recap just to be sure becasue I am going to try and start a FJ55 that has been sitting for 4+ years. I need to:
-pull the spark plugs and drip some oil down into the cylinder.
----What weight of oil should I use for this?

-pull the coil wire and turn the key for a few seconds to get things pressurized.

-pump the gas, reconnect the coil wire and fire her up.

----Should I syphen out the old gas? I would think it has turned to terpintine by now.
----Just completly change the oil? Refill it through the cylinders?
----Could I spray some catylist in the carb for the inital start up? I.E. WD40.
----Change the sparkplugs?
----Change air filter while cheking for dead mice in the intake?

What else should I do?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Soul_Man]

I wouldn't drip oil in, that sounds like a PITA. I would get a can of fogging oil (used to store/winterize motors, particualry in boats). You can spray that into the plug holes. Also spray it into the carb while cranking the motor.

 

[largenfirm]

Well I did a searh and this is what I came up with instead of starting a new thread.

So let me recap just to be sure becasue I am going to try and start a FJ55 that has been sitting for 4+ years. I need to:
-pull the spark plugs and drip some oil down into the cylinder.
----What weight of oil should I use for this?

-pull the coil wire and turn the key for a few seconds to get things pressurized.

-pump the gas, reconnect the coil wire and fire her up.

----Should I syphen out the old gas? I would think it has turned to terpintine by now.
----Just completly change the oil? Refill it through the cylinders?
----Could I spray some catylist in the carb for the inital start up? I.E. WD40.
----Change the sparkplugs?
----Change air filter while cheking for dead mice in the intake?

What else should I do?

Thanks in advance.

Keep wd-40 away from anything you value! Stuff is a lousy lubricant, a poor rust-preventative, and turns to a sticky varnish after a few months. Doesn't displace water well, either, which you'd think it would...

Clean out the old gas, put in fresh. Don't worry about what is in the lines - it'll flush through in a hurry. Replace the fuel filter, and have another on hand in case it quickly clogs from stirred up crap in the fuel tank.

Pull and gap the plugs, and put a good squirt of light oil in the cylinders. Replace the plugs, check connections, clean the starter ground, and the battery terminals. Coca-Cola works well for the latter, believe it or not.

If it has points, set the gap. Look at the condition of the rotor and distributor cap - cracks and conductive tracks dictate replacement, as does eroded contacts.

Just top up the oil and anti-freeze. Take a good look at the oil, make sure it doesn't have water, gas, or anti-freeze curds in it. You can change it after the truck is running.

If the battery is weak/dying/dead (very likely - auto batteries don't last more than 4-5 years when used, and sitting is hard on them), replace it, and get a good charge on it.

Remove the air cleaner, and spray the carb, inside and out, with carb spray to remove varnish.

While someone else cranks, spray starting fluid (aka ether), down the carb until she fires.

After she has warmed up, put a quart of 50/50 mix of brake fluid and water down the carb with the engine revved to about 2000 rpm. Pour until she starts to choke, then back off to a trickle until it recovers, then repeat until the mix is gone. This removes built up carbon from the combustion chamber, and should result in an enormous cloud of gray smoke out of the tailpipe. I call this the "shade-tree tuneup." It does work!

After you get it running, drive it as much as you can to blow out the cobwebs.

Do a complete maintenance - engine oil, transfer/transmission/differential oil change, new plugs/points(if present)/rotor/cap, new air filter, new PCV valve, new anti-freeze, and check that the vacuum system doesn't leak, as that'll screw up all the adjustments needed. Adjust the valve train. Set the timing.

Check the compression, wet and dry.

Buy the FSMs.

Come back here with questions...

HTH

Kirk

 

[Full_M3tal]

Mouse poison in the glove box and strategically placed around the cab floor and under the hood.

Also, put some hardware cloth over the exhaust pipe. Keeps the mice/chipmunks from nesting in there.

Kirk

Ahh Dont Worry About The Exhaste Pipe, I Find It Funny When You Start It Up And The Mouse/ And Nest Comes Shooting Out Like A Rocket!

 

[treerootCO]

My '64 had been sitting for 25 years. I pulled the sparkplugs and poured marvel in all the cylinders. I let that sit for about a week. It probably didn't need to sit that long but it was a busy week. I drained and replaced the oil and gas, topped off the radiator, and she fired right up!

Now skip forward a week....now that the truck was running I decided to flush out all that crappy antifreeze. Another busy week....didn't think about it....temp dropped to around 20F and cracked the block. Darn thing sat there for 25 years and I killed it.