Any special things to do to crank vehicle that has been stored at least 15 yrs.?

Asked by TOOMUCH2L8 Dec 28, 2010 at 04:38 PM about the 1982 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I know how to start a vehicle that has set for up to a couple of yrs. I recently purchased a 82 supreme brougham 3.8 lt. that has set in a climate controlled garage for at least 15 yrs. The owner said he inherited the car with the garage when he purchased the business in 1995. From research the car has possibly been stored since 1988. It has 89,000 actual miles. He says he has fired her up a couple of times over the years. If he hasn't, is there any special things I should look out for other than the usual things to do?

GMman answered 13 years ago

1. Take out the spark plugs and pour some "Marvel Mystery Oil" into each cylinder, then turn the mainshaft by hand a few turns to make sure everything is turning freely. 2. Drop the gas tank and clean it out completely. 3. Replace the fuel pump while the tank is out. 4. Blow out the fuel lines with compressed air. 5. Replace the fuel filter. 6. Add 5 gallons of fresh, low octane gas 7. Replace the battery 8. Put one end of hose on fuel feed line at engine and the other into a container then apply 12 volts the fuel pump terminal let fuel pump purge fuel lines of air 9. Squirt a little engine oil in each cylinder 10. With plugs still out, crank engine over for 20 or so seconds until oil pressure is built up. 11. Replace plugs 12. Cross fingers, start engine, let idle until warm then turn off and check EVERYTHING 13. Once you know it will run, replace ALL fluids.

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bluRAYwhale answered 13 years ago

i would remove the spark plugs, douse it(the cylinders), with WD40 or something similiar, dissconnect the battery, manually turn the motor over(by hand several times), keep oiling it. then change the motor oil/filter, put it all back together, fire it off. maybe keep the rpm's up(like 2000), so you get good oil pressure for awhile. might be a good idea to check the fluids prior to running motor.

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