Restarting car after a year - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pkzip · #1 03-16-2003, 01:00 PM

This week (it was supposed to be this weekend but it rained here in LA) I plan on restarting my MB after a year of being shut down while I rehabbed the heating system and ............. procrastinated.

I already got received advice on other lists about:

1. Replace old gas - this seems expensive in these 2.50/gal times. Is this really necessary?

2. Squirting oil into each of the spark plug holes and letting it soak over night.

3. Then crank the car without spark several times and then restart - all of this with the goal of reducing wear on the engine.

Does anyone else have any suggestions re. restarting after so much downtime? Thanks.

Peter

ctaylor738 · #2 03-16-2003, 03:56 PM

Those are all good pieces of advice.

In addition, after I replaced the gas, I would unhook the fuel line near the injection, turn the ignition on, and let the fuel pump push a quart of fuel out of the line into a can before trying to start the car.

You can re-use the gas - add it to a 3/4 full tank a couple of gallons at a time.

psfred · #3 03-16-2003, 04:17 PM

Old dead gas is almost non-flammable -- it will give you fits if you leave it in.

At least on the 77 the fuel pump won't be stuck like it was on the 72 -- had to take it off and "bump" it back and forth by switching the wires off a battery until it ran.

Oil in the spark plug holes is probably overkill -- I didn't bother with the 280, but then I didn't know if I was going to be able to repair the block, either, so figured it didn't matter. Oil won't hurt, anyway.

If you can do so without doing yourself a mischief, turnining the engine over by hand until you get oil at the cam won't hurt, either.

Change the oil as soon as you get it started, too, it probably has too much moisture in it.

Peter

pkzip · #4 03-16-2003, 05:08 PM

How do I turn my 130 engine over by hand? I think I can probably do that without causing a problem for me later just need to know how. Wouldn't starting the car with no spark do the same thing?

ctaylor738 · #5 03-16-2003, 05:21 PM

If you can do this, please let us know!

I think if you turn it over with the starter with the plugs out four times for 15 seconds each, that's enough. What you you want is some oil to the tensioner, cams, and bearings before it starts. You don't want to go from 0 to 1000 RPM with a dry engine.

pkzip · #6 03-16-2003, 05:39 PM

lol! you know what I meant. For clarity's sake, I plan on pulling the ingnition coil and turning the engine over a few times without actually starting the car - and no, I won't actually be physically flipping the engine over or anything like that in the process.

psfred · #7 03-16-2003, 08:23 PM

27 mm socket on a half inch ratchet on the crank pulley (hub actually) bolt. Turn in normal direction of rotation (or it won't pump oil).

Peter

#8 03-17-2003, 10:54 AM

Squirting the oil into the cylinders is a good idea. This will loosen any piston rings that may have stuck to the cylinder walls, minimizing scoring upon startup. Let it soak for a day. One tablespoon per cylinder is plenty. Just be absolutely certain to crank the engine sans spark plugs with the starter to purge excess oil before running the engine.

The fuel is probably gummy with age. Even at $2 /gallon, it would be much cheaper to lose this fuel than to deal with the issues caused by old gasoline.

Next time the car sits for a protracted period, use gasoline stabilizer.