93camaroLT1

What do I need to do to start my 93z that hasn't been run in 10 years? Nothing was drained, so all the old fluids are sitting in there. Here's what I was thinking:

(1) Change oil

(2) Change coolant. On this point, is there any way of pulling all the coolant out of the block without an engine hoist?)

(3) Replace plugs

(4) Marvel mystery oil in cylinders and turn it by hand

(5) Replace battery

(6) Replace power steering fluid (after it gets running)

(7) Replace trans fluid? (not sure if this is necessary)

(6) Get 10 year old gas out of the tank. How exactly do I go about doing this (isn't there something in the filler tube that prevents you from siphoning it)?

Is there anything else I need to do before firing it up? Do I need to somehow prime the oil pump/motor to get oil on the bearings?

EDIT- to whatever extent it helps, the car was garaged all those years.

duh

iTrader: (16)

Personally, is change the oil, put a battery in it and see if it fires

93camaroLT1

With 10 year old gas in it?

Cajun ELESS-ONE

depending on how much gas is in it, attach a line to the shreader valve. remove the coil wire(to make sure the motor wont start with the bad gas in it) and turn the key. not all the way to turn the motor over just to power the pump. drain it to a old bucket. never done this before but makes sense in my head. also look at the coil and icm

ahritchie

iTrader: (1)

How much gas exactly? If it's just a quarter tank or less, I'd just add some fresh gas, maybe shoot some starter fluid in the TB and see what happens, if it's a lot of old gas, it needs to be drained....had to do this will the old Austin Healey I inherited after sitting for 6 years, it did involve pulling the gas tank which is a PITA in a f-body and you have to drop the axle, maybe there's a siphon out there that can get past the little valve in the gas tank fill tube?

duh

iTrader: (16)

There have been guys starting cars that have sat for 20+ years and only added fresh gas. But so you are aware, just about every seal and gasket will need to be replaced. Time is not nice to rubber based products.

ahritchie

iTrader: (1)

^What he said, hoses and the accessory/ac belts need replaced too or you may end up on the side of the road.

Big Al

iTrader: (1)

Just did this to an 03 Mustang that sat for about 8 years with a full tank of gas. Had to drop the tank and throw away the fuel pump and fuel level sender. The inside of the tank was a mess, the Zinc coating or whatever it was was ate out. Even the plastic filter screens were ate up. Pumped new gas with a large dose of injector cleaner through the fuel system for over a week to get the crud out. Used a small fuel pump to push the mixture through the entire fuel system both directions, put a hose on the Schrader valve and just looped it. The first fuel that came out of the injector manifold was sickening. New pump module, some priming and it fired on about 1/2 the cylinders. After a while it just had one cylinder missing. I let it sit over night, fired it and they all woke up. Ran it through emissions and all is OK.

BTW: Mustang's have an anti roll over valve in the filler tube so you can't siphon the fuel out of it, my 95 and 2002 Camaros don't.

I also did a Kawasaki quad not to long ago. The fuel ate most of the brass in the fuel shut off valve and about ate the carb too.

IMHO, if the gas is real old it's better than the stuff with Alcohol in it if it goes sour in the tank.

Al

duh

iTrader: (16)

While I'm more than sure whatever in the tank is bad, you won't ever know unless you try starting it. JMO

93camaroLT1

Hmm... It certainly would make my life easier if I could simply siphon out the old gas.

Anything else that I should do that anyone can think of that I don't have in my original post? Also, do I need to prime the engine by running the oil pump (if yes, then how do I do that?)

Thanks.

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

I'm not so sure about the gasoline situation, but I think that your intention to pull the plugs and oil up the cylinders is an excellent one. You might want to also pull the valve covers and squirt some oil on the valve stems and valve springs.

1994Z28Lt1

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't personally bother changing the oil until after you have fired it, goes against common practice around here but think about it, even when you pre-fill the oil filter it still takes longer to build oil pressure after an oil change than a regular start.

If you insist on changing the oil leave the filter alone to build oil pressure sooner rather than later.

If there is a lot of fuel you can drain the tank by hot-wiring the fuel pump by jumping the terminals at the fuel pump relay under the hood, either disconnect the fuel filter and let it pump the tank dry from there or from the Schroeder valve on the fuel rail under the hood. Just by turning the key and not starting the engine your fuel pump will only run for about two seconds at a time.

Done bother with any of the other fluids unless they are severely contaminated. Reason being... whether its the power steering, coolant, tranny fluid, any sediment or contamination has settled and you wont even be able to get it out, so you will essentially be wasting your time. Fire it up, check for leaks, squeaks, etc and go from there. Then after you get it warmed up, fluids circulated, then would be a good time to drain and refill everything.

Dont listen to the people saying you need to pre-oil it either, the only way to accomplish this is to pressurize the oil passages either at the oil pressure sensor port or pulling the intake manifold and getting an adapter to spin the pump with a drill, after of course pulling the cam out an inch or two or removing the chain, then putting it back in time when your done. When you pull your intake manifold there is a huge chance you will contaminate your oil with all the dust and grit sitting on top of the motor anyway.

I've torn down engines that have been sitting for a long time and as long as they were pumping oil when they were last shut down there is still plenty of oil on the journals. Your oil pump is completely submersed in oil so there is no chance it could lose its prime.

Check out the fuel situation, then see if it fires, warm it up, then change the fluids and go from there

93camaroLT1

I believe it has a bit under half a tank of gas. I believe most of it was 110 octane gas. After it sat a 2-3 years, I added the fuel stabilizer stuff at the recommended amounts for the following year, but stopped after I ran out of the fuel stabilizer stuff (it recommended adding X amount each month, and the bottle was relatively small). Should I just mix it by adding another 5 gallons of 110, or would it be better to run all the old gas through the fuel pump and out of the schroeder valve/fuel filter?

Big Al

iTrader: (1)

Siphon out what you can and look at it and get an idea what's in there. I use a tiny electric fuel pump and a 1/4 inch hose. It's slow but it works. Cut off the end of a FI cleaner jug and stick it in the filler hole to hold the flap out of the way and work the hose through it. Be gentle and take your time.

Al 95 Z28

Rob94hawk

iTrader: (1)

After my hawk sat in the back yard for 13 years I had to replace the gas tank cause it was pitted. I would pull the injectors and clean them.

30696bird

iTrader: (4)

You guys do realize there is a small wire under the hood to do just this right??? No hot wiring needed... All you have to do is supply power to it and you can pump out the tank.

sleeperZ96BT

iTrader: (2)

This is exactly what happened to me when I revived a 1996 Impala SS that had been sitting for 7 years. It's a bit of a paing but more time consuming than costly. Good luck!