Starting Engine After Long Storage
 

I have a '97 328i that has sat, unplanned, for about a year. It has
synthetic oil from the dealer in it, but I'm worried about the effects
of the initial start-up on the engine. I thought of disconnecting the
spark plugs and turning it over a few times to get some oil
circulation, but that would be dumping unburned fuel into the
cylinders. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Also, should I add a good fuel-system cleaner?

Thanks,
Jim

"mjb920" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I have a '97 328i that has sat, unplanned, for about a year. It has
> synthetic oil from the dealer in it, but I'm worried about the effects
> of the initial start-up on the engine. I thought of disconnecting the
> spark plugs and turning it over a few times to get some oil
> circulation, but that would be dumping unburned fuel into the
> cylinders. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Also, should I add a good fuel-system cleaner?
>
> Thanks,
> Jim
>
Well disconnect the fuel pump.

Ideally you do want to turn it over slowly to get oil into the places it has
drained down from.

Other things that might be a problem include, but are not limited to: -

Hand brake seized on.

Foot brake callipers seized off.

Wipers stuck to screen.

Ventilation etc. vents stuck.

Belts and hoses perished or frozen in position.

Thermostat stuck.

etc.

PS you should have let a mate take it for a run around while you were
'away'.

mjb920 wrote:
> I have a '97 328i that has sat, unplanned, for about a year. It has
> synthetic oil from the dealer in it, but I'm worried about the effects
> of the initial start-up on the engine. I thought of disconnecting the
> spark plugs and turning it over a few times to get some oil
> circulation, but that would be dumping unburned fuel into the
> cylinders. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Also, should I add a good fuel-system cleaner?
>
> Thanks,
> Jim
>
The oil won't be your problem. That year old gas (without stabilizer)
will be. Not to mention the water that has likely accumulated in it. You
should try to drain it, or at the very least add a couple cans of fuel
drier and some fresh gas before you try to start it. You're going to
need a new battery too.

"R. Mark Clayton" > wrote in message
...
>
> "mjb920" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> >I have a '97 328i that has sat, unplanned, for about a year. It has
> > synthetic oil from the dealer in it, but I'm worried about the effects
> > of the initial start-up on the engine. I thought of disconnecting the
> > spark plugs and turning it over a few times to get some oil
> > circulation, but that would be dumping unburned fuel into the
> > cylinders. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Also, should I add a good fuel-system cleaner?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jim
> >
> Well disconnect the fuel pump.
>
> Ideally you do want to turn it over slowly to get oil into the places it
has
> drained down from.
>

How do you turn the motor slowly enough to not do damage, and fast enough to
actually pump oil to the top?







> Other things that might be a problem include, but are not limited to: -
>
> Hand brake seized on.
>
> Foot brake callipers seized off.
>
> Wipers stuck to screen.
>
> Ventilation etc. vents stuck.
>
> Belts and hoses perished or frozen in position.
>
> Thermostat stuck.
>
> etc.
>
> PS you should have let a mate take it for a run around while you were
> 'away'.
>
>

Jeff Strickland wrote:

>
>
> How do you turn the motor slowly enough to not do damage, and fast enough to
> actually pump oil to the top?
>
>

You will not cause "damage" by turning the engine over with the starter
motor. I would pull out all the spark plugs and pull the fuse for (or
otherwise disable) the fuel injection and then spin the engine with the
starter motor until the oil pressure is raised. Give it a good 10 - 15
seconds several times waiting for the starter motor to cool between
bursts. Then pop the plugs back in, re-enable the fuel injection and
fire that puppy up.

-Fred W

I would just turn the key, and if the engine fired, I'd shut it down the
first time and try again. Frankly, if there was going to be trouble, it
would already be present. If the oil comes up within a few seconds, there is
little risk of any serious damage.

The best thing to do is also the most labor intensive, and that is to pull
the valve cover and douse everything with a little bit of light oil that can
sink in between the parts that we want to be oiled. I think that this
operation would call for a good penetrant that will stick around for a few
seconds while the motor oil is making its way to the top. Once the car is
started and oil is circulating, I'd be inclined to do an oil change. I am
assuming the car has been stored in a garage or other equivelent structure,
and the environment has been more or less steady from day to day, even if it
has changed during the year. My point being that if the vehicle was indoors,
then it is not likely that the oil will be contaminated by moisture or other
stuff that it might see if it was outside. My point being that the oil is
going to be OK after a year, and once the engine has been started and warmed
up, it might be a good strategy to go ahead and drain it. On the other hand,
all lf the cold oil is going to be at the bottom of the motor, and if there
was any moisture inside the motor, it would be easy to get out before the
engine is started. It's kind of a toss up ...

The facts are that the block is cast iron, the crank is forged, and the
bearings are an alloy. I would suppose that the moving parts in the head
present the biggest concern, mostly because the aluminum is softer than the
cast iron. But, the bearing surfaces in the head are an alloy, so if the oil
comes up normally, then there should be very little harm done by starting
after a year in hibernation.






"Malt_Hound" > wrote in message
...
> Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> How do you turn the motor slowly enough to not do damage, and fast enough
>> to
>> actually pump oil to the top?
>>
>>
>
> You will not cause "damage" by turning the engine over with the starter
> motor. I would pull out all the spark plugs and pull the fuse for (or
> otherwise disable) the fuel injection and then spin the engine with the
> starter motor until the oil pressure is raised. Give it a good 10 - 15
> seconds several times waiting for the starter motor to cool between
> bursts. Then pop the plugs back in, re-enable the fuel injection and fire
> that puppy up.
>
> -Fred W