Every lube man's nightmare

[oilpan49]

Ok here's the deal:

My Uncle has a 1994 Chevy Impala SS with the 350 LT1. He bought it for his son (my cousin) brand new. Since then when my cousin went into the navy in 96. He drove it around then it was put in a barn and it's been sitting ever since. Never started, never moved. The car has 14K miles on the clock. The oil god knows what's in there but it was never drained up until tonight.

Earlier this evening he called me out there to help him get it running again. Well I had the task of draining the oil and replacing with fresh. This is where I need you experts help and advice. I pulled the drain plug which wasn't too hard but once I got it out, nothing came out then about 2 seconds later I see this goo and sludge. So I said "holy sh**" then it started pouring out like mad. Ok so advice my uncle of what to do. First we syphon out the old gas and drop the tank. Now can you just imagine the smell and rank, just the smell from it I got a major headache and I needed a cigarette by this time. So I make sure I wash my hands throughly before I light one up, lol

Ok now the engines blood, the oil. I told him about Auto-rx so we decide to go with that. Problem is though we fear that there is an assload of corrosion inside that engine unfortunately and we don't know what to do, so this is where you pros come in. Again, the car has been sitting for nearly 9 years, never started, never moved and it's had the same oil and gas in it since 96 when it was put away. So what should we do?? We really want to try avoiding replacing the engine because even a used LT1 is a money tree. Thanks,,,,,,,AR

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Did you start it before the oil drain?

 

[kickster]

Dont even think of cranking it.
Drop the oil pan and clean it up. Grab a gunk engine cleaner and spray what is visible while the pan is removed. clean up what you can using a rag and hose it down with water. Spray what is visible with a lubricant. Pour some oil on crank if you can. Clean the oil pump or replace it if possible.

Open the valve cover and pour oil all over the mechanical parts.

Open the spark plugs and pour about 20 ml of oil in each cyl let it soak for a day.

Next day put on a new oil filter and oil. turn the engine by hand few times. (leave the spark plugs out) If it moves freely then crank the engine while the plugs are out. Crank it 0 or 30 times until oil stops spraying out. Put back new plugs, plug wires, air filter etc and start it up.

 

[Pablo]

So like what was the maintance before it was "stored"?

I say after you get new fuel, put some light decent cheap mineral 5W-30 oil in, take the plugs out, spray some light oil in each cylinder, turn it over with spark appropriately dissabled, put new plugs in and fire the bugger up.....

Then do the AutoRx.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Some super short OCIs then A-rx.

 

[theguru]

Check auto fluids and other fluids whilst at it. Take it real easy on the auto first trip. Maybe some ARX for auto and PS.

Pull wheels and check out brake components. Also rust on rotors will cause brakes to not work very well first, so take it easy and hold the brakes on to get the rust cleared.

Radiator probably needs good flush and refill.

 

[k1xv]

There is probably a lot of dry grease throughout the car. Don't be surprised if you suffer things like alternator bearing failure and similar types of issues after this car gets going.

 

[oilpan49]

Hey Thanks for the help!

Well we went down to Autozone and got a new air filter for it. I tried to persuade him to get a K&N but he got a cheap Fram instead, his car, his money.

As far as maintence goes, the car is a nice sharp lookin Impala, black on black leather. Oil changes every 2500 miles, full detail job twice a year, Flowmaster 50 series muffs in 95, PS never changed, stock engine belts, stock plugs etc... So it was cared for better than average but not when it was put away. He just simply backed it into the barn, throw it in park and shut her off for 9 years.

I have no doubt in my mind that anything and everything in the engine and throughout the car with fluids in it needs to be flushed, cleaned and refilled with fresh down to the wiper fluid!

Can't wait to drop the oil pan on that SOB

moreover see what comes out of the radiator when draining and flushing, lol We just hope it will still fire up once we get done fixing it up. You watch, we fire the cylinders on it and some big ol birds nest will go shooting out the flowmasters, LOL! I'm still open to more advice if anyone wishes to chime in,,,,AR

 

[k1xv]

Whenever I stored motorcycles I always wound up with mouse nests in exhaust systems if I did not cover the exhaust outlets. In cars, sometimes mouse nests under the hood. They often chew through wires when they are living under the hood undisturbed. This can cause damage to things that are not critical to car operation, but can cause things to not work right. For example, I once had mice chew through the wires from a knock sensor.

You can tell a mouse nest fairly easily under the hood....chewed up matted paper like things.

 

[tmorris1]

I've heard of people comepletely filling an engine with oil to store then. They said it takes about 4 gallons of oil, but it will keep any corrosion from happening.

 

[oilyriser]

There might be mildew/fungus or other biological stuff growing in the oil after that long. It's good advice to take off the valve covers and see if anything is plugged up.

 

[T-Keith]

I think that Molekule recomended using LC to free rings. Otherwise, I do as others have said and change the oil several times and pour a little in the cylinders before starting.

-T

 

[msparks]

I would run several doses of Fuel additive as well.

Amsoil PI work great for this. It will clean all of the stuff out of the fuel lines and injectors.

As far as the corrosion, like others have said run several short intervals (say 500 miles with a good HD Diesel oil). Then change over to synthetic after that

 

[crashz]

I once fired up a blazer that had sat for 8 years. It had very little oil in it to begin with, so I filled it with cheap store brand and sprayed PB Blaster in each sparkplug hole to loosen the rings. A new battery and some gas and she fired right up. I even drove it home like that!

Of course I had very little concern about wear, because the whole truck needed a major overhaul, but an important thing is to make sure those rings aren't stuck to the block. If you soak those pistons well, it should spin freely by hand (you'll need a breakerbar to turn the engine over). I'm not a big fan of initially spinning it over with the starter because the starter developes enough torque instantaneously to snap the rings if they are frozen to the cylinder walls.

 

[MAJA]

I would be real worried about the "intank" fuel pump being bad or failing soon. And the mice getting into the wiring would be another major concern of mine. Also, you didnt say if the engine was froze up.

In addition to what you have already done, I would squirt some LC, or Marvel Mystery Oil, in each cylinder, and let it sit overnight. Then put in some new oil, with about 7-8 oz of LC (or again Marvel Mystery oil). Put in a fresh battery, new fluids. Then give it a whirl. Let it run at a high idle for 1-2 hours. Drain the oil and filter. Hopefully then it will be ready to go. The trans fluid will need to be changed. The differential oil should be OK.

Good Luck

 

[EmbarkChief]

Man I hope I got here in time, go to these forums and copy/paste your post. It will be well worth your time.

http://www.impalassforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?action=intro

www.naisso.net

14K? Sweet! In you above post you stated black on black w/leather, Impala's didn't come with black leather interior... Did your cousin swap it out? Or is it just REALLY dirty

Might want to take some pics and post them here...

www.carsinbarns.com

[ July 22, 2004, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: EmbarkChief ]

 

[SilverHemi03]

Not sure on the Chevy engine, but I think you can remove the distributor and turn the oil pump drive CCW with a wide blade screw driver or similar “tool”. Use a reversible drill and you can build up the oil pressure before you turn it over.

If there is no distributor with an oil pump drive, then I don't know how you would pump it up first.

 

[EmbarkChief]

Good idea but the oil pump on LT1's are cam driven.

 

[oilpan49]

Well the Impala is coming closer to living again. Here's what we did although were not done yet.

1.) Last night, syphoned out whatever was in the gas tank. Took it down to the local radiator shop this morning and they cleaned it out, how I dunno. Got it back this afternoon. filled my uncle's 2 5gallon gas cans with fresh Speedway 87

2.) Went down to Autozone bought some parts and new fluids.
a.) Bosch Platinum Plugs and wires
b.) Duralast Gold Battery
c.) New Fuel Pump, not rebuilt or remanufactured but new!
e.) Desutch(sp?) fuel filter
f.) WD-40
g.) 6 qts of Valvoline regular dino 5w30 oil with STP filter, along with ARx one the way in the big brown truck.
h.) 6 qts of M1 10w30 SS with Bosch filter
i.) Bottle of Chevron fuel system cleaner
j.) 2 gallons of Zerex ethylene glycol antifreeze along with 2 gallons of distilled water.
k.) case of Chevron ATF fluid

So far we have flushed out the radiator, replaced everything listed above except for the ARx and M1 with bosch filter. Prolly tommorow if ARx comes in we will fire the cylinders. Might smell alittle funky but were hoping it still has some life left in it.

As far as the interior goes, I don't know if it s stock, looks stock to me but I never asked if it was swapped out or not. I know Caprice's came with black leather as an option but I'm not too sure nor do I know much about Impala's for that matter. SO hopefully she still fires up if not, who wants an Impala SS? lol,,,,,AR

 

[EmbarkChief]

Open the trunk, on the top left side of the decklid there will be a white sticker with a bunch of 3 digit codes listed. Let me know if you find any of these 4 codes:

G80
B4U
9C1
WX3

On the vin, what is the 8th letter?

Also, while you are at it, change the rear diff gasket. Its important.