Starting a vehicle after 7 months

[Thermo1223]

Cranking to try and "prelube" it is such a horrible idea.

You have minimal oil pressure when cranking so all you are doing is increasing wear on the bearings. We are about decreasing startup wear not adding to it.

There is NO benefit to doing that and a lot of harm I can see.

Charge the battery, check the oil, turn the key and start it. It is that simple. Let it idle a bit then just drive it gently to the gas station.

A bottle of techron isn't a bad idea either.

 

[InvalidUserID]

If your car is going to sit for a while, wouldn't it make sense to remove the battery and place it somewhere you can throw it on a charger occassionally, say on something like a battery tender? I would think it would be more economical than having to replace the thing.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: klt1986
I recently acquired a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis that had been sitting for nearly 2 years with a 1/4 tank of gas and a dead battery. I put a new battery in it, checked the fluid levels, and it fired right up. The only problems so far were some leaking o-rings on the fuel injectors and deteriorated spark plug boots. They have since been replaced and it seems to be running good now.


Both of which are pretty much a walk in the park on this application. If it has aftermarket suspension components, make sure they're greased up, and flush the coolant and replace the brake fluid.

 

[neo3]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Cranking to try and "prelube" it is such a horrible idea.

You have minimal oil pressure when cranking so all you are doing is increasing wear on the bearings. We are about decreasing startup wear not adding to it.

There is NO benefit to doing that and a lot of harm I can see.


I completely disagree. It's not about pressure, it's about volume, which is a function of number of revolutions of the pump regardless of rpm. You want all the oil passages to fill up before the pistons start smashing down against one side of the crank bearings. Also you want the initial revs without a good oil film to be slower, since heat/wear is a function of the speed of surfaces sliding against each other, and the number of revs without a good oil film will be the same regardless of whether it's being turned by the starter or turned by the pistons firing.

 

[renegade_987]

Thanks for all that guys. I figured 7 months wasn't a huge deal, just wanted to be safe. Battery is currently charging overnight at O'Reilly's, hopefully it wasn't too flat to hold a good charge, Thanks again!

 

[Thermo1223]

Originally Posted By: neo3
Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Cranking to try and "prelube" it is such a horrible idea.

You have minimal oil pressure when cranking so all you are doing is increasing wear on the bearings. We are about decreasing startup wear not adding to it.

There is NO benefit to doing that and a lot of harm I can see.


I completely disagree. It's not about pressure, it's about volume, which is a function of number of revolutions of the pump regardless of rpm. You want all the oil passages to fill up before the pistons start smashing down against one side of the crank bearings. Also you want the initial revs without a good oil film to be slower, since heat/wear is a function of the speed of surfaces sliding against each other, and the number of revs without a good oil film will be the same regardless of whether it's being turned by the starter or turned by the pistons firing.



It's all about pressure...volume only comes in play when you want talk about heat removal. Without proper flow(volume) you can't carry heat away from certain areas fast enough. A cold & dry start relies only on the film lube left from the last running. Without adequate pressure you will have metal to metal contact even at idle. You talk as is these passages take seconds to fill. It is a closed system once the pump is at speed the first bits to get oil are the crank & rod bearings, then then the camshaft on top. The pump is specific in it's output but also at a certain RPM, it certainly is not cranking speed.

Now using a pressuried pre-lube in the form of stored oil under pressure is a good idea but not needlessly cranking on dry motor not started for 7 months. You start it and let it idle normally under pressure after a few mins making sure it is running fine drive it.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Make sure to try and get the AC to kick on for a few minutes.

 

[MDettling]

My 89 Town Car fired right up after sitting over 5 yrs.

A/C worked fine too.

I love my Fords

Dont sweat it if its been sitting 7 months. Do a cursory check of fluids and fire 'er up.