CK5
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Restarting a truck that's been sitting 2 years
- Thread starter Kota4bye
- Start date
Hate to say it, but I'd drain the old stuff out. You could probably fill it and get it running, but why chance it.
If you top it off and it does start you take the chance of gumming up the injectors, fouling plugs, and other issues. It'll also have really low octane.
Fresh fuel and a couple bottles of fuel system cleaner, that's what I'd do.
If you top it off and it does start you take the chance of gumming up the injectors, fouling plugs, and other issues. It'll also have really low octane.
Fresh fuel and a couple bottles of fuel system cleaner, that's what I'd do.
What happened to the good old days,when you could pull the fuel hose off the pump that went to the tank,and use a gas can of fresh gas to fire up a Rip Van Winkle engine...
....
EFI is nice when it works right..times like this though,I don't consider having an in the tank high pressure fuel pump and computer control "progress"..
Friend told me yesterday about a customers 80's Buick he picked up that sat 10 years,with only a few gallons in the tank--car had 32K on it,grandma stopped driving it and it sat in a garage that long..
The car fired up and ran good,considering the fuel,which stunk like hell out of the exhaust..the new owner started using it daily,liked the car,and sold the one he had previously..it ran quite well for a few weeks..
Last week he barely made it to my friends shop--the lone TBI injector was litteraly pouring fuel into the intake like a faucet !..the engine was almost full of gas and had diluted the oil,and not being very well schooled in GM's 80's EFI tech,my friend had to dust off some old motors manuals and read up on it..
He replaces the injector,it still floods..75 bucks wasted--no junkyard around here has any 80's cars,they are history--so any parts had to be bought at stores..he buys and installs a fuel pressure regulator,and it starts and runs decent briefly,then floods and stalls again..50 bucks.
They proceed to check the last item in the books list of causes--the computer itself..
Using the noid lamp to test if the injector was getting the proper signal,he notices the lamp flashes REAL bright,like it is getting 24V instead of 12V--also,the instant the ignition was turned on,without cranking it,the injector would fill the throttle body..
..with NO pulse to tell it to "fire"!..
..he removed the computer from the kick panel,but left it all connected and with the key on,engine off,if he shook it,or tapped on it,the light would go out,or dim to normal intensity,and shut off the flood at the injector..it looked new inside,no evidence of roached resistors or printed curcuits,etc..but evidently "fried" none the less ..
A new ECM is what finally "fixed" it.(almost 100 bucks!)...for how long,is anyone's guess..
My friend said the old injector looked like it was in a rusting cast iron sewer pipe for 50 years,and was amazed it even allowed fuel to pass,yet it flooding the thing instantly..
The new owner of the car was livid after having to buy those expensive parts that were "probably not needed"---but now they are NEW,and he'll have peace of mind those wont fail anytime soon,hopefully--he also insisted he didn't need an oil change,he "just changed it two weeks ago" when he first got the car,before attempting to start it...telling him its now lost most of its lubricating ability due to being so gas diluted,could well ruin the engine, fell on deaf ears..
I bet he'll be back with a "disturbing knock" complaint soon..
My friend then said "Remember us using a coke bottle full of gas and a jumper battery in the junkyard to start something with a carb,that sat for years,and in ten minutes we could hear it run?..
I remember...
....EFI is nice when it works right..times like this though,I don't consider having an in the tank high pressure fuel pump and computer control "progress"..
Friend told me yesterday about a customers 80's Buick he picked up that sat 10 years,with only a few gallons in the tank--car had 32K on it,grandma stopped driving it and it sat in a garage that long..
The car fired up and ran good,considering the fuel,which stunk like hell out of the exhaust..the new owner started using it daily,liked the car,and sold the one he had previously..it ran quite well for a few weeks..
Last week he barely made it to my friends shop--the lone TBI injector was litteraly pouring fuel into the intake like a faucet !..the engine was almost full of gas and had diluted the oil,and not being very well schooled in GM's 80's EFI tech,my friend had to dust off some old motors manuals and read up on it..
He replaces the injector,it still floods..75 bucks wasted--no junkyard around here has any 80's cars,they are history--so any parts had to be bought at stores..he buys and installs a fuel pressure regulator,and it starts and runs decent briefly,then floods and stalls again..50 bucks.
They proceed to check the last item in the books list of causes--the computer itself..
Using the noid lamp to test if the injector was getting the proper signal,he notices the lamp flashes REAL bright,like it is getting 24V instead of 12V--also,the instant the ignition was turned on,without cranking it,the injector would fill the throttle body..
..with NO pulse to tell it to "fire"!....he removed the computer from the kick panel,but left it all connected and with the key on,engine off,if he shook it,or tapped on it,the light would go out,or dim to normal intensity,and shut off the flood at the injector..it looked new inside,no evidence of roached resistors or printed curcuits,etc..but evidently "fried" none the less ..
A new ECM is what finally "fixed" it.(almost 100 bucks!)...for how long,is anyone's guess..
My friend said the old injector looked like it was in a rusting cast iron sewer pipe for 50 years,and was amazed it even allowed fuel to pass,yet it flooding the thing instantly..
The new owner of the car was livid after having to buy those expensive parts that were "probably not needed"---but now they are NEW,and he'll have peace of mind those wont fail anytime soon,hopefully--he also insisted he didn't need an oil change,he "just changed it two weeks ago" when he first got the car,before attempting to start it...telling him its now lost most of its lubricating ability due to being so gas diluted,could well ruin the engine, fell on deaf ears..
I bet he'll be back with a "disturbing knock" complaint soon..
My friend then said "Remember us using a coke bottle full of gas and a jumper battery in the junkyard to start something with a carb,that sat for years,and in ten minutes we could hear it run?..
I remember...
Did you get the old fuel out of the lines first?
Are they pouring fuel or dribbling?
I read in another thread about pulling the injectors and soaking them in injector cleaner overnight to remove the varnish.
If it's dribbling, have you verified fuel pressure?
Computers and FI aren't the issue, it's the ethanol in today's gas. When gas was 100% gas it could go for years sitting and still burn well enough. The new gas plugs, corrodes, and varnishes everything in months. As for carbs being better...pffft! Can't remember how many stuck needle and seats I've dealt with...carbs just puking gas into and on top of the engine.
The bottom line is if it's gonna sit for more than a few months, draining the fuel or running it out of fuel first is probably the best bet. That or take a chance and try some fuel stabilizer.
The bottom line is if it's gonna sit for more than a few months, draining the fuel or running it out of fuel first is probably the best bet. That or take a chance and try some fuel stabilizer.
I agree today's gas does suck,I always run my mowers and tractors dry if possible,chain saws especially too,and though I don't like leaving an empty gas tank to rust in a vehicle either...ethanol seems to "make" water,and its the water that does most of the damage in my opinion..
My long winded post was mostly a lament about how its no longer so simple to diagnose problems ,and work on vehicles,nor is it cheap.....no argument EFI is better,I stated that, "if it works right"...personally being an old fart,I feel much more confident gutting a carb than trying to figure out an EFI's quirky electrical issues when it decides to go down..much as point ignition is "obsolete" ,at least I can get an engine with it to run in just minutes with a minimum of hassles..
I have had a few GM's with HEI that sat a long time,suddenly "kill" the ignition module when I went to wake them up,for whatever reasons unknown...
My long winded post was mostly a lament about how its no longer so simple to diagnose problems ,and work on vehicles,nor is it cheap.....no argument EFI is better,I stated that, "if it works right"...personally being an old fart,I feel much more confident gutting a carb than trying to figure out an EFI's quirky electrical issues when it decides to go down..much as point ignition is "obsolete" ,at least I can get an engine with it to run in just minutes with a minimum of hassles..
I have had a few GM's with HEI that sat a long time,suddenly "kill" the ignition module when I went to wake them up,for whatever reasons unknown...
Any more luck?
Agreed! Thats why i always add stabil before filling any of my cans. The wheeling rig gets a trip to the no ethanol pump for a premium price.
Any word? How's it coming?
