storing a motor

[85burbanator]

i have a 350 tbi out of a 1990 truck. i want to store it for when the motor goes out in my 88. last time i ran it was january. i turned it over today when i was remving the trans and it spun pretty good. i dont know how long ill be storing it for and i dont want it to sieze up or anything. itll be indoors and im going to try to plug all openings to the motor. what else should i do? thanks in advance.

 

[ryan22re]

id put some oil in it and spin the oil pump shaft with an old dist or prelube tool. pull the valve covers to make sure oil gets to the top. spinning it over while doing this will make it alot better.

unless it has no oil pan on it, then not really sure what to do.

ryan

 

[zeroz400]

Put some fogging oil in the cylinders too. Might wanna get some plastic to wrap around it also so it wont collect dust.

 

[85burbanator]

will turning the motor via the crankshaft (harmonic balancer) also turn the oil pump? i was going to cover it with an old blacket but do you think plastic would be better?

 

[jhellwig]

It will turn the oil pump only if their is a distributer in it. But it isn't going to spin it fast enough to pump much oil if any. Get one of those tools that is ment to turn them with a drill.

 

[diesel4me]

sure fire method!

If we wanted to store away an engine for an antique car at the salvage yard a long time,we'd put it in a 55 gallon drum (a good non-rusted one) and filled it with drain oil until it was submerged,and covered it up with a lid if we had one,or plywood..A V8 might not fit in a 55 gallon drum,but you can get big poly storage bins and use them..only bummer is the amount of oil you need,and the mess if it ever leaks,and when you want to use the motor..you have to pull out all the spark plugs and let it drain out until the cylinders empty out..but it will never seize or rust that way!.

I know a few people who just added oil until it was to the top of the valve covers--but it usually leaks out eventually and makes a mess..--if it ever tips over your shop will be flodded!..if your only storing it a few months,just dump a quart of oil slowly down the carb until it stalls,then a bit more after that--it will take a few months for it to all drain back into the pan...I have a 500 Caddy motor out in my shed--I just duct taped over the intake after pulling the carb,and I dumped oil in the intake first..I spin it by hand every month or so--I should add some more oil--its been 5 years now,and it still turns free though ..I know better,yet I still let things slide..

 

[3 on the tree]

Pull the plugs one at a time, spray a bunch of WD-40 in the cylinder, then put the plug back in. Tape over or otherwise block the intake securly, and do the same for the exhaust manifolds. If you pulled the dist, seal that hole also.

 

[85burbanator]

what exactly does fogging oil do? never used it before. so just dump some oil in the cylinders, put plugs back in, spin the oil pump drive to get oil to the upper part of the heads, cover all openings, cover motor with plastic or something to prevent dust buildup. should i turn the motor over with a little bit of oil in the cylenders to make sure the walls are coated or can i just fill the cylinders and let it sit?

 

[clarkjw24]

Best thing to do is store it in a vehicle then crank it up every month and check the fluids.

 

[85burbanator]

the only problem with that is that i dont have a vehicle to put the motor in.

 

[3 on the tree]

If you seal it up, I would not worry about it too much. My Blazer sat for almost 4 years, without running. I put a battery and fresh gas in it and drove it home 35 miles. The carb could use a rebuild, but other than that, it runs fine, great oil pressure, no smoke and no funny noises. Fogging the cylinders gets the oil on the cylinder walls. It won't stay on the walls forever, but short of pulling the heads and greasing the cylinder walls, thats bout all you can do, short of immersing the engine in oil,per Diesel4Me.

 

[merace19]

I have built a pile of engines and i have stored some for more than 2 years with out any problems. Pouring oil in the intake works but you have to unbolt the lifters to close the valves. One to keep anything for getting past them and making a home and second to reduce the wear on the valve spring itself. Let a engine set for any extended period and it will never run right and that is the #1 reason bad valve springs. I deal only with high performance engines so i notice any problems. Now a regular chevy engine out of a truck you may not even care if one spring has 20% less spring pressure. The best you can do is put it in a shed after sealing it up. I have a couple of engine stands that i just wrap up the engine in a big garbage bag. I thoughly spray the engine with a coating of oil Inside and out. Not WD-40 its too thin. I also work with electronics so i have a hugh supply of desiccant(adsorbs moisture from the air) so i stick a big bag of it in a plastic bowl on top of the engine before i seal it up. hope you can aleat use some of this.