What steps should i take to get my 91 RS Running again. Long story short i parked my 91 about 5 years ago with the intention of just storing it over the winter, life gets in the way and it hasnt moved since. Well i am ready to get it runining again for the summer.

What should be done? When i parked it, there was no problems and it ran fine. Its 1991 RS auto with the 305 TBI.

I am thining new battery, pump out the old fuel and top off with new, pull plugs and put some oil down the cylinders. Any other suggestions?

 

Get an oil pump primer, chuck it into a drill, set your crank so the mark on the damper is at TDC on the timing tabmark your distributor and intake with a sharpie, pull the distributor cap, mark the casting and the rotor, pull the dist. run the oil pump primer, slowly turn the crank exactly 720 degrees while running the primer, then reassemble.

 

Sometimes TBI injectors will stick if inactive for a few
years-a few taps on top or a brief hit of a full 12v at
the injector will usually free them up.

 

How much fuel is in it? If it is less than 1/4, just add five-ten gallons of the LOWEST octane fresh fuel you can get, and NOT high octane. Lower octane fuel is more volatile.

Verify the coolant and transmission oil levels.

Clean out the intake tract of insects, rodents, and aliens.

I wouldn't bother priming via the oil pump. Make sure the oil level is full, pull the plugs and fog the chambers, then crank it repeatedly with the plugs out to purge oil, build gauge pressure, and make sure everything spins freely with no chance of starting. Once you achieve gauge pressure a few times, it should be safe to install the plugs and fire it - Idle only.

Once started, let it warm to temperature unless something goes wrong. Shut it off when it's at full temperature and check for leaks. If you didn't purge all the fogging oil by running it and there is a miss, clean or replace the plugs.

Plan on a new accessory belt, fuel filter, air filter, oil, trans oil, axle, and coolant changes, new wiper blades, new tires, coolant hoses, likely brake linings, and possibly a heater core soon.

Start driving slowly. The brakes will be rusted, wheel bearings could be brinelled or dry, transmission could be sticky, axle will be dry, etcetera.

 

Priming isn't difficult, only takes a half hour, and I've rebuilt so many engines that weren't primed.

 

I probably built fewer than a lot of people here, but I'll go one step further. Every engine I've ever had to rebuild was not primed. I wonder if there is some correlation. Every engine I've recovered for a custom build has also not been primed. Now you have me thinking abut that. Come to think of it, every engine I've ever had has not been primed. Some needed a rebuild after only 300,000 miles, too. I guess the factory should have primed them when they first started them. Maybe they would have lasted longer.

I'm not arguing. Priming is certainly not a bad idea, but to do it effectively you need a priming tool, just as you suggested, and not just a distributor drive shaft. Without sealing the oil passages in the lifter galleries the whole thing does nothing but exercise the oil pump.

Short of that, disabling the ignition and removing the plugs is pretty safe. I would be far less concerned over the rod, main, and cam bearings than the rings. And priming does nothing for the rings, timing set, valve stems, wrist pins, distributor gears, and lifters. Still, if you can borrow or get the primer cheaply, it can't hurt.

 

You should never prime an engine that's freshly built with assembly lube. Priming those is a bad idea. Fully the first 2 years of my career as an automotive machinist was disassembling engines, mostly SBCs, and discussing my findings with the shop owner, and being present when he discussed it with the engine's owner. That's my background. I'm not trying to compete, I just answered what you should do, not what you can get by without doing.

 

Point taken, and well made. Any inside hints on how to solve the potential ring problems? I've had moderate success with penetrating oil, followed by 20W, and re-application after initially cranking the engine. It's a bit risky either way, and cracking a ring is never a good time.

 

Vader, what do you mean by fogging the chambers? As far as fuel level, i am not sure. The car is not at my house so when i go by this week i will have to check. If it has more gas then a quarter tank, i should pump it out?

 

If there was a hood, an air cleaner with an air filter, and a catalytic converter, I just squirt a very little oil in through the spark-plug holes before priming. Priming is easier with the plugs out anyway. If no air cleaner with filter, then there may be rings rusted top the cylinders, and try penetrating oil.

 

vader, can you explain the rationale of using only low octane fuel? is it that it will burn easier with the stale gas that is in the car? just wondering.

 

Yes, when i parked it everything was intact. (Hood, air cleaner, etc)

 

I had my '83 Z28 sitting for 30 months. Like you I never planned on it sitting that long and it ran great when I put it away. What I did: I have a mechanic that works on my vehicles, the only person I trust to work on my Z28. I had it towed to his shop. He made sure it had all the fluids. (Oil, water/coolant) He looked over everything, belts and all that to see if he spotted anything obvious that might be wrong. He put a battery in it and it fired right up, got it inside the garage. He then changed the oil, coolant and transmission fluid,changed the air filter, he also rotated the tires.
He said when he first started it it smoked alittle, but after it ran a couple minutes it stopped smoking.
Later that day I took it out and used up most of the old gas that was in it and filled it up with new.
I would follow a similiar proceedure if I were you, as was said before maybe prime the engine with oil before starting it.
My Z28 has sat several summers in the past and I never had a problem with it starting back up.