So recently I’ve been working on my fathers 3rd gen camaro, he passed away in 2000. Last time I remember it running was early 07. my grandfather moved it out of our garage then tucked it in the corner to fit some of our old appliances. I’m now 21 and it hasn’t been daily driven since the day my father passed. I cleaned the entire garage out, jacked the car up and put it on wheel dollies and moved it to the center. There was fluid on the ground more specifically oil. I know it’s leaked from the seals throughout the years. The other day I drained the oil and had about 4 quarts come out. filled it back up, pulled the spark plugs and shot some PB blaster in each hole. Drivetrain has only 58k on it, but due to being in the north where the weather changes all the time and fall/winter suck, it’s seen it’s fair share of rust and age not being in a climate controlled storage and sitting without being started. I need some advice on how I should go about flushing the block, and starting the car. I drained the Rad, There is green coolant still in the hose running along the passenger side of the engine, what’s the best way to flush it out?Connect a garden hose with light flowing water and catch it on the other side? I plan on throwing some marvel in with the new oil, pulling the distributor and buying the oil pump primer tool and using that after I turn the crank on the engine a few rotations. The gas gauge reads less than a quarter of a tank of gas but I haven’t bought a battery yet and that reading may be wrong, should I try siphon the tank before putting some gas in there and should I even trust the lines?

Thanks if you have questions feel free to ask

 

Okay, first thing, I personally wouldn't pull that distributor out. There could be a hundred reasons why it may not start and we can probably safely assume the timing will be good enough to get it running, so I wouldn't pull it just in case it may become a headache later. I would make sure to fill up the oil filter with oil before screwing it on though. If the coolant still looks bright green, it probably won't hurt to keep it in until after you get the car started. Since you already drained it though, I'd just fill up with water for the time being. The best way to truly flush the block would be to remove the water pump and shoot water through the ports until it comes out clear. Then you would shoot water through the oil cooler (if it has one), heater core, etc. Don't trust the gauges with the engine off. When you get a battery, disconnect the fuel line going into the rails and lead it into a decent size container. Key on the vehicle and listen for the fuel pump whine. If the gauge is working, it'll now show the correct(ish) amount of fuel in the tank. Inspect the gas that comes out and note its condition. Make sure there's no rust or contaminants in it. If you find it to be clean, siphon the tank, change the fuel filter, and then fill it with fresh gas. If it looks bad you're going to want to pull the tank and asses. If the latter happens you could always rig up a fuel tank and pump to try and get the engine running before you spend more time and money.

 

First off thanks for your reply,

I will definitely fill the oil filter when I install it, I probably should’ve thrown one in when I put fresh oil in it but oh well at least it’s got some good stuff sitting in there for now.
I’ll top everything off with water, The overflow was dried up and the radiator was less than halfway full, the coolant has a bit of a dark green color to it, but still didn’t look bad at all when I drained the radiator. I honestly expected worse hence why I went ahead and did that.

Just to clarify: disconnect the line where it meets the rail so it isn’t being sent through the lines into the injectors etc?

 

You're welcome. Glad to help.

Correct. You don't want old gas that might have rust and other gross stuff in it being sent to the injectors. Hope we'll see it running soon!

 

Don't fill it with water. People are always forgetting they put water in some project, then when it freezes before it's switched back, the project is worse off.

 

Great point! So many times people intend to add antifreeze before winter and never get around to it.

 

Welcome Aboard!
First, what year vehicle is this? There are differences which may be relevant.

This kind of recovery has been explained numerous times, and there are always exceptions, but the basic points are still valid.

Remove ALL the fuel you possibly can. Add up to five gallons of LOW octane E-10 fuel with NO other "magic bullet" additives, with the exception of two-cycle oil at up to a 50:1 ratio. Adding more fuel than that may only mean you have to remove all that in order to drop the tank. Adding less than that may risk cooling of the fuel pump, which is going to be working hard until the system gets cleaned out. The 2-stroke oil can actually help the fuel pump, and help the injector pintles, as well as emulsifying water in the fuel system to allow the fuel filter to do its job better.

Familiarize yourself with the fuel filter location and mounting, since you may be changing a couple of them soon.

Flush what you can from the cooling system without getting too deeply involved, and refill with a 50% mix of coolant concetrate and clean water - No need for distilled water in this case. It is VERY likely you will be doing it again well before the 3 year interval for ethylene glycol coolant anyway.

After filling the cooling system, keep the radiator cap LOOSE for intial startup and operation to avoid building system pressure. The old head and intake gaskets may not like the stress until they have been exposed to coolant and have had a few thermal cycles.

Replace the engine oil that was drained with regular 10W-30 mineral oil initially. Pay NO attention to the marking on the oil filler cap, and read the owner's manual instead, since it provides the REAL story on proper oil viscosity ranges at given temperatures. Keep a spare oil filter or two on hand as well.

Eventtually, the transmission oil, rear axle oil, brake fluid, and power steering hydraulic oil will need to be changed, not to mention hoses and belt(s). Initially, those can be left as is provided the levels are correct.

Instead of pulling the distributor and priming the oil system, simply leave the new plugs out and crank the engine when the new battery is installed. Once it has been cranked numerous times and oil is flowing, it may be safe to install plugs and attempt to start it.

 

gotcha! that wouldn’t be good. I hope too

 

it is a 1986 3rd gen camaro.
I have read read up on some posts from others in similar situations, but for my own sake I’d rather ask what I can now, as the responses I have seen have differed a lot between replies and those threads are old.

What is the best way to siphon the gas? And Also, which is the best way to flush a majority of the old coolant, should I just use a hose and run it through?

I will look into the finding the owners manual, I am not sure we still have one. But worst case I bet there’s a pdf somewhere I can use instead.

Thanks

 

Remind me why the low octane gas?

 

Haha must be my California talking. I could run straight water in the thing and probably never worry about freezing.

 

Lol, I wish I could do that man. I’m in New England, weather and temps sometimes fluctuate like you wouldn’t believe throughout the seasons. But with summer it stays hot. It will be till late Sept, early October.

 

Don't waste a minute of time trying to treat the gas, just be prepared & buy a replacement tank, filter , pump and sending unit,....... I';m fairly certain you're going to need them. Also be prepared to deal with/replace some of the fuel lines; might get lucky, but after sitting so long there's a good chance they will need to be replaced after you start touching them. This is what (one of my) my sending unit looked like after sitting for 7 years with "treated" gas in it. ( My tank was saved,... but It would have been faster and about the same cost to simply replace it. ) Sending unit sure looked like it was in GREAT shape when it was installed; but looks can be deceiving !!

 

Low octane is more volatile, which is why it has a tendency to preignite more easily. That higher volatility can also help dissolve what remains of the old fuel, which is probably by now something more like mineral spirits with water than gasoline. Any of that left in the system could be more easily dissolved by more volatile fuel. The whole intent is to pump out all the old fuel as much as possible and push whatever contaminants remaining to the fuel filter. If the pump still runs, it could work well enough to accomplish that. I've recovered some vehicles sitting longer than that with REALLY old fuel, and found that if the EVAP system worked at all, it can be a great help in keeping water out over a decade or more of storage.

 

Don't siphon the gas, use the fuel pump to pump it out of the tank.
On the OBD diagnostic port you can connect a couple terminals and run the pump. Not sure which to connect, thinking a 12volt jumper to terminal G powers the pump direct. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.