motor has been sitting 12 years. Proper way to get it started

fourwheelinj1

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Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Location
Raleigh
My recent Jeep Scrambler purchase has been sitting for 12 years with the transmission out for a clutch replacement. I am working on replacing the clutch and I am wondering about what needs to be done to properly try and start an engine that has been sitting for that long. Do I need to do any cylinder pre-oiling or prime the oil pump manually or anything like that?
 
Priming oil system is a must, you will need to make sure rockers are oiling correctly. I always turn the motor by hand while priming oil to make sure everything is oiling correctly. Good luck.
 
Are you referring to priming by pulling the distributor and using a drill to turn the oil pump and turning crank by hand at the same time?
 
Like SOS said, priming is a must.
Personally, a couple days before trying to crank it, I will pull the spark plugs and shoot Marvel Mystery Oil or ATF in the plug holes with a squirt bottle. You want to repeat daily several times to let it free the rings and give the clyd walls some lube to crank on. Hang rags over the open plug holes and blow the excess out while you roll the engine over by hand. (Dont ask me how I learned the rag trick.), After you know its all freed up, pull the coil wire off and crank the engine over to build steady pressure. Like SOS said, I would do it untill I saw oil coming from the pushrods/rocker assemblies. You should be able to watch thru the fill hole in the valve cover with a flashlight.
Just my little 2 cents, hope it helps!
 
nctom said:
I will pull the spark plugs and shoot Marvel Mystery Oil or ATF in the plug holes with a squirt bottle.
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Marvels Mystery oil FTW. I would definately do this step. It would be a safe guess that the carburetor will not work properly but thats another story. What these guys have said should get you in the ballpark. Also dont force the motor to turn over if it doesnt want to even by hand. Could possibly break the rings or a piston. Good luck.
 
Scrambler?
258?
If so...you may eb money and time ahead to find a good running alternate and just swap it. 12 yars is a LOONG time.
 
I always use a small lawnmower gas tank under the hood, so you don't pull any trash up in the fuel system. And use Mixed Gas(50:1). If you combine this method with the ones listed above, you cant go wrong.
 
Yeah the scrambler has the stock 258 which I plan on swapping for a fuel injected 4.0 in a year or two, but the 258 only has 90k miles on it so I am going to try and revive it. So it sounds like you guys are saying to oil the cylinders rotate by hand and then crank it over with the starter with the coil wire remove. So these methods should prime it good enough? Someone else was trying to tell me to remove the distributor and turn the oil pump with an electric drill, but I wasn't sure that works with the 258. I have a freshly rebuilt motorcraft 2100 just sitting in the shop so I figure I'll put that on the replace the crappy carter.
 
Priming the pump with the starter does a better job cause it rolls over all the components and lubes them while you prime.
 
nctom said:
Priming the pump with the starter does a better job cause it rolls over all the components and lubes them while you prime.
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Devil's advocate..if the rings are flash rusted to the cylinders they will snap when you bump the starter..hence why dump marvel's mysetry oil through the spark plug hole.
 
Well I have read a lot about this and some people suggest Marvel Mystery Oil, PB blaster, others say Kerosene and ATF. If the rings are rusted to the cylinder then wouldn't a penetrating oil like PB plaster work better? Maybe MMO is a penetrating oil I am just not familiar with it. Right now my plan is to remove plugs put some MMO or PB baster in the cylinder so I can rotate it by hand. How much oil (MMO or PB) should i put in each cylinder?
 
fourwheelinj1 said:
Well I have read a lot about this and some people suggest Marvel Mystery Oil, PB blaster, others say Kerosene and ATF.
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My guess by analyzing MM oil is that it IS a combo of kerosene and ATF? You can kinda smell the kerosene base and you can feel the oily fluid from it. But the ingredients remain a secret...

I keep a small vat of kerosene in my shop to clean greasy parts. I've noticed how it also lubes the rust as it cleans. But you can shine old parts right up with the stuff and it's not as toxic as other cleaning fluids. I've stored it for a very long time in plastic containers and it doesn't seem to eat it like gas or such?
I found out the other day that ATF eats plastic when I noticed some ATF spilled out on a storage shelf. Found 3 out of 8 quarts had pin holes. Was stored approximately 5 years for a project that got filled early to salvage what ATF was left. But the plastic bottles was extremely weak feeling. You could fold it and roll it at any point with 2 fingers. My kerosene fetching jug is over 15 years old and holding up fine.

That said, be sure to check tranny fluids if it's an auto. Could have ate the seals up and leaked out. And never turn motor by starter without primed and by hand first. It will kill bearings as well as the rings as mentioned.
 
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