Thread: Car has been parked for an extended period of time...

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I did a search expecting this had been asked before, but I didn't find anything.

I recently picked up a '63 Merc with a 390 engine. The battery is dead, and the car has not been run in a LONG time (prior owner guessed at 6years or more).

The tank had previously been drained and a new carb installed so I dont think bad gas will be an issue.

So far, I'm thinking:

1. Change the oil
2. change the spark plugs
3. check all the plug/coil wires for damage or corrosion and replace as needed.
4. add a small amount of thin oil (I've read about Marvel Mystery Oil) to the cylinders
5. install a new battery, and check all existing wiring for damage/corrosion
6. when ready, remove spark plugs and attempt to slowly turn the motor by hand using a breaker bar.
7. check fuel filter and replace if needed.
8. add gas to the tank, and to the carb
9. install plugs and see if she will start.

I've also read elsewhere that priming can be done to get oil pressure up before rotating the engine allowing the oil to get everywhere it needed to be. What steps are involved with this on a 390?

Should I fill the carb with gas, or just the tank and use starting fluid in the carb?

I'm hoping I wont do something stupid that will cause me to have to rebuild the engine. I'm still debating a modern drivetrain, but I'd like the car running before I make that decision.

Oh and also ... anything I should be concerned with regarding the automatic trans if the engine does fire up? I dont just want to drop it into drive if I should be changing filter/fluids there too...

Thanks in advance!

~ Richard

They are gonna tell ya to pull the distributor, and run the oil pump with a hand drill.

Personally, I think that if you disable the ignition, and crank it for 30 seconds ( after adding a squirt of marvel mystery oil to the cylinders ) that you will be fine.

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Personally, I think that if you disable the ignition, and crank it for 30 seconds ( after adding a squirt of marvel mystery oil to the cylinders ) that you will be fine.

With the plugs out, but then I just use a light weight oil & put a couple of squirts in each cylinder & never have had a problem even starting a 1940 Chevy 6cylinder mtr that sat for over well over 30yrs outside......

Put whatever oil you'll be using in the cylinders & let it sit for a couple of days. Then try to turn it over w/the breaker bar. I normally turn the mtr over clockwise a bit & then turn it counter clockwise & continue to repeat but turn the mtr over a little more each time IF it will let you. Don't be afraid to add more oil before you first start it up. Once the mtr will turn over freely, then put the battery in & let the starter do the work. Plus it will push out any extra oil that maybe still in the cylinders. I'd use the starter to turn it over in 30 second shots a couple of times.
You could just use a gas can for a small fuel cell w/some hose going to the fuel pump but be sure to keep it far enough away from the carb incase the mtr backfires, you DON'T want to burn the car & yourself up. Personally I'd pull thetank & check it, nothing worse then fighting trash getting into your carb...joe

Thanks for the info guys. I haven't had the time so far to work on it that I wanted, but hopefully will do some this weekend. I post up to let ya know how it goes.

I fired my old '51 Chevy 235 up the week after I got it ( hadn't run in 8 yrs ).. changed oil and condensor, checked plugs and wires. new battery.. spun it till the oil preassure came up, then put a little gas down the carb and hit the ignition.. purred like a kitten, even on the old gas, and runs even nicer on good gas. brakes held preassure so I even took it for a short spin that day

well, I pulled the plugs and they were sorta rusty on the outside but otherwise spotless. Not sure the car has even been run on them.
put some mystery oil in the cylinders and let that sit. changed the oil (looked ok). I tried to turn the engine by hand using a socket/breaker bar but I couldnt seem to get it to budge. It had an old battery so I took it to get charged. Even after the charge, the battery was crap. I figured with the plugs out it might still crank slowly. No dice...

So I picked up a new battery and hooked that up... got the engine to turn, but its making an odd clank sound. Not sure if I should pull the valve covers and look for a stuck valve (maybe the piston is hitting it when it comes up?) or what else I should check. It seems to be coming from the driver's side rear. I'm HOPING that the prior owner wasn't withholding something...

Any input would be appreciated.

Oh yeah, another quirk is that the dome light/footwell lights come on right away when the battery is connected. Other than the door switch, I dont see where those are turned on? (I'm used to much newer cars - lol)

the headlight switch.. if you turn the knob all the way to the right, you will feel a click, and the domes will come on.. dash dimmers work by turning the knob also, but to dim them, you turn to the left

I did try that, but I will try again tomorrow. Thanks!

Originally Posted by gun4hire

well, I pulled the plugs and they were sorta rusty on the outside but otherwise spotless. Not sure the car has even been run on them.
put some mystery oil in the cylinders and let that sit. changed the oil (looked ok). I tried to turn the engine by hand using a socket/breaker bar but I couldnt seem to get it to budge. It had an old battery so I took it to get charged. Even after the charge, the battery was crap. I figured with the plugs out it might still crank slowly. No dice...

So I picked up a new battery and hooked that up... got the engine to turn, but its making an odd clank sound. Not sure if I should pull the valve covers and look for a stuck valve (maybe the piston is hitting it when it comes up?) or what else I should check. It seems to be coming from the driver's side rear. I'm HOPING that the prior owner wasn't withholding something...

Any input would be appreciated.

I guess my thoughts would be to STOP trying to turn the engine over with a battery. If it's making a clanking sound, something isn't right and continuing to try to start it could do serious damage to what may or may not be a good engine.... Seems it would be better to take the engine apart and check things rather then risk breaking a bunch of parts........

Yea, although I'm new to working on a car of this age I have been working on cars for awhile. I only cranked it a short burst at a time and stopped when I heard the noise.

One thing that I found odd yesterday when changing the oil was that the oil filter was bone dry. I'm wondering if the car was parked because of an engine problem (oil pump failure?) and the seller didn't tell me anything about it.

I really didnt want to put much money into the engine. I put new oil and replaced the filter anyway yesterday. It was only cranked a few times. If I drain the oil again and check the filter, shouldn't there be some sign of oil in the filter already?

Is there anything else I can inspect at this point before tearing down what I had hoped was a good motor?

Thanks again!

You should at least take off the valve covers and see if you have a stuck valve or lifter.

Originally Posted by Blow by

You should at least take off the valve covers and see if you have a stuck valve or lifter.

Considering I thought I heard the sound on the drivers side down low, I debated draining the oil and checking the rods... however, the valve covers were easier so that's what I did.

I pulled the passenger side cover to find the following:


The red "arrows" (hey, I did that with my camera - lol) show where I have two bent pushrods. All the other pushrods appeared to be fine. So at this point I'm wondering if the corresponding valves are so stuck that they bent the pushrods? after I removed all the pushrods I was able to hear the motor rotate without any strange noises, so I'm guessing the bottom end is good. I was able to watch in the spark plug holes the pistons move up and down.

Overall, I had a productive afternoon.

After some oil and some tapping on the valves, I'm able to get all of them moving. On the two indicated though, they will compress then rebound slowly. I've got them coated in some of the marvels mystery oil and want to see if they improve.

Has anyone done the same, or am I wasting time when I should just yank the heads and take 'em to the machine shop?

Thanks again guys!

I had a '65 Rambler with a 196 ( solid lifter engine ) that had 1 sticky valve. stuck open once long enough that when the preassure was let off the pushrod, the pushrod slipped out from under the rocker and caused a dead cylinder.. soloution was to put it back togther, adjust the valves and hold preassure on the rocker with my finger while it was running, until it freed up... this should work for you too but it really should get taken care of.. in my case, it was a daily driver, that was ( at the time ) arleady laid up too long.