OK, today I finished all my faffing about and I think my pinto is ready to fire up for the first time!

How do I go about firing up an engine that has been sitting for about 6 weeks with no oil? I've heard people mention pouring oil into the cylinders etc.

I'm a bit worried about 2 things - since the engine hasn't had any oil for over a month I'm guessing it will be pretty dry, how do I make sure all parts are lubricated? (cylinders etc)

Secondly, I'm guessing the engine will be without fuel until the pump can suck some through, is it OK to just run the engine on the starter until the fuel reaches the engine?

Finally, anything else I should be aware of before I turn the key?

Thanks in advance

Pete

[Edited on 3/6/04 by scoobyis2cool]

At the very least take the plugs out and crank it for a while to get some oil around the engine, give it a fighting chance please.

quote:

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Originally posted by Viper
At the very least take the plugs out and crank it for a while to get some oil around the engine, give it a fighting chance please.

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being a pinto another good idea would be to pull the rocker box off and coat the cam with oil, when you crank it make sure oil is coming out all of the holes in the spray bar before you attempt to fire it up.

cranking it on the starter shouldnt do it any harm assuming it is alright to start with, have you a oil pressure guage? you should see the pressure rise straight away.

No I haven't got a pressure gauge, I'm afraid I don't know much about engines so I'm a bit worried about firing it up. While I'm cranking it on the starter how can I tell if the oil is flowing OK without the use of a pressure gauge? How long would you recommend cranking it for before i put the plugs back in and try to fire it for real?

Thanks,

Pete

If you remove the rocker box you will see oil coming out of the spray bar (tube that runs above the camshaft, squirts oil onto cam) while you are cranking it, when this happens you know oil is circulating the engine, before you do this i would suggest you remove the oil filter and fill it with oil, after all every little helps.

the only points I would add to what VIPER has already said is when you remove plugs, squirt a couple of shots of oil down the bores and spin the engine on the starter for about 10 seconds,Another tip to save turning it over for a long time on starter/battery pour a few millilitres of fuel down the carb ,After you have refitted the plugs your engine will run on this for a few seconds each time you do it until the fuel is sucked through from the tank
good luck!

having the plugs out also makes it spin easier, so the battery lasts longer than if you just unplug the coil lead.

i did it as these gentlemen suggest, it works fine. I actually cranked it for about 30secs, but i also then needed a charger!

hey up,

when i kicked up my xflow for the 1st time i cranked it over as discussed above but wired up the low oil pressure light so when the light went out i had a fair idea that all was well oiled, also handy to keep the light wired up just incase oil pressure drops you can knock the engine off....... oh an have a big fire extinguisher to hand the blue powder are the best for fuel fires, not that it will be needed!

all the best mate

bob

Yeah lets hope I won't need an extinguisher! Thanks for all the help guys, one last question - when should I put fuel in the tank? If I just crank the engine without the plugs and it starts sucking oil through will it just flood the cylinders? Should i wait until the oil is circulating before putting and petrol in?

Thanks

Pete

it takes a lot of cranking to fill the fuel pipe. i would start it all off at once, but not use the throttle. then the oil will be circulated and the fuel will be filling the float chamber, and the battery might still have enough life in it to start it all up!