Bringin' it back to life

My '88 motorhome's been sitting for about 15 months and I'm about ready to get it back on the road. It's got a 318 with single point fuel injection and I'm concerned about the old gas getting gummy or losing octane or "whatever" and causing problems on startup. Also wondering if the oil may have run down and left bearing surfaces dry that should be lubricated. Thinking about pulling the coil wire and spinning the engine to get some oil pressure before lightin' it up.

Any thoughts, advice, experience or warnings would be much appreciated!

BC

15 months, I'm guessing the fuel has varnished, so to speak.

I would pump it out and add fresh gas, flush the fuel line at least up to the pump.

Pull the distributor and prime the engine using a drill and a rod that goes down into the pump, while turning the engine by hand using a socket and ratchet on the balancer bolt a few turns.

Get it started, warmed up and then change the oil.

Pull the coil wire and crank till you get pressure and then fire it.

If the fuel is still liquid (which I'll bet it is) add some fresh fuel with a bottle of injector cleaner.

I know I wouldn't go through all that priming and turning stuff after only 15 months.

Changing the oil after warmup is a good suggestion.

My brother bought a car off of our neighbor that used to be her dad's and she finally sold it (hoarder). It sat for 6-8 years without being driven. We thought for sure that it would need to clean out the fuel system because the gas was so old.

My brother threw a battery in it and drove it. No problems.

Give it a try, then if it won't work, then change the gas and check the fuel system.

I've went both ways on several occasions but since this is injected, add some fresh gas to top it off and fire it. You are in Texas so it didn't go through the hot and cold cycles we have farther north so it should be fine. I've always held to the theory gas starts to break down after 6 weeks but I started and ran a $300,000 restoration a couple of weeks ago that had 3 year old gas in it! It wasn't mine and the guy was too tight to dump out a full tank of gas. It's doing fine with no fuel or carb problems showing up.

abodylurker said:

I've went both ways on several occasions but since this is injected, add some fresh gas to top it off and fire it. You are in Texas so it didn't go through the hot and cold cycles we have farther north so it should be fine. I've always held to the theory gas starts to break down after 6 weeks but I started and ran a $300,000 restoration a couple of weeks ago that had 3 year old gas in it! It wasn't mine and the guy was too tight to dump out a full tank of gas. It's doing fine with no fuel or carb problems showing up.

Click to expand...

Yep. And if there is a little residue, it will wash out with more driving as the new gas flows...


It's worth a shot to see if it will still start with the old gas, then top it off and go.... :burnout:

Thanks, Bad Sport, for the worst case process. That's pretty much what I was afraid I'd have to do. And thanks to the rest of y'all for the experience that says it doesn't need to be that thorough. The lack of heat cycling here raised my hopes about "bad gas" - I think we had 2 days this past "winter" with an official low temp of 32, and it just topped a hundred for the first time maybe three weeks ago. My big problem right now is wrestling the engine cover out from between the captain's chairs in this motorhome. May need to remove a seat, base and all. In a 28 year old vehicle, I want better access to the engine compartment than the RoadTrek folks provided. Failures happen and access is needed! But, as my old friend Mac from East Texas used to say: "If that's my big problem for today - it's a pretty good day!"

BC