Car Won't Run After Storage

K

KFRG

New Member

Jan 6, 2004

41

0

0

May 3, 2009

#1

• May 3, 2009

• #1

Hey guys,
I stored my fox back in the fall and went to go get her roadworthy recently and ran into some trouble. When I put the car into storage I squirted some 10W30 into the cylinders and hand cranked it a few times. Before I started her for the first time I did the same and attempted to start her up. The car started and quickly died and would not start again unless I kept my foot on the gas. I thought ok, mabye I put too much oil in the cylinders and fouled the plugs. Week later I bought a new set of plugs, stuck them in but with the same result. What gives?
I also notice smoke coming only from the passengers side bank of cylinders, which I thought was odd since I did this to all 8 cylinders. With my foot on the gas the car seemed to run ok around 1K, mabye a slight miss, but as soon as I took my foot off of the gas due to the amount of smoke it died.

Thanks guys.

 

KamiKaziDK

Member

May 16, 2005

555

0

17

Mesa, Az

May 3, 2009

#2

• May 3, 2009

• #2

It's probably fuel man, put in a new fuel filter...smell your gas tank and make sure there's not bad gas, and listen to make sure your fuel pump is priming

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

31,179

33

129

May 3, 2009

#3

• May 3, 2009

• #3

Consider your IAC is gummed up and needs to be cleaned and/or replaced.

An exhaust leak on the passenger side could allow smoking.

 

wythors

Get off my lawn!!!

Founding Member

May 17, 2000

2,277

35

69

C Addle

May 3, 2009

#4

• May 3, 2009

• #4

If you didn't put any fuel stabilizer in it in the fall, you gas has probably gone bad. You'll need to drain the tank, change the filter and probably clean the injectors as well. Gasoline starts to gel after a few months and will really f--- things up if you don't use StaBil or something like it for long term storage.

 

K

KFRG

New Member

Jan 6, 2004

41

0

0

May 3, 2009

#5

• May 3, 2009

• #5

Thanks for the responses guys. I had added Stabil to a full tank of gas and drove the car for a few miles right before topping it off again and putting it away. I also changed the fuel filter last summer. The fuel pump is also running, can hear it when I turn the key to accessory.
How would I know if the gas has gone bad, what does it smell like? And if I had to drain the tank in my garage, how would I go about doing that without making a mess?
HISS, I was thinking of the IAC as well since the car wont idle, just weird how it can go bad from just sitting in a garage for a few months.

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

31,179

33

129

May 3, 2009

#6

• May 3, 2009

• #6

Though neither here nor there, I've not treated gas and started vehicles over a year later without issue. Different climates and gas mixtures create variables.

IACs can get sticky after non-use, especially if they were not cleaned before winterizing. Whatever crud was on them (oil/fuel vapor, etc) gunks them up. If you can get it running long enough, it might start to free up on its own (if that's the issue in the first place).

 

K

KFRG

New Member

Jan 6, 2004

41

0

0

May 3, 2009

#7

• May 3, 2009

• #7

Thanks Hiss. I'll clean the IAC and TB. So I guess I just unscrew the IAC and go to town with some carb cleaner?
Any other ideas on what could be my problem? Again, the car will run somewhat normal with my foot on the gas, but as soon as I let go, she dies which points to the IAC. Also, the first crank the car will start then quickly die, then all further attempts to start just leave the starter whizzing away.

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

31,179

33

129

May 3, 2009

#8

• May 3, 2009

• #8

IAC is a good place to start.

I fill them with throttle body cleaner and let them marinate. Then I rinse and repeat. I clean the guts with cotton swabs (you get sludge out of them).

 

Turd Tops

New Member

Apr 9, 2009

103

0

0

South Lyon , Michigan

May 3, 2009

#9

• May 3, 2009

• #9

I'm calling BS on the bad fuel thing. I have a 66 Impala that has been in the family sence new. It has been stored every winter sence 73. There has never been any kind of fuel additive added to store it. It gets parked in the garage in the fall and never touched untill summer. I just prime the carb and start it up. There has never been a problem starting it ever. Plus with todays gasoline i would'nt worry about gas going bad for about 2 years unless water finds it's way in the tank. Do not get me wrong. I do not condone storing a car that way at all. If someone were to ask i would say add stabil to it. I have used it in my boat before and after sitting 5 years it fired right up. Not to be silly or anything but i would start by looking in the air cleaner. I have a mouse make a nest in my winter beater bronco and had almost the same problem. It would run with my foot on the gas but would die when left to idle. I drained the tank of fuel and added new fuel, changed the pump and filter and it changed nothing. Thats when i found the nest in the air cleaner box.

 

KamiKaziDK

Member

May 16, 2005

555

0

17

Mesa, Az

May 4, 2009

#10

• May 4, 2009

• #10

Depends where you live man, I've had gas go bad in 6/7 months for whatever reason here in phx before. But it does sound like that's not the case here, bad gas doesn't smell like good gas, lol, that's the only way I can think of explaining that. My car is up on stands right now with the tank dropped cause the the gas went bad after just 1 year, so I have to clean out my tank and it ruined my fuel pump as well. Does it struggle real bad to get to the 1k rpms??

 

K

KFRG

New Member

Jan 6, 2004

41

0

0

May 5, 2009

#11

• May 5, 2009

• #11

Hey man,
Again, the car will only run with my foot on the gas, but will sit around any RPM fine. I had it at 1K for about a minute until the smoke got to be too much for my garage.
I'll clean the TB and IAC, and let you guys know how that goes. BTW, which specific vacuum hoses should I check?

Thanks.

 

KamiKaziDK

Member

May 16, 2005

555

0

17

Mesa, Az

May 5, 2009

#12

• May 5, 2009

• #12

the ones coming off the firewall that go to your intake an other various things. Also, clean up your MAF. Are you cats heating up a bunch after running it?

 

S

SetofAces

New Member

Jan 22, 2009

103

0

0

SF Bay Area

May 5, 2009

#13

• May 5, 2009

• #13

KFRG said:

How would I know if the gas has gone bad, what does it smell like? And if I had to drain the tank in my garage, how would I go about doing that without making a mess?

Click to expand...

Bad gas usually smells like varnish . . . as for emptying the tank, you can get a cheap hand pump at your local hardware store and drain it into a gas can, you might not be able to get every last drop out this way but probably enough to make a difference if this is indeed your problem.