Technical Restarting after standing for a year

[Tasmanian Panda]

Hi all,

Hoping for some tips/advice from you wonderful people! I'm hoping someone on here might have some experience that they would be willing to share.

My 1992 pandy (999cc, I think he has a fire engine) broke down about this time last year long story short, I think we have now fixed the original problem (distributor/ distributor cap), but when we attempted to start him he was having none of it. He was turning over, but didn't have quite enough oomph to actually start. He has been stood outside all year, in all weathers. I did take the battery off and put it on charge before we attempted to start him, but the battery was only on charge for a couple of hours. So battery might be the problem. I'm also worried his engine will have seized up over the last year. Is there anyway I can check if it has seized up? If there is, and it has, is there anything I can do to un-seize it?

Has anyone got any success stories of getting a car running again after this length of time? (Please!) He's fun to drive & I really don't want to send him to the scrapyard in the sky just yet

Thanks

 

[firstcar-Y10]

Is it a carb model? If so probably just not enough juice in the battery to get fuel in, needs to crank for a while to pump fuel back through the system to the carb if it's been standing for that long. Charge the battery again or ideally get a jump from another car or battery and turn it over some more until fuel gets there - you can smell it coming through (or not) if you take the airbox off. If it's injected, no, should fire straight up.
If it is turning over on the starter then it's not seized - a seized engine won't turn at all.

 

[FDNY21]

Firstcar pretty much nailed it there, I'd charge the battery for longer if you've only gone for a couple hours. Worth a shot anyway, and after that you could try the jump.

There's plenty of people who have got all sorts of cars going after much worse than that so I'm sure there's a fix, it will just take some fault finding. As with most things with these cars, just spend a little (or much more) time and effort and hope you get there with it!

If everything did go 100% pear shaped and you really can't get it running, wouldn't be scrapo material anyway - sounds like it was in good nick before so 1.2 engine swap could be on the cards or something But in all honesty I don't think it should come down to that, there is something wrong obviously so once it's found and corrected, it should be fine!

 

[Michael Dranfield]

Battery sulphates due to standing.i would just buy a new battery.

 

[northernchap]

If I leave my car for even a week or two, it takes a while pumping the throttle to get the fuel through enough for it to start up, as firstcar-Y10 says. If it is turning over then that's a good sign, next would be to make sure you have fuel and spark - fully charged battery will help here. If it has been stood for a while the fuel might be a bit dubious too but you should at least be able to start it even if it runs a bit rough.

 

[kolza]

Squirt of fresh fuel directly into carb top should bring it to live, but the best would be to disconnect the fuel IN/OUT lines ( if carbed) and use plastic bottle as small circuit.

 

[Tasmanian Panda]

Phew! That gives me hope!

I'll give it a go with a full charged battery & then try a new battery if that doesn't work. I replaced the battery not too long ago, so hopefully a full charge will be enough.
I'll wait till The Boss (my dad, who knows what he's doing much better than I do!) comes home from his hols. If I try it myself I'm bound to do something wrong & break it more I think he's an injector model so charge battery & cross fingers! Might put some fresh fuel in too....
Is it worth double checking spark plugs (& spark plug gaps)? I think when he last started, he started without too much effort.... Anything else I/we should double check before attempting to start?

FDNY21 - I think 'good nick' is subjective! he ran, so I suppose that is good nick for a 23/24 year old car! His doors need repairing/replacing though - our old friend rust! He did get through his last MOT with no faults, not even an advisory!!

Thanks for the advice. Will give it a go & let you know how we get on

 

[FDNY21]

Is it worth double checking spark plugs (& spark plug gaps)? I think when he last started, he started without too much effort.... Anything else I/we should double check before attempting to start?

FDNY21 - I think 'good nick' is subjective! he ran, so I suppose that is good nick for a 23/24 year old car! His doors need repairing/replacing though - our old friend rust! He did get through his last MOT with no faults, not even an advisory!!

Thanks for the advice. Will give it a go & let you know how we get on

As northernchap said, make sure you have fuel and spark. It's always worth checking on the spark plugs, even if it's just to make sure they're there and in good shape

Okay, part assumption on my part with good nick there then... the good old friend rust always seems to come to town with the old Fiats! Either cut it out/deox gel treat it or just leave it as is, but you can get onto that later if you have to, engine is priority. Can't say I know the condition of your bodywork so suppose I shouldn't comment there...

Good luck with it, and hopefully it gets running soon!

 

[fettlerwal]

hi , my spi 93 sat for 14 years and that is on the road now , bit of a bugger to get going but got there so dont give up

 

[northernchap]

One thing as well - if it definitely did run before, then be methodical - stick to checking the basics first, and one at a time - the last thing you want to do is take a car which was almost running, and bugger up a load of other things by going at it randomly - trust me, I know this from experience! Mark anything you remove so you know you put it back correctly, change one thing at a time and test for any change (it might not fix the problem, but if it changes the symptoms it might indicate you're on the right track). Good luck!