Havent started her up in 4 years. To dos?

[Obioban]

Mist the cylinder walls.
Change the oil/filter
change the brake fluid
change the fuel
Check the clean side of the filter for wildlife
crank it a couple times with the coils disconnected to circulate the oil

... tires are probably dry rotted, too.

[Mr.wReckless]

Removing the plugs and misting the cylinders, then run it a bit on the starter in short bursts without plugs will spin it around nice and fast without much load with no compression. I would still hand crank it the first few revolutions though, alternatively do the 6th gear trick.

Regards

[gurpgork]

gurpgork cranking it on the starter would be my process. Recently finished rebuilding my motor and will be doing the first start up in the next few days and will be doing exactly that. Like others have said you could hand crank it few times even before spinning it on the starter just to be safe but the starter really isn't subjecting anything to much load, especially if you take the plugs out so you've got no compression.

Hey thats good to hear. That will be the route I take. I appreciate all the comments and great feedback.

[Thoglan]

gurpgork cranking it on the starter would be my process. Recently finished rebuilding my motor and will be doing the first start up in the next few days and will be doing exactly that. Like others have said you could hand crank it few times even before spinning it on the starter just to be safe but the starter really isn't subjecting anything to much load, especially if you take the plugs out so you've got no compression.

[gurpgork]

I don't think you'll be able to build enough oil pressure from the wheels, any reason you can't use the starter?

Very easy to pull the fuel pump fuse and crank it over on the starter. Pretty sure you can get the oil light to go off just from that but would be worth checking that.

I have no issue pulling the fuel pump fuse and hitting the starter. I'm just trying to figure whats the best or the best or best of the worst to get this puppy going. You guys have been great steering me in the right (kinda) direction. I'm stoked to get this thing going.

[Thoglan]

Thanks. Someone on E46Fanatics gave me a good idea to engage it in 6th and try turning with the tire. Worst case I think a few friends and me should be able to push it in 6th to manually crank it a few time.

I don't think you'll be able to build enough oil pressure from the wheels, any reason you can't use the starter?

Very easy to pull the fuel pump fuse and crank it over on the starter. Pretty sure you can get the oil light to go off just from that but would be worth checking that.

[gurpgork]

Oil light going out means you have full oil pressure. I'm saying you might *not* get enough pressure by just cranking it but cranking should still at least get some oil flowing and up in to the engine. I wouldn't necessarily crank on it for ever trying for the oil light. Not great for the starter. Take it in 5 or 10 second goes and give the starter a break between.

Fogging or oiling the cylinders as suggested can't hurt too but will require removing the top cover and plugs (certainly not a big job though).

You won't be able to manually crank from above but remove the front undertray and should be fairly easy particularly if you get the plugs out.

Thanks. Someone on E46Fanatics gave me a good idea to engage it in 6th and try turning with the tire. Worst case I think a few friends and me should be able to push it in 6th to manually crank it a few time.

[Shonky]

For the most part the car is sound. It was converted to a race prepped car in 2012 and saw track service until 2015 (engine rebuild) when limp mode issue side lined it (I'll need to deal with that after).
All fluids were replaced back in 2017 when it was last started and stowed away in my trailer. I have no issues changing out all the fluids again. I was primarily thinking about the startup procedure for a car that handnt been started in a while.

What is the significance of trying to get the Oil light to go out?

Thanks.

Oil light going out means you have full oil pressure. I'm saying you might *not* get enough pressure by just cranking it but cranking should still at least get some oil flowing and up in to the engine. I wouldn't necessarily crank on it for ever trying for the oil light. Not great for the starter. Take it in 5 or 10 second goes and give the starter a break between.

Fogging or oiling the cylinders as suggested can't hurt too but will require removing the top cover and plugs (certainly not a big job though).

You won't be able to manually crank from above but remove the front undertray and should be fairly easy particularly if you get the plugs out.

[gabylonfive]

Which fuse is the fuel pump fuse? As a matter of fact, where is the fuse box located in these cars? Glove box?

Can someone explain this process more? I've recently changed my oil filter housing and had low pressure on the first crank. Immediately shut it down and haven't touched the car since.

fuel pump is fuse 54

[gurpgork]

Which fuse is the fuel pump fuse? As a matter of fact, where is the fuse box located in these cars? Glove box?

Can someone explain this process more? I've recently changed my oil filter housing and had low pressure on the first crank. Immediately shut it down and haven't touched the car since.

A fuse box should be on the passenger side back/under the glove compartment. I believe there may be some others, mainly in the engine bay under a plastic cover near the shock tower. There were a few others that we ran into as we rewired it.

[gurpgork]

If you lift up the car, there might be enough room between the mechanical fan and harmonic balancer pylley to slip in a ratchet. Can't say for sure since I haven't had a mechanical fan on my car for years, but I do know that there's enough room with the fan off and radiator shroud still on.

+1 to lightly misting the cylinder walls and slowly hand cranking to get that oil distributed. I don't think you'll be able to rotate the oil pump fast enough by hand to pump oil through the rest of the engine.

I had a feeling we might be going here. All good I guess. Better to noodle it out here then to have made a serious faux pas and risk futzing up the motor. Sadly this will be a little beyond my technical capabilities as I have no storage or work area for the car. I'll need to bring it in to a shop I can trust. Not many of those around. The fellow that built the car was the chief mechanic, but it appears he has taken a sabbatical from the auto industry.

Thank you for chiming in!!

[MTiz]

Which fuse is the fuel pump fuse? As a matter of fact, where is the fuse box located in these cars? Glove box?

Can someone explain this process more? I've recently changed my oil filter housing and had low pressure on the first crank. Immediately shut it down and haven't touched the car since.

[heinzboehmer]

Thank you for your note. Misting the cylinders with a few ml's of oil makes sense. I've heard about hand cranking the engine. That sounds like it requires some disassembly of the front end to get long enough ratchet in there. But will that do anything to help pull any of the engine oil anywhere? I assume that misting of the cylinders plus hand cranking to provide 2 or 3 revolutions should do it?

If you lift up the car, there might be enough room between the mechanical fan and harmonic balancer pylley to slip in a ratchet. Can't say for sure since I haven't had a mechanical fan on my car for years, but I do know that there's enough room with the fan off and radiator shroud still on.

+1 to lightly misting the cylinder walls and slowly hand cranking to get that oil distributed. I don't think you'll be able to rotate the oil pump fast enough by hand to pump oil through the rest of the engine.

[gurpgork]

The cylinder walls will probably be dry, I see some engine rebuilders mist the walls via the spark plug hole so you won't score the cylinders on the initial crank, it wouldn't hurt to do this whilst cranking the engine, IMO by hand initially then with the starter motor. It'll also help with oil pressure and distribution initially so you won't dry start the engine after 4 years sitting.

Regards

Thank you for your note. Misting the cylinders with a few ml's of oil makes sense. I've heard about hand cranking the engine. That sounds like it requires some disassembly of the front end to get long enough ratchet in there. But will that do anything to help pull any of the engine oil anywhere? I assume that misting of the cylinders plus hand cranking to provide 2 or 3 revolutions should do it?

[gurpgork]

Change the oil and filter again. Remove fuel pump fuse; crank is for a short while to build up oil pressure. Maybe remove the valve cover and visually inspect? My $0.02...

I'm sure others will chime in with their suggestions!

Awesome. Thanks for the tip.