Restarting after 3+ years

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

After inheriting an '89 Buick Riviera that has been stored for 3+ years with the battery connected, I am now trying to restart it. It was well maintained while driven, and the storage was good.I bought a new battery as the old one was totally shot. I have changed the oil, oil filter and air filter. I will check the plugs today. Then I hope to be able to drain any gas left in the tank and replace it with new. The new battery has not been connected up yet. Is there anything else I can do which might make it easier to re-start the car?

[Bill Stoneberg]

I would add som oil in the cylinders as long as you have the plugs out. Crank it over without the plugs in till you get oil pressure and then put the plugs back in and start it. If you cant drain the gas, you may want to try to run from a container just to make sure you have good gas.

[charlier]

You probably have either done the following or will be doing it but just in case....

Closely visually examine all the tires on the Riviera.

Aging and stress cracks or bulges in the rubber could be a sign of impending tire failure.

Run your hands across the tread and feel for bumps or bulges which could be a sign of a problem with the steel belts.

Check all the electrical items: lights, turn signals, brake lights, etc.

Also, do not forget about the cooling and brake systems. At some point, those fluids should be changed just like the oil.

[MarkV]

check the belts! My grandma's '02 impala sits 99% of the time and it has 12000 miles on it, and the other day, I went to have the oil changed and the serpantine belt was shot, because, it sits all the time, there were big cracks and it looked about ready to fail.

[JohnD1956]

draining that gas is going to be difficult. Were you able to get the line disconnected at the filter? And how much gas is in there? With the fuel pump in the tank you essentially have to pump it out, BUT if you can get the line disconnected at the filter you may be able to drop the flexible part of the line below the tank and it should siphon most of the gas. Just be ready with help and containers if you happen to have a full tank in there.

DO NOT connect the battery either till you get that old gas out. My son just bought a well maintained 89 Lesabre t type which had also been inactive for most of the last three years and the fuel pump died when the prior owner tried to start the car to sell it. That pump is one big PIA to change out.

If you have not tackled the fuel lines yet, I suggest you spray the lines at the filter with PB blaster every day for two weeks. You really do not want to break those lines down there.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

O.K. before reading through these answers, I tried to start the car. What I did prior to that was 1)put a new air filter in 2)change the plugs and wires and 3) put in new gas. I checked the tank for gas, stringing a wire into it, and it seemed bone dry. Knowing little about fuel injection, I decided not to screw with that. I didn't add oil to the cylinders, didn't trace the fuel line and had no way of knowing if there was some residual fuel in the system. To open the tank lid, I had to connect the battery, too. The car didn't start with the initial attempts. However, I suspect there is a kill switch that is still turned on. The red light warning of it remains on (Off, it should be blinking) in spite of the fact that I followed all the instructions in the manual regarding turning it off.

[Matt Harwood]

Does the in-tank pump run when you first turn the key? It should pressurize the system before you fire the engine. You should be able to hear it hum for a second or two as it primes the injectors.

Is it even cranking? You say there's a kill switch, but how immobilized does it render the car?

I would also add some oil to the cylinders just in case. 3 years is a long time and it will be a dry start. If it turns over, perhaps remove the coil wire and crank it until pressure comes up.

[JohnD1956]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SwiftBuicks</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> However, I suspect there is a kill switch that is still turned on. The red light warning of it remains on (Off, it should be blinking) in spite of the fact that I followed all the instructions in the manual regarding turning it off. </div></div>

What is this "kill" switch the manual talks of? Unless you are talking about the "chip" in the ignition key I don't believe the factory put in a kill switch.

Did the engine at least crank, or turn over, but just not start?

[Rawja]

The '89 Riviera did not have GM's PassKey system.

You do have an interlock on the fuel pump however that kills the power to the fuel pump if the oil pressure is too low, if the relay has gone bad, the car will have to be cranked quite a bit 'till oil pressure rises allowing the fuel pump to start pumping.

You may want to try posting to the Reatta forum as it is essentially the same car from a mechanical standpoint.

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

Thanks for all the replies. The manual says that if the security system is on and the car is violated (or the doors opened), it will be impossible to start until they system is de-activated. When I first put the new battery in and connected the system, the headlights started to flash alternatively but the horn did not sound. I took this as the alarm. The manual also stated that once the proper key was put in the ignition and it was turned to Acc., the alarm would be de-activated. I did this and the electrical acc. turn on normally. However, there's a small red light on the dash which burns steadily. The manual stated that a red light will indicate the state of the alarm system and will blink for a while and then turn off when the system is de-activated. Today, I will determine if this light is the alarm system. Now, when it comes to the actual starting. The engine turns over. I will try and hear the fuel pump running today. Now that I have struggled to change the plugs, you think I should take them out again and put oil in the cylinders. Damn!!!! How much oil should I put in each cylinder? Is there anyway to get around this? Removing the coil wire and then cranking for oil pressure, might that circumvent putting oil in the plug holes? One other thing, the car puts up a warning regarding fuel i.e. it states the car is low on fuel. I put in 5 gallons and will add another 5 today, but I thought that odd.

[Guest rbl2]

3 or 4 good squirts of oil in each cylinder should be sufficient. Leave the plugs out while you turn over the engine as oil in the top will build compression. Once you've turned it over for about 1 full minute it should be ok to replace the plugs. Once their back in keep the coil wire removed and turn the engine over until it starts to hold oil pressure. That works on tha assumption it has a gauge instead of a light. If all it has is a light spin the engine 2-3 minutes and replace the coil wire and hope for the best.

Good luck.

[JohnD1956]

If you have already cranked the engine, then I would not remove the plugs to put oil in the cylinders. And, as an 89, this car has a coil pack which does not have a single coil wire. Be sure you mark the spark plug wires before removing them from the coil pack.

Here are two more things to try.

The top of the engine has a plastic shroud and, on the left side of the motor, in the middle of the shroud is a metal cap. This is the cap to the shrader valve ( which looks like a tire valve when open) for the fuel rail.

1 Twist the cap off counterclockwise.

2 Turn the key on in the car, but do not crank the engine, and then turn it back off

3 Stand back and use a flat screwdriver to gently push down on this valve.

If the fuel pump works then you will have significant pressure at this valve. You may have some residual pressure at the valve if the pump does not work. So, to tell the difference,

4 turn the key on again, and crank the motor for a few seconds, and then turn it off and check the pressure again.

If the car only had residual pressure you will find 0 pressure now and know that the fuel pump needs attention ( probably replaement)

If however you have pressure both times, then the fuel pump may be okay and I would suggest cleaning the coil pack and spark module bracket. These things do build a level of corrosion and the bracket is a ground for the spark control module. It will crank forever if it cannot find this ground.

You can do this:

1 Disconnect the battery.

2 Unbolt the 3 separate coil packs and lift them off the spark control module, setting them aside. ( do not remove the spark plug wires unless you have to, and mark them before removal).

3 Unbolt the spark control module and lift it off the bracket too. Note, you do not have to remove the electrical connection at the front of the spark control module for this.

4 Use the finest sandpaper you can find, and just buff the bottom of the spark control module and the top of the bracket.

If you found significant corrosion between these two pieces, then I recommend you go further with the bracket. Unfortunately the bracket is in two pieces. When you remove the spark control module you'll see three flat brass looking squares.

5 These are the three bolts that hold the bracket together. reach underneath the bracket and you'll find the nuts for those three bolts. Remove them and then buff the areas between the two halves of the bracket.

While you have these things off I would also remove the negative cable from it's mount to the bolt on the bottom half of the bracket base and clean all these wires and reinstall.

Good luck

[MarkV]

Can you post up some pics? Would love to see it!

[Guest SwiftBuicks]

Here's a pic of the Swift Riviera. I hired a repair garage to do the work. They took the tank out and found it was currupted beyond use. The fuel sending unit was caput as well. The fuel lines had rusted out and needed replacement. I've ordered parts from CarQuest, and they will be installing them next week.