Advice on starting engine not run in a year

[exMaggieDrum]

Due to some medical and other issues, my Perkins 4108 has not been started for over a year. I know that I should have done that at least every three months but was unable to do so.

I did lay it up with new oil and filters, the fuel has anti-growth additive as well as an additive to try and keep it from going bad from sitting there. This was run through the engine before it was laid up. It has been an oldie (vintage 1981) but reliable and strong, even with many hours on it.

Any advice on what I can do to make its next start as easy as possible would be appreciated. Perhaps I can just start it up with no problem, or, crank it over gently a few revs without starting it to get oil back in the system.

If I had to I could remove the injectors and put some oil in the cylinders but not sure if that is necessary. It is definitely a pain to rebleed it but I will do what I need to do. It always started immediately before.

Thanks.

[jamhass]

It is possible you have some minor surface rust, especially in the cylinder that had open valves.

I assume you did not use fogging oil when you decomissioned the engine, so I would add oil to the cylinders and turn it over manually several times, then (with thru hull closed and compression released -- or injectors out) turn with starter until you get oil pressure. Then go ahead and start her up, bleeding, etc as needed.

Since you did an oil change on decomissioning, I wouldn't do one now, but after the initial run, check the oil for any indication of water from condensation.

I know its a pain, but worth the effort in the long run.

[model 10]

Starting it every 3 months might have been worse. If the engine does not get to full operating temp it just draws in more moisture. Given how easy it is to squirt something in the intake, I would give it a good shot of some sort of oil that wouldn't cause it to start when you crank it over.
It might be different for your Perkins but sometimes my oil pump looses prime and the engine needs to start before the pressure comes up. The work around for that is to pull off the oil hose to the filter and fill it with oil.

[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by jamhass

It is possible you have some minor surface rust, especially in the cylinder that had open valves.

I assume you did not use fogging oil when you decomissioned the engine, so I would add oil to the cylinders and turn it over manually several times, then (with thru hull closed and compression released -- or injectors out) turn with starter until you get oil pressure. Then go ahead and start her up, bleeding, etc as needed.

Since you did an oil change on decomissioning, I wouldn't do one now, but after the initial run, check the oil for any indication of water from condensation.

I know its a pain, but worth the effort in the long run.

Thanks jamass. Good advice. I think I will just remove the injectors and put in some oil in each cylinder and then turn the engine over (water off of course). Good idea on checking the oil for water too. I could just go ahead and change it. I have an oil transfer pump which makes it pretty easy. The oil isn't cheap but motors are worse, and pretty tame compared to everything else. I saved oil changes any way.

I didn't fog it at the start because I did not have any idea I would not be starting it for that long.

[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by Guy

Starting it every 3 months might have been worse. If the engine does not get to full operating temp it just draws in more moisture. Given how easy it is to squirt something in the intake, I would give it a good shot of some sort of oil that wouldn't cause it to start when you crank it over.
It might be different for your Perkins but sometimes my oil pump looses prime and the engine needs to start before the pressure comes up. The work around for that is to pull off the oil hose to the filter and fill it with oil.

You are right about bringing it up to temp rather than just starting it and shutting it down. That's my usual procedure. Sometimes I just go out of the marina and back to do that too. I've never had an oil prime issue after changing the oil filter and engine oil but may be there was always residual oil in the hoses that stayed in between. I'll watch for that when I do the recommissioning. Thanks for the tips.

[MarkJ]

Spit on it, kick it, swear a bit the hit the button.
If no start just repeat.

[Lepke]

The 4108 generator that came with my current boat hadn't run in 6 years. No mothball, no storage prep of any kind.
I did a couple revolutions by hand to verify it wasn't frozen and see the valves operate. Using the existing old fuel in the lines, it started in a couple attempts. It ran normally and continues to run normally.

[Reefmagnet]

I restarted my engine a week ago after about the same length of time. I removed the raw water pump impeller, used the starter to "bump" the engine a few times to ensure it was spinning freely and to circulate the oil. I then started it normally (took a little bit of cranking before it fired). After it started, I shut it down after a few seconds, replaced impeller and connected the raw water back up and then restarted and ran it for about half an hour at varying speeds around fast idle. All good.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Spit on it, kick it, swear a bit the hit the button.
If no start just repeat.

X2. It is not a big deal ! Seeing how it probably is going to need some extended cranking the oil is going to be distributed. Just don't crank it too long if it doesn't start after a couple of tries. Another words don't over heat the starter.

[DeepFrz]

Reefmagnate brings up a good point about replacing the impeller.

[SVRocinante]

Good day

First, I'm not a mechanic, not even close, so, this is simply my personal experience;

My engine, Yanmar 3JH4E, sat idle for almost 10yrs!

After getting quite a bit of great & varied advice on this forum, here is what I finally did:

1. Changed Oil
2. Changed Oil filter
3. Cleaned out raw water strainer
4. Replaced Impeller
5. Cleaned out fuel/water separator and replaced it's fuel filter
6. Replaced secondary fuel filter
7. Checked coolant,belts, hoses, etc.
8. Bled fuel system
9. Cranked engine without starting to distribute oil - held stop switch while turning key for a few seconds
10. Started her up - yep, first try!

Put her in gear and cranked her up just a bit... all good!

Hope this helps!

[Maka]

I have a Perkins 410-8. When I bought the boat it had not been started for 5 years.
What I did:
Checked oil ... clean and full.
Breaker bar to turn the engine over to be sure it was not frozen.
Checked Raycor fuel filters to be sure they were clean.
Decided to just tap the starter a few times to get oil circulating in the engine.
Replaced dead engine start battery.
1st tap on the starter to circulate the oil and to my Shock it started.
By the time I shut it down the oi had circulated ... so I restarted it and let it run up to temperature.
Never had a lick of trouble with it since.

[JstaRebel]

I would turn off the fuel shut of, hit the start button and give her a few revolutions to heat things up in the cylinders and get her use to the idea that shes gunna be ran again, open the fuel shut off and start her up.

[roverhi]

Be very careful about starting an engine and letting it run at idle with no load especially if you have a Yanmar. Running at idle with no load will quickly plug up the mixing elbow which can lead to some costly and/or painful repairs. Just bought a boat that had been sitting for at least 2 years after the death of the owner and probably longer than that. The boat wasn't abandoned but engine only started occasionally and probably only run at no load idle for a short period of time. With just a little over 200 hours on the 2GM20F, the mixing valve clogged up resulting in no water injection at the engine with uncooled exhaust gases that melted the muffler at cruising rpm.

Being a dumby thought that since there was water coming out the exhaust there was some other reason for the melted muffler so just replaced the muffler and tried again. Another melted muffler when we motored out the rather long estuary to the open Bay. Turns out that the water coming out of the exhaust was from a 1/4" hose anti-syphon relief between the mixing elbow and the muffler. At idle, there was not enough heat in the exhaust to hurt the muffler but at 2000 rpm it was a different story. To make matters more fun, the new exact same muffler as the old had 1/8" larger hose flanges and we couldn't get the old hose back on the muffler so were forced to change out the whole exhaust system with 1/4" larger hose which was no easy task. The flange size was probably caused by the Mfg. switching from inch to metric specs for the muffler construction.

Moral of the story, run the engine in gear at greater than idle rpm if you don't want to prematurely change your mixing elbow. It's not just getting the engine to operating temperature. Heard this is a common problem on Yanmars so may not translate to other makes.

[GrowleyMonster]

YES to the new impellor! Especially if there is no strainer downstream from the water pump to catch bits of impellor. I believe in an annual impellor change no matter what, used or not used. Cheapest act of kindness you cn do for a diesel.

YES to spraying a bit of oil in the cylinders. The rings are bone dry, even if there is no rust.

YES to turning the engine over by hand to make sure it is not frozen. Probably isnt, but just check. One nudge with a breaker bar on the flywheel wont hurt anything.

Crank it a few bumps with the starter, (This is a convenient time to do a cylinder compression check) then bleed, then start. Run it a few seconds. let it stand an hour. If it is convenient, drain a little oil out of the sump, check for water, strange grit or funny bits and pieces, unusual color or anything that doesn't seem right. You may see a faint trace of oil sheen at the wet exhaust. If you are anal about it, drop some diapers down to soak it up. Dont be alarmed at a trace of unburnt fuel at this point, as long as it is not a lot. All systems go? Start her up for real, watch your exhaust and your gauges, listen to your engine, use your eyes and nose and touch. Seems okay? Let them warm up a bit. Check your mooring lines and then kick it in gear, put a load on the engines for a few minutes. Nothing strange happening? Go for a boat ride. YIPPEE! Boat Bunnies optional. Next time, fog the cylinders and simplify things when you are ready to crank the boat up after a layup.

Now 95% of the time it won't hurt a thing to just hit the button and go for it. But if you dont like to gamble, then go the whole enchilada.