Mike J

Hmmm, I did not say turn the engine over every few weeks as part of it being stored, its when starting it after storage or an oil change I do this. Been doing it for several years now (coming up to 10)....

cheers,

mike

Gunter

Ken:

That makes a lot of sense.

Similar to stuffing raisins up one's nose to see how many fit in there to set a new world record for someone with room temperature I.Q.

matt777

My comment was in response to Gunter's initial post.

Basal Skull

Not sure what the difference would be between just cranking vs starting up, same parts are moving in a NA engine. Didn't think you can get oil flowing any faster by cranking. I guess just avoiding a few seconds of little higher rpm with the engine idling? Now if you had turbos that started turning with the engine starting (vs not turning with just cranking) while waiting for the oil to start flowing, I would understand but still doesn't take much time for the oil to start flowing to the turbos and would only do this if I was swapping out turbos or draining the sump tanks off the turbos...

Greg Lab

I store my car for 3 months, and whenever I would fire it off, I used to hear a clacking ( valve lifter?) for about 5 min, then it would go away. This year, I pulled the DME, and cranked, got some oil pressure, and then fired it off. No clacking. So I am a believer!

Gunter

Yes, Greg, that's exactly what happens.

Building up pressure without ignition or fuel is standard procedure after a rebuild and the same principle applies after a long storage.

It doesn't take long, about 3-5 seconds of cranking to prime. Replace the DME relay and start without clacking or rattling.

In climates that have a lot of humidity like ours here, I like to turn the engine over occasionally during winter storage to prevent the slightest chance of internal rusting.

It's very simple: Anyone who doesn't want to do it, don't do it.

IXLR8

I would do that to my motorcycles by placing the transmission in top gear and turning the back wheel by hand till I saw the oil pressure light go out. This of course with the spark plugs removed which was easy as they were only screwed in finger tight during the winter.

I also like to position the engine so that the valve springs aren't depressed all winter long...that is doable on some engines depending on number of cylinders and configuration.

Mike J

I was visiting a shop last year, and the head mechanic showed me some 911 barrels that were on an engine that was not started for a year. The car was sitting in an open carport in our Vancouver area, which is known of course for rainy and humid weather. The inside of the barrel had a very light coating of rust, he claimed that the piston in that barrel was close to the bottom, and that the air that was pulled into the barrel had enough moisture to cause some damage......

matt777

Interesting. Its fairly dry here so perhaps not as much of an issue. I thought that the cylinders would have some corrosion resistance as well as a film of oil on them. Perhaps a spring oil change would be better than a fall change too in this instance. One day I'd like to get a small boroscope or perhaps its better to just not look.