Fracture

any viable reason to pull the relay for the fuel pump and generate some oil pressure
before starting ?

simple piece of mind ?

car has sat since November, normally I've been able to get the vehicle out a couple of times a month during winter
this year, not at all

I'm certain we had our last snow on Sunday, today looks good for a shakedown

steam_mill

This is my first year with the 996. I too was worried about this. I put the key in, and it started immediately. No smoke surprisingly.

DBJoe996

If I recall correctly Jake has mentioned a startup procedure. Start and as soon as the engine fires, shut it off. Do 5 times in a row and on the fifth one, run it and drive it.

Fracture

I remembered this as I was creating the opening post

normally I wouldn't even give this a second thought, but 6 months of just sitting made me a bit hesitant

Mike Mullins

Lot of respect for Jake, but I like your thoughts better, get some pressure first, then come with the fire.

Keith Black had this procedure for all his Fueler motor customers. Crank the engine over until pressure builds then flip the magneto on.

He and Ed Pink built more engines for big money than anyone I can remember. Lingenfelter always has instructions on their motor kits on priming the pump before lighting it off first time.

Did you change it before putting it away ?

wildbilly32

I read that just spinning it on the starter does very little to build oil pressure in our cars. Theory is crank it-it fires-shutoff immediately-repeat until pressure shows up on gauge then start. In a sprint car you get a push, release brakes once moving, watch fuel and oil pressure gauges, when up, flip the "hot"switch. Different kind of beast...

Fracture

The oil ?...changed last fall but I will change it again shortly, all that stuff is in house

The car touched right off after 4 or 5 bumps to move a bit of the oil....no smoke at all, no codes

that's the longest period in almost 5 years that I never ran the car
It was on a CTek charger the entire time

Mike Mullins

Oil driven by Crank/ Cam movement, unless you have belt driven, separate oil pump which also off the crank in most instances, none I see in street motor, nothing to do with electrical input other than our dash gauges.

I would think most agree worse point of wear is initial startup.

Most Sprint/Dirt cars w/o on board starter around here are direct drive, you got to release brakes before pushed to get moving. you release clutch to engage motor, oil pressure builds, you should already have fuel pump on. turn on Mag or CD ignition to light it off.


my point being, do what ever lets you sleep at night.

wildbilly32

Not to drag this out, but sprint cars in this part of the midwest do not have clutches nor starter motors. The fuel pump is mechanical there is no switch. We used to call the early sprinters "super modifieds" when they had a clutch, batteries and starters...that was way back. I realize there maybe some different rules in various areas. The reason to hold the brakes when push truck starts is to keep from chattering the rear end which is bad for the internal gears and other bits. When I was young and foolish I owned, maintained and drove a sprint car.

wildbilly32

Excellent!

rileyracing1

I am glad you brought this up as I am about to yank my 997 out of storage this week after 6 months of storage also. I will probably wait for the next "warmer" day here pull the fuel pump fuse and give it a few cranks then light it up and finally go for a nice rip .

Mike Mullins

rules are pretty much same everywhere, as is construction, just depends on class. I'm just a fan of having pressure before firing it off.

Lot Sprint/ Dirt cars here in OH/Ind, some use in/out control but like there most are direct. I'm more of a 1/4 mile person myself.

are far as pressure I just don't like the start and shut it off , If it starts, see if you get pressure. I had the flaky pressure sensor and wish it had direct line to a gauge, but it is what we got

cheers,
Mike

wildbilly32

Can't agree more: pressure first. The "start/stop" procedure comes recommended by people much smarter than me on the 996's. The older sprinters had a sliding drive-line that you engaged by a lever. The more modern ones have an engagement built into the rear end that is actuated by pulling up on a ****/cable arrangement. They are direct drive after you engage the connection. If you didn't have some sort of arrangement the car wouldn't coast and it would be a bear to push or drag onto the trailer. We ran on a 1/3 mile high bank track, Eagle Raceway.

bplein

So what you are all saying is: you think we all should push start our 996s with trucks in order to avoid dry bearings and bore scoring 😀

Mike Mullins

Kick starting works well also...
Saves on Battery n Starter , clutch not so much