Rescuing my Volvo after 3 years parked

[jbg]

Hello everyone,

Well the time has come to move my Volvo from a lot near my old house to my new house. It has been parked outside for nearly 3 years, It "ran when parked", but hasn't been started since. I'm making a list of things that need to be checked prior to starting, moving, and finally driving.

Naturally the list is on a different computer. I'll post it to this thread for the group to review and comment.

The eventual plan will be to remove the engine, configure it to start and run outside of the car, and start fixing the many oil leaks and the terrible sludgy mess. It will be a fun project as I've never done something like that before. The new house has a garage and I can't wait to use it!

Thanks, Jim

[ngoma]

More important than "ran when parked" is "started well when parked," meaning: Was it always easy to start, at the time it was parked?

If so, you will likely have an easy time of it, as nothing much will have changed over the 3 years. Diesel fuel does not go bad as quickly or easily as gasoline. Of course, rodents could have chewed thru the wires.

In my experience, the hardest one I had to start, after an unknown number of years, required a quarter teaspoon of motor oil poured into each cylinder. Then it roared to life immediately. For some reason the rings were not sealing enough to build sufficient compression.

You will need a good strong battery, good jumper cables, battery charger.

The most unpleasant part for me is cleaning all the glass (inside & out) and the mildew in the interior before even wanting to drive it any distance. Don't ruin your windshield with shaggy windshield wipers.

[v8volvo]

Originally Posted by ngoma

Was it always easy to start, at the time it was parked?

If so, you will likely have an easy time of it, as nothing much will have changed over the 3 years.

+1 on the above. Seen these cars sit for years then start back up on a flick of the key. A case that doesn't want to start after long sitting can occur but is the exception rather than the rule. Assuming no loss of fuel prime from old injection pump seals or injector return hoses, and no electrical damage from vermin as mentioned earlier, it will probably start up as easily as the last time you drove it.

You might want to try to get the engine oil circulating before letting it start the first time. You can remove the glow plug and injection pump power fuse (fuse #13 in the interior fusebox ahead of the shift lever on 1985 and up cars, might be different on earlier ones) to disable the engine from starting, and with the fuse removed, crank the engine over on the starter for a few stretches of 30-40 seconds to get the oil pump primed and build some pressure throughout the engine before letting it run on its own. The cam bearings and turbo bearing in particular will have a hard time with a dry start after so much time sitting. Then when you put the fuse back in it should fire right up assuming everything else is working.

You might want to plan on changing the engine oil after it gets warmed up for the first time too, the old oil will have absorbed significant water from condensation over the last 3 years of seasonal weather changes and oxidation occurs over time also.

The timing belt(s) will be an important question after sitting for years. The rubber deteriorates and the belts aren't really worth trusting more than 7-8 years or so. Unless the belts were changed fairly recently before the car was parked, they may be due or overdue now. Might want to pop the cover off and inspect at least the front timing belt for obvious cracks or brittleness moving the belt by hand before cranking the engine. If it looks and feels pretty good it will probably be safe enough to start it and move it a short distance, but new timing belts would probably want to be high on your list of items to refresh if you do more work on it later. There have been quite a few members here who bought these cars after they sat a long time and then had the belt snap and trash the engine shortly after they put the car on the road.

And last thing, the area that in my experience seems to suffer the most from sitting dormant is the hydraulics of the brake system. Full fluid flush would probably be a good idea, and even with that done, you might end up with a few sticky calipers, might have to replace a few. Good to keep an eye out for this and hopefully find any issues before they strand the car or wear down a pad and chew up an otherwise OK rotor.

Glad you're getting it going again, good luck and let us know how it goes.

[jbg]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. The car did start easy and run well prior to parking it. I had a work trip overseas that had me park the car. Then when returning life caught back up and I lost immediate interest in the Volvo.

Now that I have moved from a townhouse to a single family home with some acreage it makes we want the Volvo back! Here is the list I made while an a long work conference call.

Volvo starting / driving checklist

1. Check engine fluids and top-off where needed
   [ ] Engine oil
   [ ] Transmission fluid
   [ ] Coolant
   [ ] Power steering fluid

2. Power
   [ ] Connect battery jumper and check voltage at the battery
   [ ] Turn ignition to pre-start and verify glow plugs turn on
       [ ] If not, tap on GP relay; repeat

3. Prime engine with oil
   [ ] Disconnect fuel cut-off solenoid
   [ ] Turn engine over for 15-20 seconds; wait 5 seconds, re-engage; observe low oil light

4. Start engine
   [ ] Re-connect fuel cut-off solenoid
   [ ] Cycle glow plugs once; start

5. Check tires, lights, and brakes
   [ ] Check tire air pressure; add air as needed
   [ ] Check headlights, markers, brake lights, and reverse lights
       [ ] Replace bulbs as needed
   [ ] Drive the car locally and verify brake performance

Originally Posted by v8volvo

You might want to try to get the engine oil circulating before letting it start the first time. You can remove the glow plug and injection pump power fuse (fuse #13 in the interior fusebox ahead of the shift lever on 1985 and up cars, might be different on earlier ones) to disable the engine from starting, and with the fuse removed, crank the engine over on the starter for a few stretches of 30-40 seconds to get the oil pump primed and build some pressure throughout the engine before letting it run on its own.

That's a good idea! My thought was to unplug the fuel cut-off solenoid to keep fuel from the engine. My new house is about 25 miles from where the car is now. My assumption that it could make the trip.

The front timing belt is an unknown. When I bought the car in 2007 it had a new belt according to the service paperwork. The car came with a large folder of receipts. Now here we are ~12 years later. I'll take a look at the belt and report back my findings.

Originally Posted by ngoma

The most unpleasant part for me is cleaning all the glass (inside & out) and the mildew in the interior before even wanting to drive it any distance. Don't ruin your windshield with shaggy windshield wipers.

Great Idea!

Thanks!

[ngoma]

Take the battery home a few days beforehand and charge it overnight.

[Mckinleydo]

A continuous overnight charging session won't damage a batter in that state?

[ngoma]

4-8 amp charger shouldn't be a problem. Of course it will depend on the condition of the battery whether it will come up with a satisfactory charge and load capacity. If the battery appears to be charging normally I wouldn't feel the need to have to source a new one.

Thinking about this further, I would bring it for charging sooner than just the night before, to better monitor the charging results and attempt to try it out starting a vehicle ahead of time.

[jbg]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for the additional thoughts and comments on the battery. I appreciate any advice you offer! I have yet to get to the car. I have been busy with my tractor and getting it ready for winter. It's a diesel too!

If I can get the logistics nailed down I may be able to get the battery tomorrow. I have a dumb HF 6/12v charger and two Battery Tender charger/maintainers. I reckon I will use one of the latter and see if the battery can come back to life.

[ngoma]

Take your tractor battery with you?

[jbg]

Hello everyone,

I stopped by the car today and I was unable to open the hood! I can unlock it from inside the car, open the spring-hinged latch from the front grill area, but when I pull up only the left side will start to open. The right side will not budge. I tried working it up and down, left to right, etc., but no luck.

When you're standing in a field trying to open a car hood you start to remember that when you parked it the hood was a little tricky to open. IIRC once the hood was "popped" while opening the hood you had to move the hood up and down while opening it. Then once it was past a point the hood would open normally.

I could never figure out why it did this ... but I am now starting to think this is likely the hood problem I have now, but manifested into a new and more irritating problem! Any suggestions?

Thanks!