I have a 2005 Chevy Silverado and a 2000 Buick that have been in storage for a year. I have heard that prior to starting up the engine, I need to let the oil circulate. Is this true and how do I do it?
With cars that are that new and have only been stored for a year, I wouldn’t worry about it. Some people say you should pull the coil wire (or whatever you do on new cars) so the engine won’t actually fire and then crank the motor over a few times, but the way I figure it, the motor’s going to make X number of rotations with somewhat reduced cylinder wall lubrication, but I doubt it matters if the motor immediately fires up and runs or not.
Now, with your “classic car discovered in a barn” scenario, you’d want to pull out all the spark plugs and pour oil in each of the cylinders, lovingly hand-rotating the engine so you pour it in when the piston is all the way down, but this would be major overkill on your two cars.
Good idea, but not really necessary. The best way is to remove the spark plugs add a small amount of oil (teaspoon) to each cylinder and then turn the engine over a few times by hand. Replace plugs and go. Variations are allowed.With fuel that is over a year old . . . I would add something like sta-bil and fill it up with fresh gas and also would squirt a few healthy pumps of motor oil in each cylinder before cranking it over. Rocketman
“I would add something like sta-bil”
The stabilizer will not help now. It would be a great idea before storing the car but not when putting it back in service. The stabilizers work by preventing, really slowing down a chemical process that turns fuel into gunk. It works by capturing the free radicals that speed up the process. It can’t reverse the process.
I didn’t know that Joseph, thank you! Rocketman