Damage from letting a new motor sit?
 

18 months ago I bought a motor that had only (2) 1/2 hour stints on a dyno immidiately after being freshly built. The guy I bought it from scrapped his project 1/2 way through so the motor was sitting in his garage (covered) for about 18 months before he sold it to me. So, now this motor has been sitting for over 3 years with only that initial dyno time on it. I was going to have my 2.4 built at the (end) of my project, but this was too good to pass up. Now that my project is going long, I have concerns about the valve springs being stuck in one place and the rings being seated properly. I should be firing it up in Feburary or March and I have been squirting oil in the cylinders and turning it over by hand periodically. I have a lot of money in this motor. So do I have nothing to be worried about, or are my sweaty nightmares valid? Break it to me gently. Thanks, Steve.

I think your engine is trash. I will be happy to pick it up for free. :)

Seriously, I think you are just fine. The only thing that comes to mind is the fact that some of the seals might not get any better sitting there dry. Not a big issue on a newly rebuilt engine though. If the engine were 25 years old (seals and all) it would be different.

Turning it over is a great idea. Some folks take the tension off the valve springs by loosening the rockers on engines that they build for the shelf. If it runs in 1/2 a year, that won't make a difference, especially if you turn it over every now and then.

Cheers, George

It should be okay, but it's probably a guarantee that it will leak from somewhere, at least for the first bunch of miles...

-Wayne

Now a follow up question: I am rebuilding my engine but won't finish before the snow arrives. I can run it indoors, but I wont take it out on the road. Should I wait until spring before I even fire it up? Or should I do a brief high idle run, then let it sit five months?

I would run it and get oil everywhere inside the engine to prevent corrosion and drying of the seals...

-Wayne