Out of winter storage - running poorly

[OttawaDave]

Hello everyone,

I pulled my 85 Carrera out of storage yesterday, and wasn't pleased with how it ran. I'll give you a bit of history first...

Last summer and fall, the car was in the DD role - and on cold mornings, was a bit sluggish to accelerate. All problems cleared up after the car warmed up, and it ran perfectly.

I stored the car in early November, but didn't have a chance to change the oil until a couple of weeks later. As the snow (and salt) was already on the ground, I wasn't able to get the oil good and hot before or after the change - but I idled it until the temp came up to the first mark while I did some work in the interior. The car idled fine, but didn't rev all that smoothly. I attributed that to the fact that it wasn't completely warmed up, and possibly that the long idle had partially fouled the plugs.

Fast forward to yesterday, and I pulled the car out of the garage after not having touched it for 4 months. I cranked it a few times with the fuel pump fuse pulled, in order to circulate the oil a bit. When I replaced the fuse, it started right away.

The idle was a bit rough at first, but settled down and was pretty smooth after a few seconds. After letting it run for a few minutes, I drove off, but noticed that it doesn't accelerate smoothly - it's almost as if the engine is stuttering a bit as I pull away. I took it for a 20 minute drive, on city streets, and the problem seems to occur under 3000 rpm. Above 3000, it seems to smooth out.

So, I have a few ideas in mind about the possible culprits - though I've not had the time to do much investigation.

1. Fouled plugs? After the long idle to warm the old and new oil in near freezing temperatures in November, one or more plugs might be fouled. A sprited drive might help to clear some of that....but would the engine get smoother with higher revs if the plugs are the problem?

2. Bad wires, cap and rotor? If we're talking about insufficient spark, I suppose the these are the next things to check up stream....ditto for the comment about smoother running at higher revs; I'd expect the problem to be more consistent if that were the case.

3. O2 sensor? I poked around for loose connections, and was surprised to see that my O2 sensor, and another plug right beside it (see pic) was disconnected and the wires were sitting alongside the intake valve cover. I've done a bit of reading about why people disconnect their O2 sensors, but I don't recall ever noticing that this was disconnected in my car (I've only had her for a year and a half - with 9 months of that time in winter hibernation!!). The plugs look relatively clean, but I can't imagine that they'd have come off on their own. I'm assuming that I'll need to replace the O2 sensor when I reconnect it, but will plug them back in and see what happens. The round plug is for the O2 sensor, but what is the other one?



4. DME Relay? I don't really understand this one - if the relay is working, it should be an all or nothing type of failure, I would think. But I've seen that some people have claimed replacing the DME relay fixed these types of problems. I'm overdue to get my spare for the glove box anyway, so might as well give it a try.

5. Bad gas? I filled up about a week prior to storing the car, and topped the tank off with a jerry can after the oil change. The car ran fine for the week prior to storage, and I added Stabil to the tank as well.

So, after the long story, does anyone have any insight or advice? I think I have the right idea for starting with the obvious (and inexpensive) things first. I'll reconnect the O2 sensor and take it for a good drive as soon as I have time to see if it clears things out. If that fails, I'll pull the plugs and work from there. From what I've described above, I don't think that driving it should cause any harm, but does anyone have any advice to the contrary?

Thanks all,

Dave

PS. On a more awesome note, my little guy, Owen, is now old enough to start dreaming about the future :)

[makaio]

When was your last plugs, cap, rotor, plug wire change? I would check the condition of each of these components and replace as necessary.

It's not your DME relay, they either work or they don't.

The gas that's been in there for 4 months isn't doing you any favors.

Most likely, the car needs to be driven. I noticed on my 86 the longer I let it sit between drives, the more I started having little issues.

[old man neri]

Dave,

I would get it up to temperature and then start really driving it....for a long time. Go for a good cruise around the city or in the country. (Just stay in cell reception).

PS, it's nice to finally see what Owen looks like.

[ischmitz]

Injectors tend to stick and make it stumble when sitting for a long time - drive it for a couple of hours and then check again.

[OttawaDave]

Thanks Guys,

Seems that the first order of business is to get her out for a good run to clean things out.

Plugs were changed last spring as part of the 90k service - wires, cap and rotor were inspected and kept. Had a local shop do the service for lack of time last year, and have only put about 3000 miles on her since.

Anyway, I'll take her for a good run and see how things go - thanks again.

Dave

ps. Matt, check your PM

[makaio]

Dave, if you left me a pm I didn't get it.

[OttawaDave]

Sorry Matt, wrong Matt - that was for old man neri.

Cheers,
Dave