Thread: engine storage

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i pulled an engine out of a wrecked truck 4 yrs. ago to use as a spare it has only 700 mi. on it . my question is how do i store it for later use? will the rings stick? will valve springs become weak ? thanks hayless

All depends on the timeframe you're talkin about. If it's just a couple months I wouldn't worry too much about the valve springs. Now if it's several months to maybe a couple years, yeah, take the rockers off.

Anyway, I used to have to preserve my engines when I went off to deploy for 6mos every year. I used my expereince with aircraft preservation & a couple other tricks & never came back to a damaged engine.

*Drain the carburator, pump, & lines of all fuel. Getting a little light machine oil into the passages where any check balls is a good idea to prevent them from freezing. Also good idea for the accelerator pump.
*remove spark plugs, & turn engine over by hand while spraying all around in the hole with light oil. Some folks just use WD-40, it works well enough but for long term something that leaves a heavier film might be better. Replace plugs.
*take off the distrubutor cap, clean it & the disty out and spray with WD-40
*change the oil in the engine
*spray the outside with a light machine oil, just something that will leave a coating on the inside.
*get a couple large packs of dessicant & put em on top of the engine to absorb moisture
*get a couple large trash bags, cut them open on one side so that you can completelt cover the engine. Seal it shut with duct tape & ensure all holes are closed. Just remeber to check it every now & then to be sure there are no openings & it should be good for a very long time.

the longest I let an engine sit in this manner was 7 months with no evidence of corrosion anywhere. I have another that I managed to aquire an airtight shipping container & kept it preserved for about 2 years, took it out, put the external parts on (I shared some parts between 2 of em), & fired it up.

thanks, sounds good to me. hayless

If you have "wee beasties" in your area, and everywhere does, I'd suggest plugging openings with something more mouseproof than duct tape. And put out mouse poison around the storage area. It's a bitch cleaning mouse nests out of water passages and cylinders.