Recommissioning laid-up cars

[handyman]

Hullo All, not been on here for a while.

Did a search to see what info was available about starting a car after a two year lay up, but without success.

I'm going to start a petrol Xantia that has been laid up for a while and I'm concerned about whether the cambelt might not be in a fit state, given the length of time the car has stood. I will do a plugs out hand crank of the engine, prior to starting, just to get things moving.

Any advice? I will be doing a cambelt change PDQ but it cant be done where the car currently resides.

Handyman

[NewcastleFalcon]

Not sure what the price would be in your local area, but I would get the car transported to the location you can work on it, and start the recomissioning there. I paid £60 to get a car moved 30 miles.

If you are going to do the timing belt and water pump anyway, you might as well just do that job first to take away any chance of it failing on first start up.

Of course if the brakes are siezed on solid dragging and pushing the car into the position you want may be difficult and a bit of assistance from the engine could be necessary!

Regards Neil

[HDI]

I have a Xantia TD that was parked up around the back of the house about 8 years ago. So it's been stood, exposed to all weathers, without being run until about 5 months ago. I was stripping useful parts off it before scrapping it and out of curiosity I decided to try and start it! Initially it would hardly turn over, I found the alternator had seized, so I cut the belt off. Tried again and it fired within a couple of seconds and ran fine! I left it running for about 30 mins. Now that doesn't prove the cam belt would last long if it had been driven any distance, but considering the car had sat for over 8 years it would give me enough confidence to drive it in order to move it to another location, had I needed to.
So, given your circumstances I would drive it without hesitation. Let it warm up, drive it slowly, don't rev it hard and you will be fine.

[superloopy]

I've got an Activa which is incapable of being moved with a number of problems so i'm going to get a set f wheel dollys to help out. Hydraulic ones if the pennies can stretch at this time of year [emoji18]

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[2cy]

Hi.

I recently started a GS engined (belt driven OHC) Ami super that had been stood for 16 years.

I specifically wanted to start it - before I changed the belts, because I had been assured the car had been driven into the back of a garage. So, I might presume the valve timing belts were timed correctly ! Had I changed the belts and then tried to start the engine ..and it wouldn't run then I'd constantly be second guessing whether I'd fitted the belts / got the valve timing wrong ! ?

As it was - with a clean & set of the contact breakers and spark plugs, a new battery, and fresh fuel gravity fed directly from a can - she started up fine. Of course I didn't race the engine, but after allowing it to warm up and settle into a relatively steady tick-over I was then happy to take the revs up - to ensure that all sounded fine, it wasn't blowing oil out of everywhere, and that generally everything worked OK. Later on I changed the timing belts (but adjusted nothing else) and then start her up again - to ensure what I'd done was right I then systematically addressed other things like the blowing exhaust, and the fuel system, the auto advance, etc..

However, like yourself I was concerned about the belts being perished - so I spoke to various manufacturers (Gates Technical department in Scotland were particularly helpful) who told me about the shelf life of new cam-belts being three years, but that there were no guarantees (either from the belt's manufacturer nor from the car maker) once fitted on the car. It was explained that there were too many (more critical) factors than age which effected the life of rubber components. The most obvious being the heat range experienced and contamination of oil, fuels, etc. How it was fitted (tension, timing, pulleys being straight, etc.), and then of course the effects of where the car is parked and then used.

ie., a car with a tight engine, that's started from sitting overnight in freezing fog conditions and then super heated up when sitting in heavy traffic conditions - all within minutes ...and inbetween times raced because the owner is angry and late for work ! These things will have a detrimental effect on belt life and on the loads the belt is subjected to.

However, once fitted the belt might normally be expected to last a further three years and 36,000 miles before needing to be changed. (Gates say 3-years, other makes were often just 2-years) NB - This is the belt manufacturers guidelines ...even though car makers will insist on saying 60,000 miles or more. But if the belt breaks then you'll find it not covered by their warrantee.

So, with your particular scenario, a car laid up for just two years, perhaps the questions to ask are ; how old is the belt (service history).. time / number of miles since last changed ? Are parts of the engine nearby the belts covered with oil or other contaminates ? Has the car been garaged all it's life ? Has the car been subject to midsummer holiday traffic jams in Milan ? And is the previous owner likely to have thrashed the car to within an inch of it's life ? Only then might you find a clearer appraisal of the risk.

I took the risk with my Ami-super after 16 years of sitting in the back of a double car garage. The belt was relatively unstressed during this 16 year period. It was not exposed to high temperatures during this time, nor extremes of humidity or pollution, nor contaminates of oil, petrol or brake fluid leaks nor vapours. In fact, aside from a relative light spring tension, the conditions were not far off the same as their sitting in a box in a warehouse.

The car has recorded just 50,000 km and so the belts might have been original or perhaps changed once since 1974. On examination (as I was changing it) the rubber still felt reasonably supple, but looking closely you could see hairline cracks for 1 or 2mm at the edges of the belt - in the outer rubber layer. After the car had been moved to a working space I fitted a new pair of belts (having checked the age of those before buying !) and I replaced the tensioners too.

Hope that helps..
Pete

[Zelandeth]

I reckon you should be fine.

I'd pull the cover off and do a visual inspection of the belt to make sure it's not obviously badly perished or contaminated with oil etc, and if things look OK I'd not worry for the purpose of moving the car, provided that nothing has seized up - but that should be obvious when you hand crank the engine, or by very obvious sounds of distress when it's started.

[Timmo]

If you can, pop the covers off and look as suggested, you'll be able to tell quickly if its a go or no, if history shows it hasnt been done in the recent few years definitely worth checking,
If you have access to a suitable towing wagon, you can hire a car trailer for around £50 generally with 100 returnable cash deposit,

[handyman]

Thanks all for your learned replies. Looks like I'll be busy over the weekend. The car was regularly serviced prior to being laid up & not due a cambelt change at the time, so I'll be lifting a cover & giving the belt a thorough visual before starting.

By the way, it looks to be just as cheap to hire a recovery lorry for £90, all in, per day, as it is to hire a trailer. The only car I currently have with a tow hitch is the one that has to be moved!

H