What's the best way to store an engine?

visagti · Post by **visagti** » 02 May 2006, 19:07

I'm going to take an engine out of a car I have to break and keep it incase anything goes wrong with the one that's in my runabout.

The engine is a runner and has only done 50k.

Do I drain oil and use engine flush, drop that and when removed seal up all holes so no condensation gets in to rust rings etc?

Do I fill it to the brim with oil?

What's the best way of going about it?

Robin · Post by **Robin** » 02 May 2006, 19:20

Which engine? Petrol or diesel, turbo or NA? Fuel injected or carb?
Certainly changing the oil and running it through to clean it out is essential. If you want to you could buy some preserving oil from specialist suppliers.
Diesel and petrol need a slightly different approach as does the turbo if fitted.
Robin

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 02 May 2006, 19:24

A little irrelevant changing oil, as the oil will COMPLETELY drain down to sump over time anyway.. So makes no real difference....

Regards
citroenxm

visagti · Post by **visagti** » 02 May 2006, 19:30

It's a 1.6 petrol injection n/a

Robin · Post by **Robin** » 02 May 2006, 19:58

OK, the oil needs to be changed in order to remove any acids from the inside or at least dilute them, use flushing oil to clean it through but store the engine on a good quality oil, we use a straight 30 grade for this job. It stays in the journals far more than multigrades will. Warm the engine up on a very strong anti freeze mix, at least 50/50 to protect the the internal cooling spaces from corrosion. Once the engine is cold remove the intake manifold and spin the engine on the starter and inject copious amounts of WD40 or similar into each intake port as it spins over. This coats all the valves, intake and exhaust and internals better than removing the plugs and spraying it in there. It needs to be a cold engine for two reasons, the oil does not drain down from the journals or bearing surfaces and the engine may run as a diesel on WD40 if it is hot!
As for the fuel injection system, you have two choices as I see it, drain it all down and plug off any pipes or run injector flush though it and seal it up then. If the system is quite new I would do the latter otherwise drain it down. Injector flush can loosen debris if stored in older systems. Drain the engine oil, remove the oil filter and fit a new one, seal up all the openings you can find with plastic and tape, grease the flywheel clutch face and any other mating faces likely to corrode. Stand upright on wooden blocks and do not be tempted to turn it over (rotate the crank I mean!). This removes the oil left in the bearing journals and is a higher risk of damage than the piston rings sticking which they will not do if the copious WD40 is copious enough!
Store in a cool, dry and dark environment

We have stored marine engines like this for years and they have run up first time - the MOD do it this way but with preserving oils so I don't claim any credit for the method.
Good luck, Robin

Bigjoe · Post by **Bigjoe** » 03 May 2006, 09:01

You can buy an engine lay up set from frost autorestoration in lancashire,which has moisture absorbing plugs and some other bits which minimise rust etc forming,ive not used them but might be worth a try.