Land Rover Defender (1946 - ) - Starting an Engine After a Looooooong Time

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Sun 17 May 2009 00:26
Starting an Engine After a Looooooong Time - Nsar
My SIII diesel has been standing for a very long time. A really long time. An excruciatingly long time. Sorry motoring Gods, I have sinned.

The battery is obviously as flat as a duck's instep.

What's the best plan to get it going again without inflicting any more pain on the poor thing?



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Sun 17 May 2009 01:00
Starting an Engine After a Looooooong Time - RichardW
Check the oil, coolant or diesel has not turned to jelly, check it will turn over with either a handle or spanner on the crank pulley. Check the fuel filter is not full of water, prime the filter with the hand pump. Disable the stop solenoid, fit a decent battery, crank it for a few short bursts to see if it sounds like you've got compression, and you get enough oil pressure to put the light out. If it does, re-enable the stop solenoid and see if it will start. Let it run at idle and check for oil and water leaks as it heats up. If it's been stood for a long while the clutch may well be seized. There are various strategies to free this, but one which doesn't need a large yard is to get the whole lot hot (run it for > hour) wedge the pedal down, and then leave it overnight to go cold, when the clutch should have freed.
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Sun 17 May 2009 01:03
Starting an Engine After a Looooooong Time - Dave_TD
Make sure the oil and coolant are up to the right levels, shake the dust out of the air filter, lubricate all linkages (throttle etc), stand there scratching your head for five minutes trying to think if there's anything else that you could do, and give it a whirl!

Make sure the garage door is open though, there may be a small amount of smoke.

Dave TD

Edited by Dave_TD {P} on 17/05/2009 at 01:04

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Sun 17 May 2009 08:32
Starting an Engine After a Looooooong Time - nick
I have an old International tractor with which I top off a field a couple of times a year so it sits in the open doing nothing for 10 months at a stretch. I keep the battery in the garage on a battery conditioner charger (Lidl, about a tenner). I'm afraid all I do is put the battery on and start it. It's never failed to start yet though that is tempting fate.
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Sun 17 May 2009 11:04
Starting an Engine After a Looooooong Time - Hamsafar
If it's petrol, remove the spark plugs and spray some light oil or WD40 into the plug holes and spin over without the plugs in (by hand if possible) a few turns/seconds. Then refit the plugs and try to start along with the other suggestions.
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Sun 17 May 2009 11:28
Starting an Engine After a Looooooong Time - Dave_TD
My SIII diesel

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