gost1

Has anyone attempted to initiate Clear flood mode in these cars? The reason for asking is that the car has been sitting in cold storage for over six months, and it wouldn't hurt to build up oil pressure before starting it up.

911T4ME

Subscribed. I have two Porsches that are 3000 miles apart and get driven about six months out of the year. I had planned to just remove fuel pump fuse for first 30 seconds when trying to start car for first time in sixish months.

911T4ME

Found this:

https://www.pca.org/tech/startup-aft...%20the%20gauge.

lowbee

I wonder if pulling the fuel pump fuse will cause a CEL

AnandN

Wonder that as well. Have never done that in 10 years in my Porsches during winter storage.

Le Petit Garage

Whenever I don’t start my car for awhile, I always key in and ignition cycle a couple times before I actually start the car. You can hear various mechanisms prime for firing.

Zhao

i'm not really understanding the point. You want to cycle the pistons in the cylinders on the starter cold before you cycle the cylinders on fuel?

I swear, people invent overly complicated procedural nonsense just to one up others on how 'careful' they are with their car.

911T4ME

The point is to attempt to get oil circulating and lubricating components before starting the car after its been sitting for many months. I do it with all my cars and motorcycles as I have two residences in different parts of the country that I switch between for six months a year. Not sure if pulling the fuel pump fuse triggers a CEL, but I have a device to clear CELs should it occur.

MrFunk

6 months is not a long time for a vehicle to sit.
I've been winter storing summer vehicles for a decade... 6 months is nothing...
It's in my opinion unnecessary to "pre lube" cylinders before starting the car after only a 6 month sit. Perhaps if the car sat 5 years... but even then I'd say it's unnecessary.
I've researched this a bit over the years - there's lots of information out there - but what I found is that it's an unnecessary process.
But - if you sleep better at night then have at it... nothing wrong with that!

Read "IdahoDoug" response to this very question below... 5th post.
https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/...rt-up.1312447/

Paul S.

I'm with you--not sure either of my two have sat for 6 months, but my 997 can sit for close to that because into September through February doesn't leave a lot of time for me to go out cruising. Seems like much to do over nothing.

mc3456

That advice was for a 37 year old G Series 911, so probably not applicable to a modern car.

Zhao

1) Oil pressure builds almost instantaneously.
2) Oil takes a very long time to stop coating internal components from sitting and very little is necessary to do the job.
3) These engines are modern and designed to operate in a wild range of abuse without being finicky.
4) The RPMs run off the starter and RPMs run off idle are not significantly different. As far as virtually every component of the engine is concerned in regards to lubrication it doesn't care about if the electric starter is spinning the engine or if the combustion is spinning the engine if the RPMs are roughly the same.

This is one of those things that sounds good as a theory but isn't really backed up by any science I've ever read. One guy's 15 year old post talking about a 1980s car doesn't make it fact and I already checked to see if there was even a handful of people claiming this is a good idea. I was not successful in finding other people claiming this is a worthwhile procedure.

SpyderSenseOC

I think it is derived from mechanics doing it after a major engine repair or rebuild where some bearing surfaces and/or hydraulic components might not have the desired amount of oil on/in them, and spinning the engine over to achieve oil pressure in a non-combustion situation (or even a non-compression situation if the plugs are removed) could be of some value. Not the case here.

Zhao

Since few who should will probably click on that link:

There's no reason for most of that. Two years doesn't significantly degrade gasoline, though certainly it's going to be a step below fresh gasoline. Modern cars are designed to run on a broad variety of fuel quality around the world and 2 year old fuel won't be a challenge. Cylinder lubrication won't be an issue, either. There is oil trapped in the piston's rings and lands, and especially in the oil rings which have that 3-piece construction specifically for that purpose. For scale, I've disassembled engines that sat for as long as 19 years, and the pistons oil rings were dripping oil when I pulled them out.

When you turn the engine over with the starter, the pistons will travel up and down the bores a few times before the engine ignites, distributing oil and while that is happening there is barely any pressure between the rings and cylinder walls. It's when ignition occurs that the rings are pushed against the bores.

Getting into the weeds here, but suffice to say that's a lot of trouble to go to with minimal/zero benefit.

I also had a car I left in storage for 7 years once. Brought a fresh battery, cranked it over and it started right up and ran smoothly with the original gas I left in it. Of course I drove directly to a gas station and filled it with fresh premium gas, but it ran fine on the way.

Because I'm picky, If it were my vehicle, I'd arrive with a proper amount of Seafoam fuel conditioner, which bolsters the fuel's cleaning additives with fresh, and will also boost lubricating the fuel pump, injectors and other fuel system bits. It will also dissolve the bit of crud that all fuel tanks have in them (stored or not) safely and make them combustible to go harmlessly through the fuel system. Do that upon arrival to give it time to disperse through the fuel while you connect the battery, air up the tires, take the cover off, etc. Then, I'd let it warm up idling (which normally I recommend against) and if an automatic I'd shift it through all the gears a few times before moving off and drive it very gently for the first few minutes. I'd also drag the brakes gently to clean the rotors and not bring the car to a hot stop - trying to avoid holding the car in place with the hot pads printing accumulated surface corrosion into the hot rotor. That's it. Expect the tires to have a flat spot that will disappear after a day or two. Definitely check for rodent nests in the intake/air cleaner as you don't want to suck that into the air filter. So, worth opening the air filter box to check it and ensure there's not a nest near the exhaust manifold, which could cause an unstoppable engine bay fire.

only thing I'd add is I've opened up 25+ year old gas tanks and so far they've always been pristine with surprisingly zero contaminants in them. They literally all looked new inside.

RDCR

This thread is bringing back memories of all the oil / lubrication discussions here on Rennlist regarding the original 996 water cooled motors. IIRC there was some empirical evidence at the time that cars stored in extremely cold climates for extended periods and then started cold may have had higher failure rates. The recommendation was to bring the car up to room temperatures for a few days before starting after cold winter storage.