[DeTomaso] Why is it hard to start cars that have been sitting for months?

[Asa Jay Laughton]

What color was the smoke that filled the garage?
What did it smell like?  Oil or fuel?

Typically this would be caused by a bit of oil leaking into the  
cylinder which makes it harder for the spark to ignite the air/fuel  
mixture.  After a few minutes it all burns off and you're good again.

As I recall, you had the heads serviced a while back. I presume it got  
all new valve stem seals, did they get the stock umbrella seals or  
positive lock type?

Asa Jay

Quoting Charles McCall <charlesmccall at gmail.com>:

> Hi all,
>
>
>
> Please note that this is not a problem, it is curiosity more than anything
> else.
>
>
>
> Last weekend it was unseasonably warm. It had rained the entire previous
> week, washing the salt away. My wife commented that we were out of sherry (I
> don't drink the stuff but she likes it) so I decided to take the Pantera out
> to buy her some sherry. The Spanish equivalent of two states away. It took
> nearly 4 hours for me to get to the supermarket and back, mostly on deserted
> backroads. Am I self-sacrificing husband or what? I don't know if she'll let
> me go out by myself in the Pantera to go shopping anymore though.
>
>
>
> Anyway that's not the point. The car hadn't been started for probably 4
> months, literally. During that time, all the fuel evaporated from the carb
> and fuel line, so it took a while for the engine to fire. The battery was
> fully charged (thanks Thomas!!) so turning the engine over was no problem.
> All that I see as perfectly normal and understandable.
>
>
>
> When the engine fired, I think it was running on about 2.5 cylinders for the
> first minute. Then another cylinder joined the party. Probably literally two
> minutes after starting the engine, another cylinder began firing. The car
> rocked and shook due to the imbalance, and I was filling the garage with
> unburned fuel. I pulled out of the garage and the car was probably running
> on 7 cylinders. It was possibly a good 4-5 minutes before it was running on
> all 8.
>
>
>
> And then all was fine. With the engine warm and all the cobwebs out the
> engine ran and felt perfect.
>
>
>
> I'm just curious as to what is happening mechanically in a cold engine that
> hasn't been started for many months that prevents certain cylinders from
> firing until good and warm. It's an intellectual exercise more than anything
> else, although I do wonder if there is something that my engine is telling
> me.
>
>
>
> Is this caused by a weak spark? Plugs that don't fire when cold? There are
> only three possiblities, right? Lack of air, lack of fuel, or lack of spark.
> Obviously if oxygen reaches one cylinder with a common carb and manifold, it
> ought to reach all of them. Same with fuel I think. That only leaves sparks.
>
>
>
>
> Does some kind of crud form over the spark plugs if they sit for months?
> Does it all burn off if so? Is my engine telling me that I need to change my
> plugs? Is this temperature related or time-related - by that I mean does the
> engine smooth out because the plugs have warmed up to operating temp or
> because they need x minutes of firing to burn off the crud?
>
>
>
> I've got an MSD 6AL in case anyone is curious.
>
>
>
> Again, this isn't a problem, I'm just wondering what's happening inside my
> engine (or any engine for that matter) when it sits for months at a time.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Charles McCall
>
> 1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
>
> "Raising Pantera Awareness Across Europe"
>
>  <http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323>
> http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=2323
>
>
>
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-- 
Asa Jay Laughton - sent from somewhere other than home
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