Hi Chaps, my name is Gary and I’ve been offered a Pulsar GTiR (K plate in black) that belongs to a good friend of mine. It’s been sitting in his garage for just over 5 years now and hasn’t moved :roll:. We fired it up about 3 years ago but never moved it. When it was on the road he really looked after it and was serviced/maintained regularly until he moved house and put the car in his garage. He’s offered it to me for £1500 but not sure if I’m going to be buying a headache or a usable reliable car :shock:. I just hope nothing has perished too much (CV boots, suspension bushes, hoses, belts). I hoping the fact it’s been stored inside a garage might have just saved it.
We tried to fire her up last Tuesday night and this is what happened…
Well… The fuel tank was ran very low when he put it into storage. We filled the tank with 20 litres of new super unleaded, connected up the jump leads (battery is not holding full charge) and cranked her over. She turned over at a decent speed but just would not fire. We tried for a minute or so then left her for 5 mins and tried again and again and she just would not fire (no hint of a cough or splutter).
One thing my mate noticed compared to the other day when he got in the car was that even though we had put 20l of fuel in the fuel gauge didn’t even move when the ignition was on and trying to start. The other day when he sat in the car and put the ignition on (after 24 hour charge) the fuel gauge moved up to the line with the E on it before we put the 20 litres in. Could it be that maybe the fuel pump fuse may have blown and that somehow relates to the fuel gauge?
When I sat in the car and turned the ignition on (1 click) I couldn’t hear the pump kick in to pressurize like it did on my previous Skyline GTR. All that happened is the dash lights would come on but no whirring noise from the pump as it pressurizes/primes. I initially thought that we had probably flooded the plugs with the old fuel that was still in the fuel lines and filter until the new fuel made its way to the injectors. Now I’m thinking maybe the fuel pump is not working. My mate was the one trying to start it at first so maybe the pump primed when he tried to start it and that’s why I couldn’t hear anything when I tried.
The initial plan after that was to whip the intercooler off and take the plugs out, then spin the engine over to pump the old fuel that’s in the filter and fuel line through until the new fresher fuel was there. Then clean plugs and put them back in and hopefully it would start. We ran out or time that night so that never happened. Maybe there is no spark and the fuel gauge is unrelated to the starting problem?
I’m thinking that it may have a blown fuse for the fuel pump or possibly the pump has given up? I’ll check the fuse first and then see if I can hear the pump priming. If there is no noise at all then I can only assume the pump has given up.
If I can here the pump I’ll take the plugs out and give then a good clean. It was a very damp and cold night that night with quite a bit of condensation over the engine. Not the best conditions to try and start a car that been sitting for a few years.
I was kinda disappointing as we fired it up about 3 years ago from my powerpack and it fired after about 2 seconds..
Do you think the next thing to do is check the fuel pump fuse or relay and take the plugs out to see if its firing and we have a spark? If there is no spark could it be the distributor cap/rotor arm or something more sinister?
I also noticed that he has left the handbrake on for all that time (Doh!!). I released the handbrake and we tried to push the car but it’s solid. Is it likely that if we get the car running to try and pull away (being 4WD) and see if it releases the handbrake pads or is this a no no?
The plan is to get it running at get it in for an MOT to see what work is required to put it back on the road. I’m just concerned about what problem maybe lurking after sitting in a garage for over 5 years. I took a torch to the underside and it still looks solid with no signs of rot, I remember us going over the whole car when he bought it over 10 years ago and it was pretty mint with no rust or rot in standard trim. the only mods the car has had since import is boost raised to 1 bar, cone filter, Mongoose full system (dyno'd at 306bhp about 8-10 years ago), lowering springs.
Any advice would be helpful.
Cheers
Gary
We tried to fire her up last Tuesday night and this is what happened…
Well… The fuel tank was ran very low when he put it into storage. We filled the tank with 20 litres of new super unleaded, connected up the jump leads (battery is not holding full charge) and cranked her over. She turned over at a decent speed but just would not fire. We tried for a minute or so then left her for 5 mins and tried again and again and she just would not fire (no hint of a cough or splutter).
One thing my mate noticed compared to the other day when he got in the car was that even though we had put 20l of fuel in the fuel gauge didn’t even move when the ignition was on and trying to start. The other day when he sat in the car and put the ignition on (after 24 hour charge) the fuel gauge moved up to the line with the E on it before we put the 20 litres in. Could it be that maybe the fuel pump fuse may have blown and that somehow relates to the fuel gauge?
When I sat in the car and turned the ignition on (1 click) I couldn’t hear the pump kick in to pressurize like it did on my previous Skyline GTR. All that happened is the dash lights would come on but no whirring noise from the pump as it pressurizes/primes. I initially thought that we had probably flooded the plugs with the old fuel that was still in the fuel lines and filter until the new fuel made its way to the injectors. Now I’m thinking maybe the fuel pump is not working. My mate was the one trying to start it at first so maybe the pump primed when he tried to start it and that’s why I couldn’t hear anything when I tried.
The initial plan after that was to whip the intercooler off and take the plugs out, then spin the engine over to pump the old fuel that’s in the filter and fuel line through until the new fresher fuel was there. Then clean plugs and put them back in and hopefully it would start. We ran out or time that night so that never happened. Maybe there is no spark and the fuel gauge is unrelated to the starting problem?
I’m thinking that it may have a blown fuse for the fuel pump or possibly the pump has given up? I’ll check the fuse first and then see if I can hear the pump priming. If there is no noise at all then I can only assume the pump has given up.
If I can here the pump I’ll take the plugs out and give then a good clean. It was a very damp and cold night that night with quite a bit of condensation over the engine. Not the best conditions to try and start a car that been sitting for a few years.
I was kinda disappointing as we fired it up about 3 years ago from my powerpack and it fired after about 2 seconds..
Do you think the next thing to do is check the fuel pump fuse or relay and take the plugs out to see if its firing and we have a spark? If there is no spark could it be the distributor cap/rotor arm or something more sinister?
I also noticed that he has left the handbrake on for all that time (Doh!!). I released the handbrake and we tried to push the car but it’s solid. Is it likely that if we get the car running to try and pull away (being 4WD) and see if it releases the handbrake pads or is this a no no?
The plan is to get it running at get it in for an MOT to see what work is required to put it back on the road. I’m just concerned about what problem maybe lurking after sitting in a garage for over 5 years. I took a torch to the underside and it still looks solid with no signs of rot, I remember us going over the whole car when he bought it over 10 years ago and it was pretty mint with no rust or rot in standard trim. the only mods the car has had since import is boost raised to 1 bar, cone filter, Mongoose full system (dyno'd at 306bhp about 8-10 years ago), lowering springs.
Any advice would be helpful.
Cheers
Gary
