gas tank help

[tito13]

i have a 1984 trans am, v8 305 h.o. engine.....its been stored for about 1 and a half years now and i need to take out all of the gas out of the tank and refill it with new gas, cus the mechanic who worked on it before it was stored, didn't put the gas additive i gave him in the tank. any easy ways to do this or do i have to syphon gas out of the tank and then run the fuel pump to empty the lines???? please help me i wanna drive him again!!!!!!

[volkerc]

Originally Posted by tito13

i have a 1984 trans am, v8 305 h.o. engine.....its been stored for about 1 and a half years now and i need to take out all of the gas out of the tank and refill it with new gas, cus the mechanic who worked on it before it was stored, didn't put the gas additive i gave him in the tank. any easy ways to do this or do i have to syphon gas out of the tank and then run the fuel pump to empty the lines???? please help me i wanna drive him again!!!!!!

just fire it up!thats what i do with my cars.

[custom mccannix]

as stated above if it is not alot just see if it will fire up and if it tries to shutter while running then add at least twice the amount of gas with high octane gas and or fuel additive that should work but it may not runn GREAT until all the water and old gas is out. other than that just disconnect the fuel line and stick it in a bucket and turn the fuel pump on and let it pump the gas out for you because i don't think that those cars had drain plugs on the tank but check just to be sure

[76ta]

I know when i picked my 76 up off the farm, it had been sitting for 5 sum years not started, and all we did was turn it over a few times and put some 91 octane in the carb and she fired right up

[tito13]

well i tried but it won't crank, it just spins, so i put new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, module, computer, rebuilt the distributor, new battery, new starter, and gas is the only thing i can think of....i got spark, i got air and i have gas, but its old gas.....anything else it could be?

[jason-1995fbody]

usualy a year isnt long enough for gas to go bad it needs like 6 or 7 years but ive seen cars sit longer with no problem just depends on how much is in the tank

but any way you could try spraying carb cleaner in the carb/throttle body and see if it will try to kick over

[brass_monkey93]

I work at an airport and people sometimes come in and buy aviation fuel (100 LL). If i get talking to the guy buying it he usually says his car has been sitting and that the 100 LL helps start it up. Not sure how it works but i do know that the 100 LL will put lead on spark plug and sometime mess up the cat....i used to use it in my snowmobile until it built up too much lead on the spark plug and the tip of the plug fell off and put a hole in the top of the piston. oh, and if you do try this the fuel will probably be over $3.00 a gallon

[volkerc]

Originally Posted by tito13

well i tried but it won't crank, it just spins, so i put new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, module, computer, rebuilt the distributor, new battery, new starter, and gas is the only thing i can think of....i got spark, i got air and i have gas, but its old gas.....anything else it could be?

If you have gas and you have spark than it will have to start unless something else is wrong. It don't matter how old the gas is, the "b...." will have to start, If it cranks and turns over but does not fire up, it is one of two things, no spark or no gas. Are you sure you have gas at the carburetor? Make sure your pump is running. If you have gas at the carburetor, and I hope you checked spark, the only other thing that comes to mind is ignition set wrong. You mentioned that you had the distributor rebuild. Are you sure its back in the correct position? You can actually install the distributor 180 degrees off, and you can forget about starting the car, it will fire the wrong cylinder first. Also just don't trust the module, use another to see if the car might start using another module.
Also check the ignition coil, I had one that was sitting inide my cap, and it had a broken frame, broke right at the weld, everytime I tried to start my car, it would just kill the module, cost me an expensive race ignition and 2 modules, before I discovered that coil.

[tito13]

ill try turning the distributor, ive checked it with three modules, one i had from my friends that we upgraded, one i bought new and the one originally on the car......its got a new ignition coil......thanks

[hotrod_chevyz]

if you must get the gas out,i usually take the fuel line loose at the fuel pump and stick it inside of a gas can.After that take the gas cap off ,and pressurize the tank with a nozzle and air compressor.You will have to hold a rag over the filler tube after you get the nozzle placed a few inches down the filler neck.It will come rushing out pretty quick.If you cant to that it probably will eventually run out the line by the laws of physics and gravity

[volkerc]

Originally Posted by tito13

ill try turning the distributor, ive checked it with three modules, one i had from my friends that we upgraded, one i bought new and the one originally on the car......its got a new ignition coil......thanks

just turning the distributor will not help, you HAVE to make sure that the distributor was installed correctly, or it never fires right! you have to bring cylinder 1 to top dead center, then you have to check where and if the rotor is pointing to the correct cylinder, check a manual for that to be correct.

[tito13]

i was always taught to stick my finger in the #1 spark plug hole and hit the switch until the pressure pushed my finger out.......is this good or is there a better way......

[volkerc]

Originally Posted by tito13

i was always taught to stick my finger in the #1 spark plug hole and hit the switch until the pressure pushed my finger out.......is this good or is there a better way......

oh boy, that is totally wrong, remove the plug on cylinder 1. now by hand, meaning with the appropiate tool, turn the engine at the crank, most of the time you can turn it with a wrench, it will turn very difficult because of the pressure building up, but you'll get it done, depending on the type of engine, once the spark plug is removed you can "see" the piston through the hole, when it is up, it is at top dead center. now there are some tools that can be inserted into the plug hole, i believe they call it a top dead center stop.it works by stopping the piston, before it goes past top dead center, it will also stop the engine from turning at all, once top dead center is reached. the way i do it is a bit different, I just use a screwdriver to find out. i remove all spark plugs to make turning the engine by hand easy, while i'm turning the engine by hand i insert a screwdriver through the spark plug hole, that will give me a feel of the piston, when it comes up, it will hit my screwdriver, i will then also feel once it goes past the top dead center and begins to travel down again. you want the piston in a position just before it goes down again, just turn the engine by hand a few times to get a feel of it, once you found the spot where the piston is all the way up, and you found top dead center. now you will have to see if the rotor is pointing to the correct post/wire at your cap, and i can assure you it is not. pull the distributor and turn the rotor to the appropiate mark, do not turn the engine now, just pull out the distributor turn the rotor and lower it in. now when you lower it, the rotor might move because of the gear on the distributor and cam, you have to pull and install the distributor until the rotor points correctly. now you can install all plugs again . your engine is now set to start firing at 0 degrees. most engines will fire between 8 and 16 degrees before top dead center. your engine will start at 0 degrees, but once running, it will run rough and try to die, thats when you move/turn the distributor to advance timing,, do that with a good strobe light. don't forget to block off the vacuum hose at the distributor so you don't have spark advance through the vacuum can, all adjustments are done without vacuum advance. more questions let me know...

[hotrod_chevyz]

Just because the piston is a TDC doesnt mean its on its compression stroke volkerc.


you can do it like he said too by finding the compression stroke i do it that way all the time and get it exactly on the mark every time.You dont have to have any special tools to stab a distributor.You can do the finger trick and after it poots your finger off,align the timing marks,and later if your that pickey about it use a timing light.

Oh and if its off its mark you forgot to tell him he will have to stick a screwdriver down the hole to readjust the oil pump drive,wich is ran from the bottom of the distributor with a little screwdriver type slot.They almost always go out of adjustment upon pulling the distributor.

[volkerc]

Originally Posted by hotrod_chevyz

Just because the piston is a TDC doesnt mean its on its compression stroke volkerc.


you can do it like he said too by finding the compression stroke i do it that way all the time and get it exactly on the mark every time.You dont have to have any special tools to stab a distributor.You can do the finger trick and after it poots your finger off,align the timing marks,and later if your that pickey about it use a timing light.

Oh and if its off its mark you forgot to tell him he will have to stick a screwdriver down the hole to readjust the oil pump drive,wich is ran from the bottom of the distributor with a little screwdriver type slot.They almost always go out of adjustment upon pulling the distributor.

great tips,"if your that pickey about it use a timing light"
why do you think it is important to set proper timing?

and after you finger just got pooted off your piston is most likely already on the downstroke again...