Starting a GTI after nearly 3 years idle

Last weekend I towed my Campaign out of the field (see below) and took it back to my brother's house for a cleanup. I'm going to sell it, because I don't have the time or facilities to do it, and keeping it outdoors is not doing it any good. More details about the rest of it later, but here's the details of (sensitively) starting it up:

I opened the bonnet to more cobwebs than an Indiana Jones film set, but after I'd vacuumed it all away, the engine looked fine - it had been driving daily before I had to retire the car on rust grounds.

I checked the timing belt first, but on seeing it, I remembered that it had only been fitted a few thousand km's before retirement, and it was also still correctly tensioned.

There was only a litre or so of fuel in the car, but I wanted to empty the fuel system, so I bridged the fuel pump relay and lifted the airflow meter flap, to make the injectors flush their load of old fuel into the waiting jar, but I stopped before I ran the tank dry, to avoid sucking up the crud in the tank. I put new rubber seals on the injectors, and re-fitted them. I then added a few more litres of fuel into the tank.

I removed the spark plugs (almost new, very reuseable), and poured about a dessertspoonful of new engine oil into each plug-hole, to lubricate the bores. I then removed the old oil and filter, filled up the sump with fresh oil and fitted a (half-filled) new filter, left the spark plugs out, and turned it over with the king HT lead pressed onto the head, to protect the electronic ignition module.

The engine turned over fairly fast, with blasts of air coming out of the sparkplug holes, but most importantly it allowed the oil pump to circulate oil into all parts of the (fully dry) engine WITHOUT ANY LOADING.

I then replaced the spark plugs and the HT lead, and turned the key - it started on the first turn, and ran perfectly, although with huge plumes of blue smoke for a minute or so, from the oil in the bores being burnt off!

I'd forgotten how great a Mk1 GTI engine sounds :mrgreen: (my brother's car has a G60 engine in it - very different)

There's some more work to do on the trim and interior, so more updates at a later date.
It will also need welding for the NCT (MOT), but that will be work for the new owner…

I'd have just turned the key and hoped for the best - it would probably have started anyway - they are good like that.

In that line of cars in your sig pic - that's not an Oak Green Mk1 is it?!?

Steve_Matthews said

I'd have just turned the key and hoped for the best - it would probably have started anyway - they are good like that.

I wasn't sure if it would start, so I didn't want to be cranking a dry engine for ages - it's got enough wear on it already…

Steve_Matthews said

In that line of cars in your sig pic - that's not an Oak Green Mk1 is it?!?

I presume that you mean the fourth car from the left, but no, it's Lhasa Green, but looks darker because the third car (which should also be Lhasa) has been resprayed in Gomera Green (ironically, the colour of my daily driver Audi 80).