I want to start my truck I am informed it will run it did when it was parked. First tank smells well like fermented gas but not bad belt looks as thin as a rubber band that will break if stared at too long there is coolant in radiator hope water pump held up lol. I will change oil not sure about manual case?? tranny fuel lines sketchy. so end of story you guys tell me or give me a list to go through before cranking

 

How long has it been sitting?
Generally take all the plugs out put a couple of shots of Marvel Mistery Oil in each cylinder.
Next gently turn the engine over with a wrench feel for obstructions (hanging valves etc.).
If a vlave is stuck try taking the valve covers off and popping the valve with a plastic mallet. BE SURE THE PISTON IS DOWN B-4 you wack the valve with the hammer. If the valve stays down it can sometimes be coaxed with PB blaster and time. Also a bit of heat will sometimes free them up. Sometimes a cylinder will be rusted up because the intake or exhaust valve was sitting open in damp locations. I plan on starting the flatty 6 tomorrow sometime while cooking a turkey outside. Good luck.
Marty

 

I'm saying you need to definitely drain that old fuel.If you see a bunch of crud in it,don't even try to turn it over,or you'll pump it into the carb.In that case,remove the tank and deal with it.Perhaps carefully rig a temp fuel can or whatever.Be careful.

"It ran when parked" is an old joke among old car/truck hobbyists, and means nothing.Actually it does mean something - believe next-to-nothing about the condition you've been told it is in,expect the worst,be happy if less than the worst happens.

 

It has been sitting over 5 years

 

Everybody who tries to sell old junk says it ran when parked. Maybe it did. Obviously it ran at some point. But why then was it parked? Rods knocking? Blown head gasket? Who knows what the real story is.

As mentioned, don't try to start it with the old gas or with unknown crud in the tank. Put in fresh engine oil. Lubing the cylinders isn't a bad plan and rotating it by hand a couple of turns before fire-up is a good idea, too. That way you'll know there isn't a broken rod or some other internal malady.

 

I like to remove the thermostat and flush out the radiator and block to make sure no mice have made there way inside... remove are old rusty water...

Also check the firing order... you don't know how many times folks have found them in the wrong order...

 

I'm in the same position. I recently bought a '48 panel with the intentions of reselling it to get a little money for my my addiction, I mean hobby. The seller said it sat for twenty years in a garage in the inner city so I just assumed the engine was junk. After I got it home I checked the oil to see if it had any and if there was some, the condition. Oil looked OK, no water but dirty. I hooked up a battery to bump the engine over to see if it was stuck. It turned over fine. Turned it over some more to get the oil pumped through the engine. Next checked and cleaned the spark plugs. Didn't want to start but there was evidence someone in the past didn't know what they were doing. Ignition wires were the wrong order and it turned out the distributor was 180° off. Today I got it running and it runs pretty good.

I really hate the term "Ran when parked". Like stated above it means absolutely nothing. To me when I see it in an ad it translates to "I tried to turn it over and it was stuck so I'll use the term "ran when parked". The reason I want to my truck running before I put it up for sale is I want the potential buyer to know the engine will run, I know it's more valuable if it's running. I can't see why a buyer would never at least try to see if the engine is loose before trying to sell it. If an engine is loose there's at least a 90% chance they you can get it running.

 

What are your plans for it? If you plan on going thru it and rebuilding, why waste the effort? Start tearing down and do some things only once or twice and not three times!

 

have a little faith ..hook up a marine gas tank to the fuel pump, clean the points and spin her and see what happens ..5 years is not all that long ..mine sat 10 outside .with pumkins growing in the back..my truck has now run 2500 miles with one oil change ...and runs great ..but then it is a flathead ..and they will put up with a lot of ...neglect...

 

Yeah, ran when parked...heard that one before!

 

I walked to the couch before I sat down.But I had a limp.LOL

 

There is coolant still in radiator yellow not brown good sign I hope and I will def take all the advice YALL are telling me. Thanks for every ones help !

 

in five years the mud can settle ..I would drain ALL the fluids and start with clean to wake her up ..engine ,trans, rear end ...rad ..do the breaks work ?? the hoses and belts can wait till you see how well it runs...

 

I'll try that on my wife.....I was running fine until I parked my butt in this recliner---Now I can't get craked back up again. Good luck getting the truck fired up--take your time--be gentle with it, it will come around.
Mike

 

Ya, I bought a flathead that "ran when parked". Pulled the head and found a valve seat wedged aat an angle out of it's hole. I guess that was bitter sweet though as it did have valve seats already.

I agree with the others and will add that checking the new oil for water may be a good idea. You never know.