My car sits unused for extended periods of time. Seems like leaving the engine static, with each of the valve springs in a different state of compression for a long period of time, is not going to be good for the springs, lifters or rockers. How often should I spin the engine over with the starter (no fuel, no spark) to get a more random distribution of static load on the valve train?

Is a fairly mild solid roller (230/242 114LSA 0.590 I/0.590 E), with Crower Cutaway lifters, and CC Pro-Magnum 1.6 (I) and 1.55 (E) rockers, and PSI springs with open spring pressures in the 580psi range.

 

I'd turn it over every month, better still would be to start it and let it run long enough to get oil temp over boiling temp of water but you might have to drive it to do that. If it was going to sit for 6 months I'd bite the bullet and take all of the rockers off.

 

I do my motors every month. My old car had a .655/.633 lift solid roller sbc with serious valve springs and it would sit for 6 months in a storage facility without being started. I ran for 6 seasons on the springs (street and track)(around 3000 miles per year)after every year would pull the springs off and they were still good. isky tool rooms. it should not hurt anything but ask your engine builder to be sure

 

I think that with decent components the effects of unequal loading are going to be pretty negligible over a few months. At worst I think maybe you'll end up with some very slight differences in the spring properties.

I think the effects of sitting in any static position are the main concern rather than the different positions of different parts.

 

This is the situation our boat guys get into when letting their boats sit for the winter...we tell them to once a month start the motor and get to the water boil off temp in the oil, like stated above, and to look at the damper before starting, and make sure to rotate the motor to a different position than it had been sitting in once they shut it off. Had a couple guys over the last few years who let their motors sit all winter long without rotating them over(not our motors, but we did the new ones) and they lost spring pressure, floated the valves first time out on the lake, and the blower then redistributed the broken valve and piston pieces to the rest of the motor killing the whole thing. So it may be a crappy valve spring sinario, but even with tool room springs I wouldn't risk leaving the springs compressed for more than a month or two.

 

Yes, the thought of a couple of the springs sitting there with full compression, and a couple others with closed valve pressure seems like a bad idea..... at least leaving them that way for an extended period of time. Then there's the issue of the bearings for the lifter and rocker rollers, and the chance of the oil film squishing out of the ones under load, over a long period of time.

I don't start it up until I know I can keep it running long enough to heat up the oil. I have an oil temp gauge and its surprising how long it takes to reach full operating temperature. Without an inspection sticker, its always a bit risky to take it too far on the street.

Thanks.... I think I'll make sure to crank it at least once a month.

 

If it is going to sit for an extended period of time, you could just loosen the rocker arms up. You will probably want to adjust the valves when you take it out of storage anyway right?

 

My understanding is that it's important not only to heat up the oil but to let it run long enough to boil off any moisture that would accumulate from condensation inside the block during a cold startup. Also you're going to get some fuel dilution in the oil from the rich fuel mixture condensing on the cylinder walls during that cold startup. Should let the engine run long enough for that to boil off too. Question is, how long is that on an idling engine?

If it were me, I think I would just back off the rocker arms.

 

If I "crank" it to change the loads on the valve train, it will be without fuel and spark, as indcated in the original post.

 

Sorry, somewhere along the line while reading all the posts, I got the impression that the engine would be started up.

 

I turn mine over 2-3 times a month w/ no fuel or spark for that very reason of fear and memory setting into the springs. My old engine I'd go 4-6 mos and not turn it over and nothing never happened but I never really checked either. That engine lasted me 6 yrs.

 

Just look at fat people in cars, the cars tend to slant to that side of the weight and over time you can tell which side of the car had the weight in it without them in it.

For mine, over winter storage we back off the rockers, most of the times we replace them with new ones anyway and keep the old ones for just in case.

Does any one put stablilzer in the fuel? I typically draw the old fuel out and put fresh stuff back in.

 

I use some fuel stabilizer in there. I also just bump the engine to a different position from under the hood with the ign off if I'm not going to start it up and let it run. Modern engine materials with syn oil don't seem to have the brinnelling problems that the old cars had, at least I haven't seen any evidence of that. I don't know about the spring set problems, but I assume that can happen with the severity being more on high lift cams and springs that are compressed to a higher percentage.

Yeah, I sit in my house and worry about my valve springs too, when I'm not using my car. That's an engineer for ya, worrying about our engine parts. Sometimes when I run my engine hard, I feel sorry for the parts, LOL.

 

We pull the rockers off our SB2.2 race motors when they are going to sit for longer than a couple weeks (solid rollers with well over .700 lift). Then again, we just pull the fenders off and stand in the wheel wells -- these cars are so much harder to get in and do that. At the very least, I'd put the car through a full heat cycle every month.

 

That's my suggestion. It doesn't take too long to lash the valves, but it would be a pain having to do it everytime you want to take it out.

Turning the engine over once a month is definitely easier to do. I'd go as far as taking it out for a spin once a month if you can.