Starting after 6 years in storage!

[MrC]

I have a 1990 12 hp Simplicity mower. I parked it 6 years ago in my unheated garage. Oil is weeping from some seals (somewhere), the battery is dead, the gas (very little) is bad obviously, and the tires are almost flat. I want to get it running and sell it. The mower had low hours and ran great when I parked it. Please tell me where to start to get this mower up and running. I know I need to flush and clean the gas tank and fuel system. Will the carb need to be rebuilt? Will the engine's seals soften up and stop weeping after the mower is running again? After changing the oil, how do I circulate the fresh oil without damaging or scoring the cylinder walls? New spark plug? I would appreciate some recommendations and advice!

Thanks in advance,

Rick in Tennessee

 

[KennyV]

Rick...
Welcome to the forum...
Lon setting engines should be no problem
Take the spark plug out and dump some Hoppies #9 into it OR spray some PB blaster into the cylinder.
Let it set for a day or two with the PB or #9 setting on the top of the piston, you may have to turn the engine on its side for that ... then turn it over by hand a couple times with the spark plug still out... allow it to set another day with fresh #9 or PB in it.
spin it over to blow out the excess, change the oil, put in a good synthetic to clean up the bottom end...
Clean up the fuel system and with a fresh plug you should be set to go... :smile:KennyV

 

[noma]

Mr C


Welcome aboard hope to hear from you a lot on LMF .Like Kenney said put some stuff in the plug hole ,clean the fuel tank and fresh fuel and you should be ready to go.That seal on the shaft on the bottom you might have to replace it might quite when the oil warm up but i would almost bet your going to replace that seal. Well good luck nice to have you aboard:confused2:

 

[Kingwood990]

You will want to eather get new rubber seals or keep an eye on them. The rubber dries out and cracks thus causing oil leaks and other fun stuff. You might want to pull the carb and give it a good cleaning too.

 

[SouthCentral]

You said you want to sell it so minimal money investment would be a new spark plug, new fuel and charge the battery. Might take a while but it should start up with that combination. :thumbsup:

Let us know how it goes!!

 

[dus]

I'm not a mechanic at all and have the exact same scenario, so when you say hoppes 9 or you talking about the gun solvent?

 

[soulman]

Rick...
Welcome to the forum...
Lon setting engines should be no problem
Take the spark plug out and dump some Hoppies #9 into it OR spray some PB blaster into the cylinder.
Let it set for a day or two with the PB or #9 setting on the top of the piston, you may have to turn the engine on its side for that ... then turn it over by hand a couple times with the spark plug still out... allow it to set another day with fresh #9 or PB in it.
spin it over to blow out the excess, change the oil, put in a good synthetic to clean up the bottom end...
Clean up the fuel system and with a fresh plug you should be set to go... :smile:KennyV

I would not use synthetic oil in this case, if you have any leaks, they will be compounded with synthetic.

 

[KennyV]

I use diesel rated synthetics for several reasons...
Just a couple are:
1. Superior lube... (greatly eliminate future component wear).
2. Much better detergent additive pac.. (cleaning up old deposits better & keeping things cleaner)

If you have a leak... anything will leak out. If there Is a leak, fix the leak... Don't use a lesser lubricant that will also leak out.... :smile:KennyV