Starting up unused turbo engine

NOAM GILBOA

MEMBER
PORSCHE

1987 944 Turbo manual transmission with 27K miles;
Car was left unused in garage for 5-6 years without any storage prep. I would like to restart the engine, and plan to remove plugs, spray in oil, and recharge battery. Do I need to do something to prevent damage to the turbocharger, or is adding oil to the cylinders sufficient? What repairs and replacements should I expect to need? Should it be safe to drive it to the repair shop, assuming it starts, or should it be towed?
Thanks for any info you can provide!

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

I would dump the oil and change the filter, a cold drain will be fine as for this, remove the spark plugs and squirt some oil into each cylinder, re fill engine oil fit new filter and with spark pluge out crank motor for about 30Sec and let sit for a short time repeat this untill you have good oil pressure up. This will ensure no dry start up in the engine or turbo. Replace spark plugs check air filter for any creepy crally that may have made a home in the air box (best to check this before cranking) check coolant and it should be fine to start up. Let it warm up to normal opperating temp before driving. Check for oil and coolant leaks after test drive as seals can dry out and start to leak when left sitting for some time. Also be careful of the brakes, make sure that they are working before thundering out the drive way.

Take care,

Mark (mhpautos)