General Questions - Truck has been sitting for 1 year now...

[Z Fury]

I have a few questions about my 1994 K-Blazer. Due to ridiculous difficulties + laziness on my part, my truck has been sitting stationary for the past 12 months with a dead starter. I'm pushing forward on replacing the starter (I can explain my issues if anyone really cares) this weekend. The goal is to start the truck this weekend (God willing). What should I do before turning the key? I plan on adding a bit of oil to the top end since I'm sure most of the oil has come off of the top end. It is due for an oil change, so I plan on doing that as soon as I know it runs. Anything else to consider that is non-fluid level related?

Also, having sat for 12 months and me spending several hours underneath it, it pains me to see fresh oil on the bottom of the truck. Basically, it is leaking from somewhere above the oil pan (oil pan is in great shape). Based on the lack of power it had before the dead starter, I'm guessing blown head/intake gasket or possibly cracked head/block. Seeing as the engine has over 200K on it and I'm too damn broke to get a new vehicle, a new engine is in order. In a perfect world I'd drop a 5.3 or 6.0 in it and live the high life, but money is an issue and I don't know of anyone in the Indianapolis area that can do the conversion (way out of my league). Any recommendations on a crate engine? Jasper, etc.? I'm looking for a factory replacement, or something with a slight bump in power. The truck just needs to run reliably - I don't currently care about power numbers so long as I can drive it out of town/state without fear of being stranded.

Any suggestions for the above is greatly appreciated. Life has dealt me a bad hand lately, and my plans of replacing the Blazer with something modern have been put on hold indefinitely, but I need a reliable truck living where I live.

Cliffs:
1. Truck has sat for 12 months. What should I do before I start it up?
2. Engine is dying and I need a factory replacement. Any recommendations (with a budget in mind)?

 

[Z Fury]

Bump.

Ok, with no recommendations I'll be proceeding as follows.

1. Replace starter and battery (after a year, I'm sure it is shot).
2. Jasper replacement engine.
3. Drive.

 

[Fobroader]

Sorry man, did not see this earlier. Depending how much fuel youve got in the tank you might want to dump some water remover in the tank and top it up with premium from a jerry can before you attempt to start and then shake the truck a little mix whatever you have in the tank toghether.

 

[badazzbulldog]

the oil leaking could just be a valve cover gasket get it started and degrease the motor and watch those areas valve covers intake ect.

 

[Z Fury]

I dumped Sta-Bil into the tank last year since I knew it would take me awhile to get back to it ("life" got in the way), but I'm sure some premium up top won't hurt either.

I'll try degreasing the engine after it is running and see if it is a valve cover. I figure most of the gaskets on it would be pretty well shot by now. The engine has never been apart for any reason up to this point, which is pretty impressive in my eyes.

 

[silverado_06]

everything in this thread is a good idea, don't jump to conclusions about the oil leak, it could be something simple like a valve cover. my oil leak ended up being the oil cooler lines which turns out is a pretty easy fix (no i still havn't done it, **** off lol). just driving it will be the best thing you can do for it.

 

[Z Fury]

I knew I'd get decent advice, which is why I asked in the first place before blowing a few grand. I'd rather drive the truck for 2-3 more years while I save up for an LSx swap than jump into a reman/rebuild of the current old-school engine.

Any good links on how to degrease an engine? This will be a first for me...

 

[Fobroader]

What works for me is get a couple of cans of degreaser, spray the crap out of the engine while its hot, have a smoke/beer, then hose it down. Take it to a coin operated car wash and repeat process and the engine should be clean to see leaks or anyother kinds of problems. I find aerosol brake cleaner works well for stubborn **** lodged into corners.

 

[silverado_06]

engine degreaser and a power washer. just keep an eye out for what you are hosing down, avoid electronics. most everything is water safe under there.

 

[Z71Sierra]

Just go get youself some purple power degreaser or something. No need for the expensive arosol stuff.

Pick out any leaves or crap from your cowl
Soak the living hey outta your engine with degreaser
Let it sit for 5-15mins depending on nastyness
Pressure wash or hose off
If you use a pressure washer, do be careful. Don't crank on it with a 3k pressure washer and the paint stripping tip.


I do this multiple times a day at the awesome job (sarcasm) I have so I got it down pat.