Hey everyone, I have an '89 Toyota Pickup I love, my boss let me drive the work van and so I've let the truck sit for a few months. I'm going to change the oil and get her back up and running tomorrow, was just wondering if there's anything recommended to do since it's been sitting. TIA

 

It's a good idea to pull the distributor plug and crank it til you have oil pressure. Then you can plug it in and start it.
After 3 months all the oil will have drained out of the valve train and lifters, and it's hard on them to start it dry.

 

3 months is nothing. I wouldn't even bother with the oil change unless it was due before parked. Check the fluid levels and add as needed. After that, start it up like normal.

 

The injectors are still working, so you're running unburned fuel through the cylinders. "Crank til oil pressure" (just a few seconds) is okay, but if do this for an extended period the fuel will wash the oil off the cylinder walls, and fill the exhaust system with fuel ready to ignite. Just use your head.

 

If you're really worried, you can pop out the FI relay as well before cranking.

 

Agreed. Three months is a non-issue. Start as per normal. An EFI Toyota will likely just start as normal.

Like you should do normally, make sure fluid levels (engine oil and coolant) are appropriate.

More than anything, I'd check for rodent nests under the hood.

 

three years, and maybe you'd need to do something. but three months? just start it as if you drove it yesterday.

 

Three months is nothing; my truck started right up after 4 years. Get in it and start it like normal.

 

After 3 months your flux capacitor is definitely destroyed. You'll need to replace that, pickup a quart of blinker fluid, and change the air in the tires at the very least.

 

I totally forgot about the tires! Absolutely, that air is unsafe at any speed if it hasn't been properly rotated. You need to remove it all, draw a vacuum, and refill it with pure organic nitrogen.

 

Organic nitrogen, yes, but please make sure it is fair-trade vegan as well. Think of the children.

 

If you have not started your engine yet, I suggest you need to do no more than letting it crank over a few extra times to make sure the engine oil is getting to all the bearings and that your carb fuel bowl is full. I let my 1987 22-R that I'm restoring (not altering in any way) sit from the beginning of December to the end of March (I live in Michigan, and my truck does not go out when snow and salt are on the roads!) and I have had no trouble getting it running in the spring. And in the future, when you're putting your truck into "storage" you may want to fill your fuel tank to eliminate the likelihood of condensation and add some gas additive such as Sta-Bil. When storing my truck, I also put a few moth balls around the engine compartment and some pieces of fragrant hand soap like Irish Spring around the cab to keep critters away.

 

Contrary to what I've read in replies, a 22-R/RE does not have "valve lifters" as such. In an SOHC engine (single overhead cam) you have a cam, cam follower, and then the valve stem. Technically, "valve lifters" are used in push rod engines (cam in the block). But, it is correct that you have to make sure that sufficient lubrication is supplied to all moving parts in the engine, which is why someone said to pull the coil wire out of the distributor cap and ground it while cranking the engine until oil pressure builds up. The most critical lubrication point in your engine is at the cam lobe and cam follower contact point where the pressure between two moving parts is the greatest and where there is most likely to be metal-to-metal contact (which you don't want).

 

Do you know what the performance engine builders say for initial startup/breakin? They emphasize that it is crucial to be sure that that new engine starts immediately. The last thing in the world is you want is (slow) cranking for a while. When it starts, the next thing to avoid is letting it idle, the sooner the oil pump is really pumping; the better. My $0.02

 

Did you just say 22RE and performance engine in the same sentence?

Sure, you don't want dry metal-to-metal contact, but I don't think that's the case for an engine that's not been started for three months and is well broken in.