I would like to start up my 1980 Ford Fairmont sedan that has been sitting outdoors in South Dakota for 17 years, where the winter tends to be cold and the summer hot. The car has an inline 6-cylinder engine, a one-barrel carburetor, and automatic C4 transmission. When I got the car in 1999, the odometer read about 60,000 miles. Currently, it reads about 140,000 miles. Before storage, it was running well, and I had replaced all the fluids and filters. However, I did not otherwise prepare the car for storage, such as adding a fuel stabilizer.
Recently, I did an initial inspection of the car. The radiator fluid was empty, but I filled it with a gallon of NAPA extended-life multi-purpose coolant. The master brake cylinder cap was off and under the car. I got it back on, but the brake fluid appears to have absorbed water. The other fluids seemed OK. Something broke the spark plug wires for engine cylinders number 5 and 6, and the coil wire was missing. Also, there were broken wires in the harness between the ignition module, coil, carburetor, and engine oil pressure/temperature probes.
I want to follow the proper steps to get this car running without causing further damage. Until I know what to do, I have held off on attempting to start the vehicle. Please advise me on what to do and in what order. Also, please let me know is a photo of the broken wires in the harness would be helpful. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
watch vice grip garage on Youtube. He does nothing but revive old sitting cars, and he has developed a good resurrection ritual. You do not want to start pumping that old gas through the system. Also it's a good idea to put some penetrating lube down through the spark plug holes and let it soak overnight, before turning the engine over by hand.
photos always help . Instructions are in the forum guide on the main page.
Thanks a lot for the response to my question. I began watching the Vice Grip garage videos on YouTube.
As I mentioned, there were broken wires in the harness between the ignition module, coil, carburetor, and engine oil pressure/temperature probes. Here are links to two photos of the three broken wires.
The broken wires are red, green, and blue. The person who took the pictures for me thought something seemed to have burned them. I understand that not all wires are necessary for the proper running of the vehicle. For example, I noticed two wires by the engine oil pressure/temperature probes were hanging loose and not attached to anything.
Should I do anything about these broken wires in the harness? If so, how should I address the severed wires? Should I replace the harness or cut and re-connect the broken pieces? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
if you use the direct image URL you can embed them right in your post like this ...
Here are two additional links to photos of the three broken wires. Again, the broken wires in the harness that runs between the ignition module, coil, carburetor, and engine oil pressure/temperature probes.
https://imgbox.com/dkJBSo5f
https://imgbox.com/MwC06wsD
Should I do anything about these broken wires in the harness?
I would try to find wiring diagrams. They won't be very complicated on your 1980.
And I would try my best to return everything to original.
Should I replace the harness or cut and re-connect the broken pieces?
I can't really see the extent of the damage. Depending how bad it was, I would butt-splice wires together or replace the whole thing if it was bad enough (corrosion, cracked insulation, moisture ingress etc.).
The wires look really short too. I don't like how everything is just dangling. I would definitely replace the wire loom, do some better cable management, and mount things properly so they're not flapping in the wind.
Here are two additional links to photos
yeah those look pretty bad. Looks like someone was just ripping and tearing. The wires are compromised and need replacing.
Not sure how much you want to put into this truck though. It's probably has a lot going on.