Having problems starting 1998 Deville, only 153,000 miles; been sitting for a while but does run. what can I look for to get it started

Asked by jojoD98d_ Apr 18, 2014 at 03:40 AM about the 1998 Cadillac DeVille

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Need to get this started. Been sitting for 2 years, probably needs complete tune up. Started and ran to move 2 - 3 miles. to bring home. Just purchased. Now I cannot start it. Where do I start and what am I looking for. I am not much of a mechanic. My mechanic did me wrong and will not surface. I have little money, but I need to get this car running

5 Answers

5,025

first thing you need to do is suck all the old gas out of the tank. or dump in 2 cans of C-foam. if you know what you are doing. take off the air box and inject high octane into the carb manually. then get in and turn the key, once it fires up. shut it off. then turn it on again then shut it off fast. do this 5 times. it clears the crap out of the injectors. if the car still doesnt start. pull out 1 of the spark plugs and leave it in the boot touching something metal. have someone crank it over a few times. if you dont get spark then its the ignition control module. if you do get spark and its orange colored then you have an issue with a coil or the distributor not in the right firing order.

2 people found this helpful.
44,805

If you have little money, this was the WRONG car to buy- you can see why- a car that has been sitting needs a thorough service by a qualified mechanic- and even if you could afford that, a '98 Caddy is likely to have other more serious problems- why was it sitting in the first place? They are not the most reliable cars on earth- having said that, what can you do now? come up with cash to get it running and sell it- and be more careful next time- lessons learned

1 people found this helpful.
199,785

Old fuel is always an issue when one has been sitting for awhile. Once I have removed all the old fuel from the tank and added good fuel (chevron with techron) and a can of sea foam, I always remove the fuel line from the fuel rail and cycle the fuel pump until I have nothing but good gas coming out of the line. Then reattach line. Replace fuel filter. Make sure to position a container to catch the fuel so you don't get it all over your engine. Then I remove the spark plugs and turn the engine over several times to blow all the old fuel out of the cylinders. Inspect and replace spark plugs as needed. Most times this will get one back to running.

1 people found this helpful.
20

Drain the fuel it's bad I am positive if it sat that long the gas has to be changed if you like in Oklahoma and need a mechanic let me know

1 people found this helpful.

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