QuestionHello I have a 1968 Lincoln Continental with a 460 engine thats been sitting for 10+ years. I put a new battery on it and tried to start it and the lights that say oil and stuff of that sort and the radio will work. But it wont try to turn over.
AnswerWhat you tried to do can be very dangerous, you may be very lucky that it wouldn't turn. The cylinders can be full of oil or water, which can cause a nasty explosion when you crank the engine. You can also cause a lot of unnecessary damage to the engine by cranking it after long storage without removing the oil pan and cleaning out all the accumulated grid and mud, and lubricating all the internal engine parts with oil. There is a long detailed procedure for the right way to do this, but unless you are interested, I won't take the time to type it all out for you. If you are interested, post a "follow up" question to me and I'll write it out for you.
If you want just find out if it is going to run, to be safe, take the spark plugs out before you do anything else, so it cannot hydrostatically lock up on you.
If the starter didn't turn the engine at all, you probably have other problems, but at least it won't explode on you if you try it again!
If you heard the starter click on and try to move the engine, it is probably seized up, and will have to come apart for rebuilding before it will run again.
If you did not hear the starter engage and try to turn the engine, you may have a bad starter solenoid, or a bad connection somewhere from the battery to the starter.
If you have the spark plugs out, and you don't care about the damage to the engine from turning it without cleaning it out first, you can run a booster cable from the + terminal of the battery directly to the terminal on the starter solenoid that is opposite the original battery cable connection. That will make the starter "do it-dammit" regardless of any electrical fault elsewhere. That won't make the engine start, but it should make it turn over.
Once you know it can turn freely, it is safe to put the spark plugs back in it and try to start it.
Very likely, the points are going to have to be cleaned to get any ignition, however. Use a small piece of fine sandpaper between the points, folded over so it cleans both sides of the points. Blow the dust away, and it should provide enough spark to start the engine.
No gas is going to be coming through after 10 years, so spray some short puffs of WE-40 into the air cleaner inlet while someone cranks the engine - if it is going to run, that will get it going, at least for a second or two.
Dick
