Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: mgmoore on June 27, 2025, 08:27:55
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Hi All,
I've got a 230sl auto that's been in garage storage for the last 3 years whilst i work overseas. Prior to storing the engine ran perfectly. The owner of the garage kindly starts the car and let's it run up to temperature once a month. However, over a hard British winter he didn't start the car, tried to in the spring. Lo and behold engine won't turn over. The battery is okay.
I'm thinking that the garage does get cold although dry and that perhaps condensation has caused the rings to become stuck to the cylinder bores.
Would be very grateful for any remedy feedback I will be looking at the car in 10 days time and was going to start with double checking battery, if not that, remove spark plugs, remove fuel pump fuse, penetrating oil to cylinders and try to turn engine over by hand on crank.
As i understand it is best to turn engine over clockwise, But is it okay initially to turn crank both clokwise and anti clockwise to assist with braking rust seal?
Thank you for any help,
Matt
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When turning it over, are the accessory belts connected? If so, remove/cut them. 3 years is not nearly enough to lock one up. I've picked up cars that sat for 4 decades with locked up water pump but the engine itself was ok.
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Hello Matt,
You should consider upgrading to Full Membership...
Now, that being said, I'd store my car each year, from late October/early November, until generally May of the following year, at least 6 months out of each year. Most of the time it was stored in an unheated garage in central Michigan where it gets cold, the likes of which most Brits don't understand. I did this for about 20 years. The home storage there was a home "kept open" in the winter, and on occasion if I went up there in the winter AND the roads were dry, I would take it out for a 10-15 mile "exercise". When the car was stored each autumn, it was freshly washed and with a full tank of gas, with stabilizer added. E10 10% ethanol gas. In storage I disconnect the battery by removing the ground strap. Each spring my car never failed to start although on some occasions I did need to charge the battery a bit.
I was always told that just starting and warming it up wasn't good. Run the car.
In all those years--probably about 20--my engine never failed to turn over.
While anything is possible, if your car started and warmed up recently, I can hardly believe it became "seized" during storage.
One thing to fully check is your starter motor and the cable going to it. Assume this is an issue before thinking it's the engine internals. I might say otherwise if it's been sitting for years never started with unknown conditions.
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I too can't imagine the engine seizing up from one cold winter. During COVID, my 280 SL sat in an unheated barn in northern France where it freezes in winter for 2 years and it started right up afterwards. Must be something else.
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Try barring it over by hand. It's way, way more likely that the starter is bad, or jammed, or critters chewed through wires.