Quick question about starting the motor:

[Captain D]

Hi all,

This is actually an embarrassing question to ask...

On my Charger, we don't have the gas tank installed just yet. In its place is a make-shift 5 quart jug under the hood as the "gas-tank." I've been away from the Charger for about a month and a 1/2 w/ school related stuff, but before I left there was enough gas in there. Well, today, a friend and I attempted to start it up (remembering that there was well enough gas in there). It must have had some left in there because it ran fine for a few minutes but it kept shutting down after that. Turns out, there was a small hole in there (the make-shift "gas tank") and that's why it kept shutting down after several minutes of trying to restart it. To be honest, maybe 10 minutes that we tried with no gas  .

I admit, dumb-a$$'s that we were without double-checking the gas situation before we started it, did we burn anything up, such as the fuel pump, inner rod berrings, etc..? Everything, and I do mean everything, is new under the hood. For example, motor rebuilt, fuel pump, water pump, power steering pump, berrings, etc. you name... it was replaced. I am just paranoid that with all that money put into it, I just hope that we didn't burn anything up. I called someone and they said that its fine. He said that if there was no oil in it, then, we would have had some serious problems. But...I need to ask the experts here. What do you think?

Thank you for your time and input,
Nervous Aaron

[Ghoste]

Relax and sleep well tonight Nervous.  

[maxwellwedge]

In the old days you swore and then stuck out your thumb.

Now - you swear and pull out your cell phone. 

[Captain D]

Thank you for your replies fellas  . If I may ask further...what about the starter? Do y'all feel that after 10-15 minutes of on and off again attempts to start the motor, w/out gas, burned up and damaged the starter any?

Thank you again,
A Slightly Less Nervous Aaron

[ZSmithersCharges]

Nah the starter doesn't care if there's gas in the car or not.  After all its just a motor and its meant just to turn over, if anything you took the 10-15 minutes off of its lifespan as everything electronic has a lifespan or certain hour amount before it goes bad(ie. light bulbs for example say on the package how many hours they last).  In any event, 10-15 minutes on a starter isn't a big deal as long as you gave it a couple moments rest between crankings.  The general rule of thumb for motors is when you stop it you give it at least 3 seconds before turning it over again. If anything you just wore out the battery so I would put it on a battery tender if you have one.

[elacruze]

What I think, is that a couple quarts of gasoline hung over a backfiring carburetor makes a great Molotov Cocktail.

Never ever, not me no way. I have a couple friends with serious burn scars from that. Use a gas can on the floor with a suction line to your pump if you have to, but get it away from the distributor and carburetor. I used to have a steel boat tank with quick coupler, hose clamped to the intake of the pump.

BTW where is the nearest fire extinguisher?

[ZSmithersCharges]

What I think, is that a couple quarts of gasoline hung over a backfiring carburetor makes a great Molotov Cocktail.

Never ever, not me no way. I have a couple friends with serious burn scars from that. Use a gas can on the floor with a suction line to your pump if you have to, but get it away from the distributor and carburetor. I used to have a steel boat tank with quick coupler, hose clamped to the intake of the pump.

BTW where is the nearest fire extinguisher?

I was thinking this as well but forgot about it once I got to typing... NEVER keep a fuel tank under the engine bay or near it, after all there is a reason the fuel tank is located in the rear of a vehicle and not under the hood.  There are more than a couple ways an engine can set a tank of gas under the hood on fire and you only need one.

[Captain D]

Thank you gents for the replies,

All great info - But, now I have a new problem...

Well, first off, I definitely need an O-Ring for the base of the transmission dipstick (I only called one place today before work, Advanced Auto, but they can't get them, so I'll try elsewhere over the weekend).

But we tried again to start the motor and keep it running. However, as yesterday, it would start and run strong and shut itself down after running for only about a minute. We checked up underneath to see if there is anymore leakage other than from the transmission dipstick, and we saw a slight drop from the power steering pump and shockingly, anti-freeze around the starter/driver's side header. This indicates that there may be leakage from the head gaskets. But, my friend said that it may be normal because everything is new under the hood and we really haven't started it much since it was put together. So, it sitting for that long period of time while I was away wasn't great for the motor. Any ideas what could be the problem? Is it the new fuel pump by chance? My friend said that it just may be the gas/air mixture and something needs to be adjusted because it keeps shutting itself off after only a minute of running.

He kept trying to start it until we ran out of gas again and the battery was exhausted and couldn't crank without re-charging it back up. I know that I may be a nervous detailed freak, but I just hope that (other than the battery) the starter and inner rod berrings are okay.

I called the mechanic who rebuilt it, but I haven't heard back from him yet. We're just worried about changing too many things around because he could say that he didn't change this or that on it and wouldn't be responsible for any problems. But, any info, advice, suggestions, tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again,
Aaron

[ZSmithersCharges]

Sounds like its flooding to me  what with the starting than dying and not starting One of these gear heads will go more in depth than that though I'm too tired right now  

[Charger-Bodie]

I would also say its flooded and you may have fouled a plug(or more) ,not really too big of a deal most likely.

As for the anti-freze leak. The first thing id check would be the header or exhaust manifold (which ever it has headers or manifolds) bolts, They thread into the water jacket of the heads and if not sealed properly they can leak coolant.

[Captain D]

Thank you again fellas for the responses,

All good info and I'll be sure to mention those tips at the shop when the car gets checked out within the next day or two.

You can tell that I'm new learning at this, but just for the sake of asking if I may...When I mentioned the inner rod bearings, the reason why I'm concerned is because when we first bought the car awhile back, a friend tried with several attempts to start it. When the motor was finally pulled and redone, the mechanic said that we may have unknowingly damaged the inner rod bearings when we tried to start it somehow. So, naturally, with everything new and reassembled, I'm just trying to be careful not to repeat how we somehow burnt up those bearings by trying to crank the motor to life. I can understand how too much cranking can overheat the starter and (now) exhaust the battery, but can someone tell me more how the inner rod bearings can be damaged (or protected from being damaged)? Is there reason for concern? As a side note, I should add that it had plenty of coolant in there the other day.

Thank you again for any replies,
Aaron

- I've been trying to read up on this and when we tried again to start the engine the following day the second time (this time, roughly 30 minutes off and on), do you think it was too much that may have overloaded the detonation? Causing problems with the spark plugs and inner bearings by chance?

[70 500]

i cant see why cranking the engine over and over would harm the rod bearings other than the slow rpm may starve them from oil, but still a few revolutions without oil shouldnt harm anything