Been sitting for a while, what to do?
- Thread starter BKilla_13
- Start date
88stang88
5 Year Member
A lot of preventative maintenance. Make sure your brake lines are still in tact check your tires for dry rotting,i would do a oil change and just change out all the simple thing's,but insure everything has been checked,cleaned and treated correctly!
Zero_chance
Founding Member
Four years is a long time. I would be wary about the condition of your gas unless you treated it in storage. If not, Id add as much fresh gas as possible and some Seafoam. If youre so inclined, you may even want to prime the oil pump with an electric drill to get the oil circulating before you start it. Unless you've been starting it on a regular basis. Cranking it with the gas pedal to the floor will allow you to get the pump pumping a little bit without actually starting it as well if you dont feel like yanking the dizzy.
88stang88
5 Year Member
Good point..priming the oil up and checking the gas condition is very important.
I failed to mention that because i dont let my cars sit that long and if they do sit for extended periods i still start them at least once a week.
I failed to mention that because i dont let my cars sit that long and if they do sit for extended periods i still start them at least once a week.
yeah for the first year I was starting it and putting fresh gas in but after that I just let it go. It was pinging when I stopped driving it so I was thinking about seafoaming into the intake and then putting restoe in after that, does that sound like a bad idea? What about the tires, I have tried to keep them aired up but I havnt stayed on top of that to well. They are low profile nitto 555 and they were like new when I quit driving it, I don't see any dry rot on them but how do you think they will hold up?
88stang88
5 Year Member
Wont know until you start putting some miles on them again. Just air them up to the spec. amount and take it easy see how it feels, stop and check the pressure somewhere to make sure they are not losing air somewhere, some tire shine will help treat it a little but time and weather has its effect on everything so its hard to tell...the pinging could be a few things. Just make sure your fluids are toped off and good gas gets in the tank and use the seafoam.
My car sat for 6 years without being started up. Unless you can get your engine's oil fully up to temperature by driving it around for extended periods, you should just let the car sit as infrequent starting can be more harmful than just letting the car sit.
I drained ALL the fluids...engine, trans and rear axle and replaced them with new fluids. New oil filter too. I siphoned out as much old gas as i could and put fresh new 93 octane gas in it. I did new spark plugs, but that was just because...not really reqired. What i did do was put some Marvel Mystery oil in each spark plug hole with a syringe and then turned the engine over a few times by hand. Then i put the plugs back in, disconnected the coil wire and cranked the engine over a few times with the starter.
Finally i hooked the coil wire up and fired the car up. Took a few cranks, but it started and idled fine except for a sticking lifter. Some running time freed the lifter up and it ran fine after that.
As for other maintainence...well just inspect everything. I rebuilt the suspension and brakes so that was all brand. Tires usually have a 6-year service life as oxygen can begin to deteriorate the rubber. So keep that in mind when deciding if you should replace your tires.
I drained ALL the fluids...engine, trans and rear axle and replaced them with new fluids. New oil filter too. I siphoned out as much old gas as i could and put fresh new 93 octane gas in it. I did new spark plugs, but that was just because...not really reqired. What i did do was put some Marvel Mystery oil in each spark plug hole with a syringe and then turned the engine over a few times by hand. Then i put the plugs back in, disconnected the coil wire and cranked the engine over a few times with the starter.
Finally i hooked the coil wire up and fired the car up. Took a few cranks, but it started and idled fine except for a sticking lifter. Some running time freed the lifter up and it ran fine after that.
As for other maintainence...well just inspect everything. I rebuilt the suspension and brakes so that was all brand. Tires usually have a 6-year service life as oxygen can begin to deteriorate the rubber. So keep that in mind when deciding if you should replace your tires.
