Changing oil after storage

5.0 Nostalgia said:

I am going to take my car out and change the oil today. It has been sitting without being started for a month or so. The last time the oil was changed was last April (almost a year ago). Since that oil change, about 500 or less miles have been put on the car. My question is, should I start the car first, then change the oil, or just change the oil, then take the car out of the garage? I am leaning toward changing it before starting it to allow at least some oil to run down the motor.

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since it has been sitting for a month and the oil is a year old i would just change it before starting it.also i would fill the filter before puting it on so there is less of a dry start.

tb9050lx said:

since it has been sitting for a month and the oil is a year old i would just change it before starting it.also i would fill the filter before puting it on so there is less of a dry start.

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definitely change it before starting it! You have almost all the oil in the pan if its been sitting for that long, plus any sediment has probably drifted to the bottom of the pan so it should drain out. If you start it, you will stir up all that junk in the pan and circulate it back in to the engine.

Start it BEFORE changing it. Get it all warm, then come home and change the oil/filter.

The replies will vary widely. The bottom line is that if this is a stock mill, it really doesnt matter.

If you do start the motor and warm the oil before changing it (hot oil will hold particulate is suspension, allowing it to drain - that's one reason Mike posted what he did), I would first remove the filter and top it up with oil (the ADBV might have leaked some oil back into the sump).

I suppose you could get some real cheap oil. Drain what you have now before starting the motor. Then put the new oil in (make sure the filter is filled no matter what method you use) and let it get warm. Then change it again. This way, you wont have circulated the old oil and you will have also gotten oil warm to get the remaining particulate out of there.

Good luck.