Reviving a vehicle that has been idle for a long time

Question

Some related topics:

How to maintain a sometimes-used vehicle?

How long does it take for gas to go bad?

The first related topic addresses preparing a vehicle for long-term disuse, and maintaining it during those periods. The second related topic addresses one of the effects of a long-term inactivity on a vehicle.

Here, I'm looking to cover what should be done after the fact. Say a vehicle has been parked for several months and was neither prepared for this, nor maintained during that period.

What particular adverse effects of long-term un-maintained storage should one be aware of when trying to revive a car in this situation? What things should be checked or touched on before starting the car? What measures can be taken at this point to prevent further damage to the vehicle during its first re-start, and facilitate bringing it back to a safe and healthy operational status?

UPDATE: Good news. The car ('96 Lincoln Mark VIII) that prompted me to ask this question has started successfully. It had been sitting for probably 6-9 months without any preparation. The battery is definitely toast, and the engine really doesn't like the condition of the gas, but it started pretty well and got around the block a few times.

For the first start, I swapped in the battery from my '94 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Then, after pulling the Mark VIII out to where I could reach it with jumper cables, I put the original battery back in. It's had to be jump-started every time since.

The engine is running pretty rough, and I've got a constant (and occasionally flashing) CEL going. It also turns out that I've got about 3/4 of a tank to burn through before it'll get any really good gas. I threw in a couple gallons of premium (91 octane around here) and a can of SeaFoam to hopefully help though.

Thanks for the tips, guys!

Answer 1

• If you have one available, use a trickle-charger to bring the battery back up slowly, instead of jump-starting it.
• Check the tires. They are probably pretty low at this point. See if they are dry rotted (all cracked and ready to wear quickly).
• Check all of the fluids in the typical way. Note that it's okay if the oil shows a little low since it's not warm yet.
• Check the serpentine belt - like the tires, it is rubber and susceptible to dry rot.
• If there is room in the fuel tank, I'd go ahead and fill it up sooner rather than later to get some fresh fuel mixed in with the old.
• Keep a baseball bat handy for the pissed raccoon that just lost its house. Hmm, that's actually a good point - if you live out in the boonies, bang around on stuff to scare off the critters. It's a pain to clean animal parts off the engine fan.
• Start it up and see how it drives. Take it easy while it warms up.
• I'd drive it around for awhile and when it's nice and hot take it to the gas station as mentioned earlier. Then check your warm levels (engine oil and transmission oil) and check again for any leaks now that it's been running for awhile.
• I'd probably go ahead and change the engine oil and whatever else is due base on the usual time/mileage.

All in all, nothing particularly different than what should be happening at any normal oil change, since you are talking about months and not years.

Answer 2

My dad actually brought back a truck (big type semi) from a condition like this - it had a manual transmission but we did the maintenance stuff, replace belts, oil, lubricants etc. THEN we hooked up a chain, put it in gear and proceeded to drag it (tow) (in gear) for a while (a half hour to an hour?) at a slow speed - this allowed the engine to be fully lubricated prior to actually attempting to start it. NOTE: this had been parked for YEARS (20?) and the engine was actually frozen (pistons locked in due to corrosion/old dry lube etc.) so we had a bit more than a casual amount of rubber and stuff to replace.

We removed the pan and scraped etc. old gunk out used a light weight oil, then changed it after just a few hours of initial operation (with filter change) to help clean it.

Answer 3

If the gas wasn't treated, then it will be broken down. That means a gummy varnish substance everywhere, but most critically in the carburetor/fuel injector. That may stop the engine from starting, or at least make it run poorly.

If you can get the engine to start, you can use a product like Sea Foam (http://www.seafoamsales.com/). Their instructions have you pour it in 3 different places, but a shortcut is just to pour the whole thing in the gas tank. The 3-places-method probably works better, but it depends on how serious you are, and whether you plan to overhaul something soon. Regular gas preservative can also help, but my sense is that Sea Foam is a little better for cleaning up a mess, while gas preservative is better for preventing one.

If the gas is really bad, you'll have to get rid of it. I've never seen a great way to get rid of old, stale gas. Here are some not-great ways I've seen:

• mix it with good gas and run it through another engine, say a lawnmower.
• pour it on weeds in the driveway.
• pour it in a bucket and light it.
• pour it on a brush pile you want to burn.

Gas is explosive, pollutes groundwater, evaporates to pollute the air, and soaks through your skin. So, hard stuff to handle.

Answer 4

Hi to those starting engines which have been sitting "idle" for more than three months. We recently started a 190e Benz which had not been started for more than 6 months.

First step was to check condition and level of all fluids (engine oil, trans fluid, coolant, power steering, brake fluid and battery acid). We then checked drive belts and battery terminals for tightness, and removed spark plugs, cleaned them (had to replace one with cracked insulator) and squirted WD-40 and RP 7 (spray lubricants) into the cylinders whilst spark plugs were removed. It was then decided to drizzle a little oil into the top of the engine via the oil filler cap and a short piece of clear plastic tubing.

We added fresh fuel to a nearly empty tank and after coaxing a hibernating fuel pump back into action with a few bumps from a rubber hammer ! The exhilaration as this beautiful little engine burst into life emitting a familiar crackle from the albeit smokey exhaust before settling into its idle. Enjoy the thrill, Kit from Down Under.