kcac Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I parked a 1995 Cutlass with the 3.4 dohc in November 2012 with a full tank of gas, and also added Stabil to the tank. It's a convertible that I park (unheated garage) to keep out of the winter salt. It ended up sitting longer than I had planned. In a couple of months it's going to come out of storage. I'm hoping the Stablil bought me some time as far as the gas going stale, and that I can just start driving the car, burn down some of the old gas in the tank, and dilute the remaining old gas with fresh gas. Does anyone have any experience they can share about putting a vehicle that has not been driven for a couple of years back in service? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 My TGP sat for about 12yrs, didn't use any fuel stabilizer or anything. The gas turned completely orange and smelled funny, but I was able to drive it with no issues. One time I did lose fuel pressure which thankfully, replacing the fuel filter fixed that. Don't know if the bad gas killed the filter or if it was due to previous owner installed fuel filter backwards (possible to do on the older Ws). I replaced the filter and diluted the old gas by filling the tank and the car was fine and drove great up until I sold it. If it starts and runs fine, I think you'll be okay just diluting the gas. Some people also recommend pulling the plugs and squirting some oil into the cylinders, and you should also change the oil because it likely absorbed some moisture while the car sat. I didn't personally do those things, but I've read you should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Change your oil. Putting some oil down in the spark plug holes would be a good idea. Check all fluids. As for the gas you should be fine. I have gas in my convertible from about 2011 still with staybil and it still starts up and runs great. I removed about 7 gallons of 34 year old gas from an old T bird , it smelled and looked bad, and it lit up really fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipmiller803 Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I would turn the engine over by hand a few times while those plugs are out (after the oil change). After that, you could crank it for 10-15 seconds at a time with the plugs out to get oil to the bearings without compression stress. Try not to hold the disconnected plug wires while you do that though, you might not like getting shocked. Also, for the fuel, if you do decide to drain it, consider letting the pump do your work for you by just disconnecting the inlet to the fuel filter and jumping the pump relay pins. Whether it actually needs replacement depends on the condition of the gas tank/filler. Contamination with water in ethanol mixed gasoline can leave you nice milky slurpees. Being garaged and sta-biled, though, it could be just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) There is a fuse in one of the underhood electrical centers that you can pull to cut power to the ICM in order to crank without spark. I think it was labeled "IGN". That way you won't get accidentally shocked and it's less stress on the coils. I would also pull the PCM or injector fuses so no fuel gets dumped in there when you're cranking with plugs out. Edited March 18, 2015 by GnatGoSplat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartbeat1991 Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I'd change the oil and fill it with fresh gas. Other than that, should be good to go. Might want to check air filter and ducts for rodent nests. . . I have 2 TGPs that sat for 10+ years. Both fired right up and drove with nothing more than fresh fuel and a battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 ^^Agreed. Fresh oil, fresh gas, make sure other fluids are still full. Make sure tires have air, and no animals made homes of your intake or made dinner out of your wiring and you should be good to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted2bass Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 I see TGPs sitting for a extended period of time is a common theme here:lol: Makes me feel better letting mine sit since fall of 2013. I did go out and start it last fall. It started with minimal effort and ran good. I had not put stabil in the gas when I parked it, but I did add some last fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) Two and a half years of storage? I'd charge the battery, air-up the tires, get in, step on the brakes. If the brakes felt solid, I'd start the engine and drive away cautiously. You could oil the cylinders, you could turn the engine by hand, you could replace all the fluids, filters, belts, hoses...I think it's a complete waste of time, money, effort, and enthusiasm unless those parts are actually defective and require replacement whether or not the vehicle has extended storage time. Edited March 20, 2015 by Schurkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxie500XL Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Last time I did something like this, I did pull the plugs, put about a teaspoonful of Marvel Mystery Oil down the plug holes, let it sit for a bit, then turned the engine by hand. My thinking was the rings---if there's a good big of corrosion on the cylinder walls, the rings might not appreciate sliding up and down somewhat rough cylinder walls dry using the starter. On the negative side, the amount of smoke produced after doing this might prompt a neighbor to think there's a fire in your neighborhood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 My thinking was the rings---if there's a good big of corrosion on the cylinder walls, the rings might not appreciate sliding up and down somewhat rough cylinder walls dry using the starter. If the cylinder walls are corroded, the rings will be ruined by sliding up 'n' down the rough surface, and also damaged by the rust particles torn-off by friction. No amount of oil squirted into the cylinder will help that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcac Posted March 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Thanks for all the responses and advice. In general, it sounds like the gas isn't going to be the big issue I thought it would be. I hate to have let the car sit for that long, because I've read that a vehicle needs to be driven regularly to maintain proper lubrication and general good drive-ability. It was running pretty well when I stored it. It will be interesting to see if it picks up where it left off. Thanks again everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Dragster1970 Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 . I'm restoring an old truck now that sat for a few years, most of my trouble is the damn fuel pressure keeps dying. Going to drop both tanks and all lines as soon as it warms up, and make sure nothing is floating around causing intermittent clogs??? . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go4DaMo Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Any update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcac Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I took the car out of storage 10 days ago. The car seems to have picked up where it left off when it was put into storage. I do not notice any difference in how it runs now from when it was last operated. Because of time constraints, I installed the battery, checked the fluid levels, and started it. It stumbled for the first minute then smoothed out and has run fine. Right after I got it out of storage, I drove it a bit to burn off fuel and then added a couple of gallons of fresh gas. Last night, it was down to 1/4 of a tank, so l filled the tank and also added 17 ounces of Sea Foam Motor Treatment to the tank as well (a little over 1 ounce per gallon of gas for the 16.5 gallon tank capacity). Among Sea Foam Motor Treatment's many claims, these are the ones why I added it: Clean Injectors,Clean Deposits, Liquefy Gum and Varnish. A lot of people swear by it, so i thought I would give it a try, even though the car has been running fine. Anyway, so far, so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go4DaMo Posted September 23, 2015 Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 That's great, man!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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