First Start on Car Sitting For Months ?

[ronnieliquor]

I'm new to forum and would appreciate any tips. Due to health reasons my 2005 Camry with 70K miles has been sitting for 8 months without a single start. Oil was changed about 1500 miles before it went idle. I'm finally able to drive again.

Any tips on special considerations for starting a car that has been idle for so long ?

many thanks

 

[zach1900]

Not really. I've seen engines sit for years and disassembled and there is still oil clinging to engine parts. I'd be more concerned with the fuel. Put sine gumout in it and fill the tank.

 

[Doog]

yes, start it and let it idle for 5 minutes then drive to a gas station and fill up the tank if it is not full.

 

[tomcat27]

your battery may be dead - unless you disconnected it. the ECM usually draws power constantly

 

[michaelluscher]

Check all the fluid levels, bring something to boost it with, bring some fresh gas (could be low)


Turn the key and bring her back to life

 

[mattwithcats]

Remove the plugs, put one teaspoon fresh oil down each hole.

Loosly reinstall plugs, leave boots off.

Let sit for 15-20 minutes, then...
crank engine for one second, repeat above,
then crank for second time for one second.

Third teaspoon of fresh oil, reinstall plugs and boots.
let sit 15-20 minutes, start car.

 

[dishdude]

8 months is nothing, charge the battery and turn the key. It'll start up like you drove it yesterday.

 

[901Memphis]

Yep just the battery possibly being dead. Either replace it or charge it. If you don't have a battery charger you can take it to an auto parts store and leave it they can charge it in 2-3 hours.

 

[CharBaby]

Yep, what other said. Skip the teaspoon of oil down each cylinder!

The Firebird in my signature has sat for 6-8 months over the winter for the last 35 years. And each Spring, I just start it up and let it idle! In my case, I take the car for a warm up drive!

 

[eljefino]

Make sure you don't have mice in the air filter and take note the brakes will be rusty and not effective until they scrape themselves off.

Otherwise, have at it. It might sound like heck if the lifters bled down but stay on it.

 

[demarpaint]

I would check the tires and air them up if need, make sure no mice built a home under the hood or in the tail pipe. Charge the battery, or jump it. Go easy with the brakes until you get the rust off them and are sure they work properly. Let it idle a few minutes and then drive it to gas it up. You'll be fine.

 

[Eddie]

Boost the battery and start it. Idle for 2-4 minutes and drive to fresh gas. Nothing special here. My neighbors car sits here in FL for 6 months with a battery tender and he starts and goes. Been doing it for many years. Ed

 

[Ducman]

Lots of informative responses.

Yesterday I started my car with an LS2 engine for the first time in >2.5 years.
The car was under cover the whole time but not garaged.
I fitted a new starter battery which was fully charged.
I took the spark plugs out and pumped out all the old fuel((1/8th of a tank) with a hose leading from the end of the supply line, whilst cranking the engine on the starter to bring up oil pressure to normal on the gauge. (this took quite a while to come up).

Topped up the charge of the starter battery.
Put 20 litres of fresh fuel in the emptied tank.
Reinstalled the plugs.
Then started it as though it was never sitting idle for sooo long.

Not a noise out of place.
Nothing wrong at all.
Just the initial smell of the burnt old stale fuel that was remaining in the fuel rail coming out the exhaust for about 10 seconds. After that it was all normal.

I would seriously doubt you will have to worry about old stale fuel, unless it had some Ethanol in it.
In that case Phase Separation may be an issue for you and worthwhile considering.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
8 months is nothing, charge the battery and turn the key. It'll start up like you drove it yesterday.

Agreed, as long as battery is still up, start and go...

Would be a good idea to connect charger to battery for a couple hours or more before trying to start...

Just yesterday I helped my next door neighbor start a '40 Pontiac(that's right 1940) that had set outside for over a year... Installed battery, cleaned points a couple shots of either and it fired right up... I probably would have oiled the cylinders but he'd already been cranking on it, wouldn't start because points were corroded(no spark)...

 

[CBR.worm]

Unfortunately, my bike frequently sits for many months at a time. The last time I ran it was in january, the previous time was last January. Typically when I run it, I run hundreds of miles in a few days, but I have not yet had any issues other than keeping the battery on a tender.

I also put some stuff in the gas that is supposed to stabilize it an negate some of the ethanol effects, but I don't know if it actually helps.

It is an '08 with just over 2K miles on it.