Car Stationary for months

LTurbo · Post by **LTurbo** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:26 pm

I am going overseas soonish for 6-8months and the suby is going to be sitting stationary for that period of time.

I have heard there are things you should do if a car is going to be left to sit for a long time, such as drain the fuel tank? Is this true? any recommendations on what else should be done if anything? Disconnect battery, drain radiator?

Matatak · Post by **Matatak** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:45 pm

disconnect battery..drain fuel out makin sure none in carby and errr change oil when u get bak lol, dunno bout rad but lol

best thing to do wuld be leave it with someone u no and ask them to drive it liek every month or something

cooloothin · Post by **cooloothin** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:51 pm

subis are tough. Depends on the garaging conditions but if it's fairly quiet then you can just leave as is. obviously disconnect the battery.. but i didn't do anything (even forgot the battery) and just charged it up 10 months later, added about 300ml of oil

and she kicked over 3rd time unharmed.

LTurbo · Post by **LTurbo** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:56 pm

what's the reason behind drain the fuel?

cooloothin · Post by **cooloothin** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:01 pm

fuel goes stale over time (lawn mower places say 1 month)... also a possibility of building up evaporated fuel in the tank if you leave it outside forever..

i dunno personally though, as i said i had no worries with my fuel

Matatak · Post by **Matatak** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:52 pm

if the tank is low then water can condense and fall into the fuel (over soem months but, making to much water in fuel)..cuasing it to not run properly when ti is started and also after extended periods the fuel can start turning foul/stale and turns into a kinda jelly substance that doesnt flow through carbies (which is why u should make sure there is no fuel in carby to)

i ahve seen a guy who ran a ute on gas change back to petrol after round 8 months and it wuldnt run at all coz the fuel started turning into the jelly like substance so it blocked his injectors and ran very rough

basically its better to be safe than sorry with that but cooloothin was lucky by the sounds of it

sublime · Post by **sublime** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:53 pm

Have to agree with cooloothin. Subies are tough!

My 78 wagon sat in my parents garage for 5 years. Never did anything special expect start it every now and then. Only ever keep a couple of dollars worth of fuel in the tank so it could be started.

Once I put it back on the road I changed all the fluids and have been driving it every day since. Only problem was after about 6 months all the seals in the oil pump started leaking which was easy to fix.

I think that is the biggest problem when cars are left sitting, the various seals can go hard and leak (the way an EA82 leaks oil that could be a problem!!) Brake fluid also absorbs a lot of water (hydroscopic?)

subarursliberty · Post by **subarursliberty** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:09 pm

My fuel was sitting in the tank for 18 months before I drained it and used it in the mower. First pull off she went.

Matatak · Post by **Matatak** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:32 pm

obviously it may or may not happen to u but i wuld be ont he safe side and do it.
maybe it wuld be better to drain it when u get back and onyl leave a small amount when u are gone

cooloothin · Post by **cooloothin** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:32 pm

tough mower

Matatak · Post by **Matatak** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:33 pm

doesnt mower fuel get mixed with oil but

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:40 am

Only for a 2-stroke.

I've heard of fuel going stale but never actually experieced it. I've had cars sitting longer than that with no ill-effects. But I suppose if you want to be careful you could...
- refill the radiator with new coolant (so it's anticorrosive properties are at peak level).
- drain the fuel (to prevent stale fuel)
- spray some WD40 down the spark plug holes (to help prevent the possibility of surface rust in the cylinder walls)
- disconnect the battery (to stop it possibly draining too much)
- put the car on jack stands (to stop the tyres forming flat spots)
- spray some WD40 anything else you think might form a little surface rust (electrical connectors etc)
- spray insect spray in various locations (to help stop spiders taking up residence inside)

who else wants to brainstorm

FROG · Post by **FROG** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:31 am

i reckon leave it half full and top it up when you get back..=less condensation... 2 stroke fuel goes off real quick ie 1 month but you should be right for 6-8 months with unleaded... it will drop octane but..
just my 2cents

LTurbo · Post by **LTurbo** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:01 am

Thanks for the input guys, I think I'll just put it in my mates garage (and instruct his lazy ass to start it every so often) as is and give it a good look over when I get back. It's recently had a coolant change. She'll be right.

I suppose I could put it in one of those air chamber car storage bags, so I can store the suby in a controlled environment............

or not.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:37 am

Aww , come on , Thomas, let your oldies drive it around while you are away. Shoulda seen my brothers face

when our mum told him how quick she got home from the markets one day in his worked 351

Project Cheap Grief sat around for over 18 months in a wreckers yard with stuff all fuel in tank (ala lots of air to condensate) and started within a few cranks, then twelve months later tipped some 500ml metho to mix any water with the existing fuel that smelled off/old/stale/yellow and 16l of fresh petrol crank, start (with dizzy in almost right pozzy)

Try some fuel conditioner like Pro-ma 500ml treats 625 litres at about $20 bottle. Last known source was Bill and Carol at Luggage and Leisure Warehouse near Ingrams and Fyshwick newsagent.Opposite PO

Get a battery conditioner to hook up, or drop in some of that Inox battery conditioner from supercheap or Maggot Mart. Anti freeze may seep from anywhere, but better than plain old water

And I'd say if you have good security, fill tank up to the brim to prevent moisture.

Oh, and if you still have masking tape holding anything together remove it as that residue it leaves behind SUX, as do the time wasters at #18 !!

BlackMale · Post by **BlackMale** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:01 am

I think that its all going to come down to personal preference. My 1st RX sat in SE Qld for about 18 months with some fuel in the tank and all other fluids at about the correct levels (fuel never when stale however I should add that once it was going again I did inject some ‘fresh’ new fuel). When I went to start it all was fine.

I think that the battery is neither here not there cause after a few months it may not have the power to crank the engine over anyway (obviously depending on the battery condition/life now). I also gave mine a good clean and as Andrew said I also gave things a small hit with some WD-40 before storing.

Whats the purpose behind getting your mate to start the car?

I would recommend against getting a mate to start it every now and then as there is no need. Traditional this was done on older cars to keep rings and stuff lubricated, however newer technology and products this is not as much of an issue. In addition to this if you also imagine you engine/cylinders/oil filter are drained of oil then when you start the engine you generally (potentially) have a few dry strokes before everything is lubricated again. Now hypothetically your car sits for a few weeks and all the oil drains out into the sump your mate starts it and you get a few dry strokes. Now every now and then this stress on an engine is ‘ok’ however he then lets it sit for another 8 weeks - remembering it’s a hypothetically and these numbers are just as an example - In this time all the oil will drain back out into the sump then when your mate starts it again you’ll get another series of dry strokes… this pattern will continue until you return to running the engine full time. Alternatively you could just let it sit for the time you are away and then kick it over when you return only doing the dry cycle once.

Hope that my 2c rant makes sense (I am sure people will let me know if they think I have lost my brains again).

Post by **Alex** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:55 pm

wash her, give her a nice bout of tyre shine, and put a car cover on her..if you love it, it will love you back

Make sure its away from moisture obviously.

thats all i can say, but mainly, crank out the tyre shine!

alex

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:59 pm

Had an Camira that has been sitting in garage for 3 years and started fine but was running rich - I didnt know (der me I was 18 that time & didn't know!) Was ok but from what I learnt that fuel does go stale over time.

Other thing - Jack the car on blocks because sometimes depending on tyre brands can cause un-even tyre (will take a while to get back to normal and its bumpy ride) when you drive when you get back.
Cheers
AP

sublime · Post by **sublime** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:51 am

AlpineRaven wrote:
Other thing - Jack the car on blocks because sometimes depending on tyre brands can cause un-even tyre (will take a while to get back to normal and its bumpy ride) when you drive when you get back.
Cheers
AP

Hmmm... not sure where I read this, however, modern tyres with their different rubber compounds do not develop flat spots like they used too. It is apparently not necessary to put the car on jack stands while in storage like you had to in the past.

Gremlins · Post by **Gremlins** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:51 am

As Blackmale has suggested I wouldn't recommend just starting the car every once in a while and then turning it off. I'd only be starting it if it's going to be taken out for a decent drive and get everything up to temperature. You'll just fill the exhaust up with water and rust everything out otherwise, and also won't allow any dilutants in the engine oil to evaporate off so you're oil will deteriorate. 6-8 months should be no problems for it to stand, although the battery probably won't like it too much. There'd be plenty of motors from front cuts etc that would sit around for longer than that before they finally find new homes and they generally don't have too many problems.