Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

[aalugo2000]

Hey everyone,

I have a 99 camaro a4 that was in a accident last summer and i did not have the money to fix it so it had to sit for just over a year until i had the $$. It was just front end cosmetic damage.

Im about to get it back from the body shop next week and want to know what should i do to it to make sure it will be in good order? I was able to drive it to the body shop (about 15 miles, and it seemed to run fine, there was a little bit of smoke coming from the rear of the engine for about 5 minutes when it first fired up, then no more). I guess i should also point out that i was away from the vehicle and it sat with no battery and was never started either, over that 14 month span.

The obvious things (to me) that i figure i need to do are:
Change the oil
Engine coolant
Transmission fluid

Other than that im not sure what will be necessary. I did take pretty decent care of the car prior and the transmission fluid has been changed many times, as well as the coolant and obviously oil. any other fluids i don't remember changing in a long time. Although the engine was rebuilt about 45,000 miles ago (timewise this was about 3.5 years ago now), so everything having to do with that would have been changed/replaced then.

If anyone can recommend me what else should be done to the car it would be very helpful!

i did use the search feature but was not able to find anything other than changing fluids/etc under normal circumstances, not a car that sat for over a year (i'm assuming there would be a difference?).

[Rob Bell]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

I would think that those fluids would be enough, and also check the belt and hoses. The only other thing would be to make sure there are no flat spots or dry rot on the tires. You may want to get a new battery too since it had been sitting for so long. Also make sure your spare tire is inflated. Other than that, if it ran fine, then it's fine.

[Frechles71]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

Yea everything sounds good. Only one thing to add, if the car was sitting with a full tank of old gas I would recommend throwing a bottle of octane booster into it just in case. If you have already put in new gas from the body shop drive I would say not to bother with it.

[96firebird311]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

I would think that those fluids would be enough, and also check the belt and hoses. The only other thing would be to make sure there are no flat spots or dry rot on the tires. You may want to get a new battery too since it had been sitting for so long. Also make sure your spare tire is inflated. Other than that, if it ran fine, then it's fine.

:tup::tup:

[aalugo2000]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

I would think that those fluids would be enough, and also check the belt and hoses. The only other thing would be to make sure there are no flat spots or dry rot on the tires. You may want to get a new battery too since it had been sitting for so long. Also make sure your spare tire is inflated. Other than that, if it ran fine, then it's fine.

yea, the battery was dead when i tried to start it to take to the body shop, so that got replaced. I was hoping the tires were fine, they seemed to ride ok, but i was concerned about some dry rot on the sidewalls. It has that look to it, although im not sure if its truly dry rot or just small cracks on the surface of the rubber. i guess if they go flat on me then i'll replace them.

thanks for the advice.

[00delbz]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

yea, the battery was dead when i tried to start it to take to the body shop, so that got replaced. I was hoping the tires were fine, they seemed to ride ok, but i was concerned about some dry rot on the sidewalls. It has that look to it, although im not sure if its truly dry rot or just small cracks on the surface of the rubber. i guess if they go flat on me then i'll replace them.

thanks for the advice.

i wouldnt even hesitate to get new tires but thats just my opinion.

[blackRS]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

did the car sit through snow or was in dry the whole time?

[aalugo2000]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

did the car sit through snow or was in dry the whole time?

it sat through an entire michigan calendar year, so snow, rain, and sun.

[aalugo2000]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

i wouldnt even hesitate to get new tires but thats just my opinion.

i would if i could afford it... at $130 a piece im willing to risk a flat... even worse is the fact that the 4 tires on there now probably only had about 10k on them when i got in the accident, so they are practically new.

[cam98aro]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

Yea everything sounds good. Only one thing to add, if the car was sitting with a full tank of old gas I would recommend throwing a bottle of octane booster into it just in case. If you have already put in new gas from the body shop drive I would say not to bother with it.

octane booster wont do anything to help

all it is is flame retardant in a bottle

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

just run the tank down as low as you can before fill up, maybe run some injector cleaner through there.

it hasn't been mentioned so i'll throw it in, change the oil and filter. I'd also do plugs and wires, but thats just me.

[cam98aro]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

just run the tank down as low as you can before fill up, maybe run some injector cleaner through there.

it hasn't been mentioned so i'll throw it in, change the oil and filter. I'd also do plugs and wires, but thats just me.

i would do all of those ^ ,except plugs and wires.

[FrankyZ]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

I had a similar situation with my car it sat for about 7 months. Be prepared for a bunch of small things to go wrong, also dont run your tank down keep it above 3/4. I had all sorts of small gremilins pop up after I dropped 4k into my car. Sensors, wires all sorts of little crap that make for big headaches when you see that ses light come on ever 100-200miles its horrible. I went through plugs, wires, maf sensor, ac seals, coils, relays, to odd electrical things with my lights and windows when none of that was even effected. Just recently it now seems I need a new ICM as well. Just remember the weakest link always breaks. So as you fix things the next weakest link will go next. As far as the fuel goes if your car sat without a full tank you may have given the possibility for rust to set in, as my mechanic explained it to me. So keep the level up to help combat anything that may have started and to help get rid of any crap that may have been given a chance to dry on the sides of your tank..

[aalugo2000]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

I had a similar situation with my car it sat for about 7 months. Be prepared for a bunch of small things to go wrong, also dont run your tank down keep it above 3/4. I had all sorts of small gremilins pop up after I dropped 4k into my car. Sensors, wires all sorts of little crap that make for big headaches when you see that ses light come on ever 100-200miles its horrible. I went through plugs, wires, maf sensor, ac seals, coils, relays, to odd electrical things with my lights and windows when none of that was even effected. Just recently it now seems I need a new ICM as well. Just remember the weakest link always breaks. So as you fix things the next weakest link will go next. As far as the fuel goes if your car sat without a full tank you may have given the possibility for rust to set in, as my mechanic explained it to me. So keep the level up to help combat anything that may have started and to help get rid of any crap that may have been given a chance to dry on the sides of your tank..

yea i dont know if it was a good thing or not but my car sat with virtually no gas in it, i remember thinking when i got in the accident that "well at least i didn't waste a tank of gas".

and yea im expecting some little things to come along and annoy me. In fact i was surprised that the ses light didnt appear when i drove it to the body shop.

[Rob Bell]

Re: Car sat for 14 months... what needs to be done?

FrankyZ brings up a good point on seals. If you have not already, try running the AC. The compressor seal will go dry and leak if it sits too long. If the AC works then you're probably good. If it doesn't, then it probably leaked out the freon. If you refill it now with freon and O-ring conditioner you may be OK, otherwise a new compressor will be needed. Either way I would suggest checking the system pressure because some probably leaked anyway.