Starting a car after 2 years
 

I have an 02 lexus rx300 thats been sitting in my garage for over 2 years. Are there any precautions I have to take when starting the car?

how did you store it?... battery trickle charged? is there a new battery? was the fuel stabilized?

Did you take any precautions before leaving the car sit for 2 years?

Drain gas? fluids?

2 years.. if you didnt drain the tank, do so now. Also check to see the battery is charged and check all the fluids in your car as well.

well before i stored the car i changed the batter cause it needed a new one. but havent started it since. thanks for the info guys

didnt drain any fluids before storing

i'd probably take the valve cover off and pour some oil on the cams...

The tires probably have flat spots from sitting on concrete.
See if the sidewalls are cracked.
Pump 'em up to recommended, the flat spots will even out with use.
Thumpiy thumpity thumpity

checking tires would be more for driving it...

Just for starting it, drain any old gas and put in fresh one before you start it.

Check oil, replace it if it's thickened up. Probably better to do what Glove said, but that's quite a bit of work. Make sure battery is fully charged as well.

If you see/hear/smell obvious abnormalities, stop trying and tow it to a mechanic.

how do you guys check if your battery is fully charged?

Gaskets are probably hard, be careful about running it too hard for the first little bit until everything gets all nice and kosher again... especially that V6 Toyota engine loves to eat oil with age during regular use let alone being left for a couple years.

If you don't have a need to do it, wait till it is warmer. Low temperature makes plastic brittle and clean up much harder when things do leak.

Check obvious things first, coolant level, oil level, leaks or stains on the floor. I won't worry about bad gas too much if the car is in the garage, but have a can of fuel injector cleaner on hand, once the car is fully warmed up (30 sec idle, 15 minutes of low speed driving), add it in and go for a good Italian tune up. In this case, I would be more worried about the oil in the transmission and diffs than the engine, make sure the fluid in them are warmed up properly (hence if you have a choice, do it when it gets warmer).

I recently did it with my 93 e36 which had been sitting (battery remove) for 5 years.. started right up, everything was fine and passed aircare with flying colours using the old tank of gas after a quick seafoam.

Unhook the coil, remove the spark plugs and unplug the fuel injectors and turn the engine over a few times to pressurize the oil system

and drop some oil down each cylinder for extra compression when starting + lubing the rings while priming engine.

diry?

Heated garage? How much fuel in the tank?

Better drain that gas cause its no good for sure. Like the others said, pull open the valve cover and add oil accordingly.

Check all your belts to see if they have aged/cracked. All your fluids might need a flush.

In fact, wouldn't an oil change be a wise idea at this point? Assuming you can do this yourself that is.

Slam that bitch into neutral and rev it until you hear vtec cross-over bro. Then slam it into reverse while in vtak to break the gears loose.

My Jetta sat outside for 7yrs outside. I threw a battery in it. Started on the first crank. Drove it straight to the gas station, filled it up and passed aircare on the first try on a 50/50 mix of 7yr old gas.

2yrs in a garage is not a big deal

Just an update guys. I checked the fluids and oil and everything seems fine with the exception of the gas.

Round 1

When i turned the key to check how much gas there was the meter was saying about 20percent left. So just to be safe I put a small hose down as far as it could go and tried to siphon the gas out. The hose down about 3 ft but there didnt seem to be any gas. When I first twisted the cap open for the gas tank there was no pssssss sound that it usually makes from the gas trying to escape. I tried to suck but it was just air with the exception of a very light gas smell/taste.

Round 2

This time I put the hose down as far as it could go and held a paper towel around it. I pulled the tube up quickly to see if i could catch any gas on the paper towel to see if there was actually gas. In the end there was no gas on the paper towel or any liquid.

What should i do now? Is it safe to just add gas to the tank and try? Will it fuck up my fuel injector or have a chance at fucking up my fuel injector? Sorry im a big noob when it comes to cars. Thanks

I also heard from a friend that the gas turns to jelly????

did that to an mr2 that sat outside for 8 years. towed it home, get new battery, change spark plugs (rear engine cover vents let water leak into the spark plug area), started right up on the old gas!

Add 25L of fresh gas and about 250ml of methyl hydrate or gasline antifreeze to the tank. Also, change the oil before you start it and make sure you drain it thoroughly. I'd go as far as to drain for 30 mins, then dump 1L of fresh oil in, with the drian plug still off, drain for another 15 minutes, before refilling.

Gas doesn't turn to jelly, diesel does. Gas will evaporate and get stale though.

you've over reacting. The gas will be fine, just top up the tank with a gas can with fresh fuel. Fire it up, check tire pressures ans transmission. you'll be just fine.

Should be fine mostly don't stress too much about stale gas, just add some fresh stuff if you really worried, other than that turn the key and fire it up and take it easy on the car until everything is warmed up and no abnormalities then hammer down.