1 year old, drain gas or not

[95GST]

My car has been sitting for 14 months inside the garage. I looked at the belts turned the crank by hand, was turning fine. Tires OK.

Do you think the gas needs to be drained? if the car runs then I can just go easy and not boost it until I fill it up again right?

By the way the temperature is mild indoors and not humid, I don't think alot of moisture gets into the gas tank as opposed to sitting outsite.

 

[HIGHPSI4]

If you gas tank remained sealed your fuel should be fine.

 

[218dsm]

How much gas is in the tank? If you start it up and drives fine then i would suggest going to your nearest gas station and topping the rest off with some fresh gas.

 

[spooln4fun]

Can always add a bottle of ISO-heet and a thing of fuel injector if you think they may be water in there and a low octane count. But thats what i did and my car was sitting for 12-18 months. runs ok now just because i still have the old gas in it trying to dirve it so i can get the old gas out. OR you can drop and drain the tank. if you are worried about the gas.

 

[beat90tsi]

I think you'll be fine. It may run a little rough at first, but once you top it off with some fresh gas, then run out that tank, you should be good to go.

 

[stealth mullet]

this is what id do, drain as much gas as you can and put in fresh gas. and leave that old gas for the lawnmover. im just anal about some things i guess.

 

[oldman420]

I would just put some octane booster in that and idle it for at least 5mins before driving it and it should be fine.

 

[timot]

i would recommend an oil change as well

 

[antiheroX]

Drive it easy and then top it off with the good stuff.
An oil change wouldent be a bad idea either.

 

[95GST]

On a related note,
Should I pull the valve cover and pour oil over the cams, or just forget it and crank the starter to lube it a little first?

 

[oldman420]

not needed

just when you turn it over let it idle 2-3 minutes at least to let that oil move around in that head. but yah do an oil change and prime the hell out of that filter.

 

[Imback]

Ok i am in a similar situation my car has not been started in over a year in a half i thought the fuel tank had a drain plug like the 1gens but i found out the hard way by wasting 2 hours looking for something that wasn't even there to begin with. Now i have done a good amount of searching and reading up and some people say just let it run and some say siphon the gas out it had less then a quater tank. What do you think? Also about the priming i read somewhere that people take out the spark plugs and put a teaspoon of oil in there and then remove the mpi fuse and prime it like that what would you guys recommend? Should i just take out the fuse and let it prime it's self ? Thanks for any replies. I just want to get my talon back on the road since it's been so long....

 

[AndrewD5418]

Can always add a bottle of ISO-heet and a thing of fuel injector if you think they may be water in there and a low octane count. But thats what i did and my car was sitting for 12-18 months. runs ok now just because i still have the old gas in it trying to dirve it so i can get the old gas out. OR you can drop and drain the tank. if you are worried about the gas.

You do not have to drop our tanks to drain it. There is a drain plug on.

 

[ProjectTalon92]

the gas should be fine in the tank as long as it stayed sealed. it takes a LONG time for gas to go bad, much longer then 1 year. but just to be on the safe side. like almost 90% of the people who have posted in this thread, let the car idle for a little bit... if the tank isn't empty, put some fuel treatment in the tank, and top off the tank. then do a tune up. just to be on the safe side.

 

[silver bullit]

My car sat for 6 years, and i had a another sit for 3 months the gas from both smelled like paint thinner, and old gas.

Depending on how much gas you have in there i would say fill it up with 93. Or you can drain it all out then get new gas in there.
Make sure to do a tune up, including all the fuel related crap.

 

[Dragon TalonTsi]

Drain it as much as you can, refil it with as much new gas as possible. And yes an oil change is recommended as well. The reason being is gas is so volatile, it will turn after a few months, let alone years. Same thing as oil, they all come from crude oil, a natural resource. With so much refining and different processes, that is how we get the conventional oil and gasoline for our cars. Ocatne booster (which only adds .1 of an octane number)and FI cleaner will not help (not caustic enough to clean anything, and most manufacturers won't recommend it either). Now if you had put some Stabilzer treatment or something prior to the storage then yes, you would be fine. On the other hand though, water and gas do not mix, obviously that is why we have the Alcohol treatments, cause it mixes with gasoline (which means they both have the same amount of weight) and it settles to the bottom where water will be absorbed by the alcohol. It could help, but your best bet is to change the fuel, you don't want any 1 year old garbage messing up your fuel system either...

And on another note, it wouldn't hurt to put oil (a small amount on the rocker covers, cam lobes, lifters) cause the oil probably has drained out already. Not fully, because aluminum is very absorbant, it will hold oil, just not enough to keep it lubed over that long of a period. It helps prevent dry starts, which can cause bearing failure, premature wear, etc.

 

[Imback]

Alright thank you everybody for your replies am going to try again tomorrow after work and will report back with the results and maybe some pictures thanks.


E

 

[Defiant]

I'd be more worried about a timing belt sitting stagnant that long. It will not live.

Go ahead and run that gas out as far as you can before topping it up and wasting another half-tank of good gas. Just go easy on the old junk that's in there, and give it another couple of tanks before driving it like a DSM.

 

[Mr2god]

+1 for draining as much gas as you can and filling it up with new, as well as an oil change for sure especially if you used cheap oil before the car was put away. Also on a side note I would definitely take a look at the timing belt and its tension before you start the car, it'd be pretty disappointing for you to start it up and have it jump. Good luck

 

[greddyturbo19]

i would drain it. the gas could be rotten. if you are going to store your car use fuel stabilzer i would drain it and put fresh gas in there and oil change.

 

[napkinthief]

Well 14 months is a while, but not long enough to destroy your car, especially if it was indoors.

If you never started it in those 14 months, just change the oil and give it a tune up. Go to your local auto store and get some fuel stabilizer or octane boost. I would get on the highway and keep it in low rpms until nearly out of fuel, then fill it with some 93 and injector cleaner. Should run smooth as a whistle.

May need a new fuel filter or injectors. Check your tires for flat spots. Check for rust.

Remember your car is old, even though it may be sexy. Dont beat it until you know it can be beat, then baby it some more.

 

[speedy13]

Yeah, but seals dry up and become brittle with weather. Even if the car was inside, it still gets weathered.

 

[GofaST4life]

recent studies have shown that gas does go bad in a shorter amount of time than before (has to deal with new addatives), anyway we also did a study at my university (my buddy is a engineer), they found that gas starts to degrade and break down after about 6 months, give or tank a week or two.

the week or two deends on temp, sun light, humidity, etc...

if there isnt much in there, i would drain it, once gas has started to break down, it cannot be stopped with addatives...

like someone said above me, you can always keep the gas for a lawnmower or some other small engine.... just my .02

 

[Dragon TalonTsi]

To the OP, take it from all of us, change it and you will be better off. The deposits and whatnot in that tank will destroy all the other components, take it from experience.