So my 05 has been parked for over a year and now within the next month shell be back on the road. She's been turned on maybe once every 4-5 weeks and move around in the back yard a little. Usually I put in a gallon and a half of gas at a time and let it burn through that. I was going to change the oil, plugs, brake fluid, have the rotors turn and new brake pads also she's due for a timing belt service which will also be done. I was thinking of sea foaming the engine too. Also needs new tires but that's not due to it being parked she needed them before this went down. Anything else I should do to get her running. Oh also all drive train fluids and transmission too. I was curious about gaskets and seals if any would be necessary after being parked for such a long time. Thanks for ur suggestions.

 

If nothing else is leaking, I wouldn't replace it, however It would be wise to flush the coolant, since coolant gets acidic over time. I would think about putting fresh fluids throughout the vehicle, but looks like you have covered most of it, but I would do transfer case, rear diff, probably do a motor flush oil additive and run it before you do the oil change.

 

Motor flush additive? Would the sea foam work as this if not what would you recommend?

 

Don't even bother with any of those additives. The proof that they actually work is suspect at best, and if their claims were substantiated in any real way, automakers would be using them in a more logical and profitable way. That includes seafoam.

If you've been running the car the way you say, and nothings been going awry, then I think you'd be fine.

It will never hurt to change the fluids, and I will never ever ever suggest "flushing" because I think it generally does more harm than good (there are good articles that argue both ways though if I'm honest). But change your fluids, check your hoses, do a boost leak test, and go for a ride.

I probably wouldn't jump on it right away... give it a couple hundred miles to get anything critical that might break from sitting an opportunity to break.

If it were me (I garage my car every winter btw, but not a year at a time) I'd have a basic tool kit with me, and some basic supplies. Things I could expect to break would be, radiator hoses, belts, and possibly gasket leaks.

That's what the easy driving for 200 miles or so will help. It will get those seals back up to operating temp, and lubed up with whatever fluid. It will get the belts to reshape themselves and not have a bent shape to them.

 

Yea, I do agree with Propilot, it really isn't needed.

 

i dissagree they do work, there are many a trials of teh seafoam into the engien and oil on youtube into sti's etc adn you can see a difference.

The problem that i was told wether its true or not is that if its never been done to an eninge before (from new) then you can actually clean out the engien to much and unless everything in the engine is brand new you run the a possibility of removing some junk that may be helping you out. Ive heard of people running the deep creep in an oil doing a change seeing lots of stuff come out and then having new noises ticks, squeaks from the eninge. But the stuff does work

 

What do you mean they "work". Do you mean that you put it into your engine and stuff comes out? Because I could put a comparable amount of various substances (alcohol, diesel, water, sugar, etc.) into my fuel tank and probably see similar results.

Aside from the fact that I'm not really certain what their claims are (speaking specifically of the engine "cleaners", there are really only 2 ways to clean an engine.

1. Drive your car.
2. Take your engine apart and clean it.

You telling me that there are video's that "prove" that it makes a difference on YouTube is a tough sell though. I'm not sure how those video's would show it, but REGARDLESS I don't want to threadjack this poor fellows thread, but I'd be happy to have a discussion either way.

 

dont forget to dump the gas in the tank-- thats going to be the biggest issue if you run it.

 

I assumed it was emptied because he said he'd been running it on about 1.5 gallons.

But yes.

 

Thanks for all the replies. With regard to the sea foam I've used it on the car before about once a year. Yeah the gas tank has been emptied I actually just picked up another gallon and a half of fresh gas. The next thing is about the battery it's basically brand new maybe 6 months old(a year ago) will it still hold a charge once it get the car running or will I need a new one? The next thing I noticed today is that the shifter is very stiff like if its in neutral I can't wiggle it around from left to right.... Well I can but it takes a while for it to return to the center. Is this cause by the fluids just being static for 12 months and it'll go away once the tranny gets properly warmed up or is it something else?

 

I bought a car new that had been sitting on the dealers lot for a year and drove it home, 150 miles, only to discover I'd been driving on nearly flat tires. Hence the suggestion that you check your tire pressure.

As for the shifter, that sounds like something is wrong. What work have you been doing to the car?

 

Nothing in the last year and I noticed it about maybe 4-5 months ago one of the times I started it and moved it around during the winter. Besides that nothing for over 2 years. Clutch installed maybe 4 years ago so nothing remotely recently that would cause the shifter to stick like that.

 

Pull the console and play with the shifter. The coming back to neutral is a spring loaded thing so it could be some grease got stiff. Try light lube on the moving parts. If that doesn't fix it then look under the hood.

 

will try this out tomorrow. What kind of lube should i use??

 

The battery will be fine. It may need a charge, but if it starts the car... no big. I keep my battery indoors when my car is garaged. If yours has been connected this whole time, it could be problematic, but again... if it starts, you'll be fine.

As for the shifter. That seems strange. I wonder if something crawled in there? Seems odd, but you never know. You'll need grease for bushings, lube for springs. If you want my advice, get a can of triflow (spray lube) and a tube of triflow (sticky grease). If you can't find it, check your local bike shops... they'll know exactly what you're after.