Saturday, December 26, 2009

What maintenance (other than an oil change) should be done on a car that has not been driven in 2 years?

2004 Pontiac Vibe with 30000 miles. I let it run for 15-20 minutes every few weeks, but have not been on the road.What maintenance (other than an oil change) should be done on a car that has not been driven in 2 years?
I would check the brakes as well.What maintenance (other than an oil change) should be done on a car that has not been driven in 2 years?
Odd as it may seem, rodents like to bury nests behind cabin air filters and the regular engine ';flat'; air cleaner in the standard cold air box. Check them both before putting the car on the road.





No doubt the gasoline in the tank is now very stale. Before filling the tank add a can of 3M Total Fuel System Cleaner or Chevron Rro-Gard Fuel Injector Cleaner then fill the tank with 93 octane fuel. Plan on a long hard extended drive to get the best cleaning properties of either of these products.





You may think it's silly to be using 93 octane fuel at this time. The reason is the present fuel in the tank has lost much of the octane leval during it's resting period. To prevent the anti-knock sensor from retarding the ignition for your first long hard drive the higher octane fuel will prevent spark-knock and pre-ignition while the fuel injector cleaner is in the tank.





Check both of the side termanal connections of the battery by disconnecting and cleaning with baking soda if necessary. Coat the surfaces of these connections with silicone ignition grease to prevent buildup of battery corrosion and dirt. If you still have the standard AC-Delco battery there's no way to check the distilled water level in the cells. If not check and fill if needed.





If the car has been stored inside the wiper blades are most likely OK for now. Be aware that the rubber blades degrade rapidly with age. For the money and hassle it pays to replace them every 6 - 9 months with regular Anco blades from Walmart. Fancy high dollar blades are no bargan in the long run. I've found it's best to feed cars fresh inexpensive blades more often and leave the expensive car magazine blades on the shelf.





Please don't skimp on the quality or proper viscosity or motor oil for your car. It should have 5W-30 year round. Personally I like Mobil1 in small hard working 4 cylinder engines. The very best oil filters are the following: Wix, AC-Delco, NAPA (made by Wix), Carquest's best (made by Wix) and Purolator Gold.





Check brake fluid leval and automatic transmission fluid leval with engine running and hot in neutral.





Check tire air pressures and lean toward the pressure printed on the tire, not the door jam.
oil like u said


the fuel because it will all be dirty and crappy now


water system


brake fluid might be an idea


de-flate and then inflate your tyres


transmission fluid and anythin else to do with the transmission system any hydraulic fluid etc


check your spark plugs


HT leads


Battery


fuel injectors if u have them


check for play in your pedals


handbrake


steering


suspension tests


tyres


important nuts like wheel nuts to ensure they wont come off


just check every other thing u can think of
Flush the cooling system and change transmission fluid and filter change, (after puting on road for about a week), after that you should be good.

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