What To Do: Car Stalled For More Than A Year

[Penny_Lane]

Baka puro rust na yung fuel tank kasi it's been empty for almost a year So I really need to bring a mechanic at my house or I could just jump start the car before the change oil, replacement of belts etc?

[mbeige]

Don't attempt anything without giving it a thorough check. Make sure there's no rust in the fuel tank, if there is have a shop open it up, clean it thoroughly and weld it back up for you. Or if there's no need to open it up then have it cleaned properly (and dried, don't forget). Make sure fuel lines are not rotted, especially the rubber connectors.

Change all fluids too, oil will definitely need to be drained over night to get all of it out. Fill it up with cheap oil first, as a preliminary oil so once you start the car it will clean it up, then drain it after a few hours or days of driving. Then use a better kind of oil this time once you've confirmed it's good to go.

Yes, check belt play. Check for the deflection of belts between pulleys. If it's more than half an inch then see if they can be tightened. If not replace them altogether. No point in replacing one, when the other is near the end of its life, right?

Also check if the timing belt (or chain?) is still good. I don't know what the condition of the car was before, so better be sure than sorry.

What was the condition before you parked it for that long? Did it run well? Any problem areas you know that needs to be looked at before anything else?

[Penny_Lane]

Yup it was running well. I was using it as my coding car. Although I think the clutch was having problems already since I'd have a hard time shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. I checked the car again and I just saw that rats have bitten through some of the wires and rubber So what's the first thing that I should do???

I really appreciate your help.

[mbeige]

At this point you should determine if it's financially viable to resurrect the car or not. You know the car better than we do, so give it a thorough check. Have a mechanic friend check it out for you and see what needs to be done. Get that checklist and rearrange them in order of importance.

If the cost to do all or most of it at once is too much, you can work on the more important things first. Then once it's running, work on the secondaries later on.

Set the budget, lay the cards and see if it works out. If you have rat infestation problems, that's the least of your worries...unfortunately.

Why did you let it sit for that long?

[Penny_Lane]

It wouldn't start eh it's parked like parallel but instead of cars that are adjacent it's columns so you'd need several turns before you could get the car out of the garage. Nobody wants to help me push naman eh sakto talaga yung parking like inches away from the columns (poste?).

I really do not want to sell it. I am just dying of guilt esp when someone mentioned that it's so cheap to replace the starter I don't even know a mechanic who is willing to do home service but my first step now is to know what needs to be done.

[afrasay]

do all of the above. otherwise if you can't find an honest mechanic, sell it.