Suggestion about idle car

[SkyHog]

OK guys - I have had a 1989 GMC Jimmy parked in front of my house for about 3 years now. I bought it from my dad for a dollar, and it needs a new brake job to be safe.

Here's my question. The truck has not started since mid 2003. Nothing was done to it to prepare for long time unstarted.

My plan is to drain the oil, fuel, and coolant before I attempt starting it. Is there likely to still be damage when I start the engine?

btw - I'm starting to work on it now because I got 2 parking tickets on it last night. The car is parked in front of my house. One is for parking an inoperable vehicle. The other is for parking a vehicle with expired tags. I didn't know that parking an expired vehicle is illegal, but I'm fairly sure that's not gonna get overturned.

The inoperable vehicle one will be fought.

 

[mmilano]

i don't know about starting it, but in CA, they want to to declare it as 'non-operational' at the time of the registration if you are not going to use it. not sure about your state, but could be similar. here is a snippet i found on it:

California law requires vehicles to be currently registered if they are driven, towed, stored, parked on public roads or highways or parked in an off-street public parking facility at any time during the registration period.

Non-operational means that the vehicle will not be driven, towed, stored, or parked on public roads or highways for the entire registration year.

 

[AirBaker]

Sounds like a project crew car!

 

[Shipoke]

Well Nick, my suggestion is after you drain and refill everything pull the plugs and put some Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders and turn it over by hand first, this will lube the top of the Cyl. Then go ahead and start it. like a airplane watch the oil pressure, if you dont have any by about 30 seconds shut down.if you need more info call my cell phone.

Dave G.

P.S. call tomarrow afternoon ,going out tonite

 

[Ghery]

OK guys - I have had a 1989 GMC Jimmy parked in front of my house for about 3 years now. I bought it from my dad for a dollar, and it needs a new brake job to be safe.

Here's my question. The truck has not started since mid 2003. Nothing was done to it to prepare for long time unstarted.

My plan is to drain the oil, fuel, and coolant before I attempt starting it. Is there likely to still be damage when I start the engine?

btw - I'm starting to work on it now because I got 2 parking tickets on it last night. The car is parked in front of my house. One is for parking an inoperable vehicle. The other is for parking a vehicle with expired tags. I didn't know that parking an expired vehicle is illegal, but I'm fairly sure that's not gonna get overturned.

The inoperable vehicle one will be fought.

You'll need to get it off a public street to be able to avoid registration. Keeping it on the street requires that it be registered.

Good luck starting that thing. After three years the gas may have left deposits in the carb and fuel system that may make life entertaining.

 

[etsisk]

Well, if you do get it running and safe, you can do what *I* did with MY Jimmy - a neighbor down the road is a gardener and was driving an ooolllld beater station wagon on its last legs. I bartered him the Jimmy and a TV I wasn't watching for yard work - haven't had to do anything for going on five years now!! (um, not counting fencing in 3.5 acres of woods. And rocks. Lots of rocks.)

 

[mikea]

Around here that truck would have been towed off the pound...and stripped before it left the hook of the tow truck. Even if the plates and sticker are current they can nail you for not moving the vehicle often enough.

Duh Mare has a fleet of vans patroling the streets with cameras on top reading license plates. When they get a hit they Denver boot the car, even if it's legally parked.

Hey, all dem palms dat gotta be greased requires a big cash flow.

The smart kids still have their cars carrying the city stickers of out by Mom's house in the 'burbs....and out of state plates.

 

[fgcason]

You're battery is most likely just a door stop at this point but you probably know that already.
In addition to new fluids and spark plugs, I'd try to rotate the engine by hand just to make sure nothing is stuck before using the starter. Switches can gum up too so you might consider that if you turn the key and nothing happens or if the starter is giving you grief.

Old gasoline is likely going to be one of your worst enemies. It turns to sludge and gunk in the carburetors when it evaporates. It makes a proper mess. You might have to take the carburetor completely apart and thoroughly clean it. You'd be well advised to flush the tank and fuel lines as well.

FWIW: Not a truck, however I recently went through this with my motorcycle here in dry Colorado. It was out of service for 5 years due to vandalism and anti theft issues. I mothballed it in a big hurry out of necessity and went down and turned the crankshaft by hand about every 3 months. I had to redo/clean the tank, fuel supply plumbing and air intake. As for the carburetors, the more pieces that came off, the more pieces that needed to come off - It was very ugly and about 90% of the problem. After that and a general inspection, I put in a new battery and it fired up on the first try. Dry environments, like here or ABQ to some extent, are very rough on rubber components but the good news is it's much better for metal parts to help avoid corrosion and rust.

Take it one step at a time through each system: Air, fuel, compression, ignition, exhaust, vacuum. Then hit the starter and see what happens and proceed from there. Make short runs at first to make sure you're not tearing something up. Then test drive and take it easy until you know the systems are ok.

That's what got me up and running in my situation...

Good luck. I hope it goes fairly smoothly for you.

 

[SkyHog]

that was a lot of fun. What I did:

I started by taking off the fuel filter to let the fuel tank drain into a bucket.
While that was draining, I dumped the automatic transmission fluid and the coolant into another bucket. I started a third bucket for draining oil.

While everything was draining, I removed the valve cover and applied Marvel Mystery Oil to everything I could see, and turned the engine through by hand. Surprisingly, the engine turned fairly smoothly without much effort.

I only drained about 1 1/2 quarts of oil, and there was nothing else to give, so I put the drain plug back in and refilled the oil. Did the same with coolant and transmission.

I checked my 10 gallon bucket of fuel and found that it was slightly overflowing. Eeek! I changed it out to a prestone bottle and finished it up. While that was going, I replaced the battery. Went into the truck and tried to start it:

Nothing.

Not even a click. Headlights didn't work.

I'll save the dramatic long story, but I changed it to a top post battery and connectors and forgot to tighten the ground bolt, that was the only problem.

Truck runs mighty strong for sitting about 3 years.

Next up: Some jerk sliced the brake hoses, so I have no hyrdraulic pressure. Next week will be brake week, and then I'll be ready to look towards registration.

The interior is so ugly and there are so many little things wrong with it, I am thinking of submitting it for "Pimp my Ride." We'll see.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

oh yeah, I forgot:

1) I need to call someone and report the spilled fuel. Its not much, but I want to be legal.

2) Where can one dump 10 gallons of unusable fuel? Autozone took all of my other fluids, but fuel is a no no for them.

 

[Henning]

Can you say Bon Fire? Sure you can kids. BTW, what makes it unusable? Mix it 3 gallons at a time into your next several tanks of clean fresh fuel, no problems.

 

[SCCutler]

And Nick, if you call and "report" the spilled fuel, what do you expect to be done about it? Try, if you can, to imagine the good results..........

........now, the bbbbbbbad!

The entire tank full, one time, would not have been enough to create a hazard to ground water. Save yourself the trouble, and just keep your well-meaning mouth shut.

 

[tom.]

Can you say Bon Fire? Sure you can kids. BTW, what makes it unusable? Mix it 3 gallons at a time into your next several tanks of clean fresh fuel, no problems.

I tried this, and ruined a set of fuel injectors. I put the rest in my 8N tractor with no problems except that it ran terrible. Put it in an old, low-compression engine that already smokes a lot. Find someone with a Model T.

 

[etsisk]

The entire tank full, one time, would not have been enough to create a hazard to ground water.

Based upon what, exactly?

 

[Richard]

Nick, sell it. 1, it's an '89 GM with a V8, right?; 1A, it's not a classic therefore not appreciating in value, 2, it's a project you don't need right now; 3, it will cost you several hundred dollars to get the bugs worked out; 4, it's a liability because you will have to clear the tickets and bring the registration current by paying back year reg at full fee plus late penalty and interest.

$2,000 as is/where is and you can now afford a new gadget for your airplane.

OTOH, I started a '63 Ford Falcon which had been sitting in a field for 10+ years. New fuel, fuel filter, batt, remove air filter regapped the original points/plugs, ether in carb and away she goes. Drove that thing about 15,000 miles that summer--sold it for $800 still running strong.

Pretty much the same thing with a '48 Dodge Power Wagon and a '61 F-100.

 

[SkyHog]

Nick, sell it. 1, it's an '89 GM with a V8, right?; 1A, it's not a classic therefore not appreciating in value, 2, it's a project you don't need right now; 3, it will cost you several hundred dollars to get the bugs worked out; 4, it's a liability because you will have to clear the tickets and bring the registration current by paying back year reg at full fee plus late penalty and interest.

$2,000 as is/where is and you can now afford a new gadget for your airplane.

OTOH, I started a '63 Ford Falcon which had been sitting in a field for 10+ years. New fuel, fuel filter, batt, remove air filter regapped the original points/plugs, ether in carb and away she goes. Drove that thing about 15,000 miles that summer--sold it for $800 still running strong.

Pretty much the same thing with a '48 Dodge Power Wagon and a '61 F-100.

Its actually a V6 - 4.3L. If I sign an affadavit that says that the car wasn't driven since the reg expired, I won't have to pay back reg fees. Technically, I've never registered it, when I bought it off my dad, I just left it outside.

I know its not smart, but I love that truck.

 

[Richard]

Its actually a V6 - 4.3L. If I sign an affadavit that says that the car wasn't driven since the reg expired, I won't have to pay back reg fees. Technically, I've never registered it, when I bought it off my dad, I just left it outside.

I know its not smart, but I love that truck.

Emotion Vs business. Always something to consider. So keep it, but know what you're in for. But if you never re-registered it in your name how much is an affidavit signed by you worth? You are not on the title so far as the DMV is concerned, right?

You left a vehicle on public property--after this long you're lucky it wasn't impounded--so I doubt you'll be able to beat the rap. (Anything you say in your defense will be used against you so keep your trap shut and just pay the dough.)

Are you on the title? Obviously, your state laws are different than here but I would think if you are not on the title that any monies you pay to clear the vehicle would be gladly accepted but would fall into a no-man's land until you can bring current the title. Get receipts and make copies of those.

 

[SkyHog]

Emotion Vs business. Always something to consider. So keep it, but know what you're in for. But if you never re-registered it in your name how much is an affidavit signed by you worth? You are not on the title so far as the DMV is concerned, right?

You left a vehicle on public property--after this long you're lucky it wasn't impounded--so I doubt you'll be able to beat the rap. (Anything you say in your defense will be used against you so keep your trap shut and just pay the dough.)

Are you on the title? Obviously, your state laws are different than here but I would think if you are not on the title that any monies you pay to clear the vehicle would be gladly accepted but would fall into a no-man's land until you can bring current the title. Get receipts and make copies of those.

I agree. But flying isn't really the most "money efficient" thing to do either, but I enjoy it, so I do it.

I'm tempted to not even fight the fine and pay the city because they actually got me off my duff and made me work on my truck after all these years. I owe them some thanks

 

[Richard]

I agree. But flying isn't really the most "money efficient" thing to do either, but I enjoy it, so I do it.

And that is exactly the reason why it is perfectly valid to make money decisions based purely on emotion..........sometimes. You just have to wisely pick when that is okay. It really isn't only about money.

I'm tempted to not even fight the fine and pay the city because they actually got me off my duff and made me work on my truck after all these years. I owe them some thanks

Using that logic it would make sense to hire a carpenter to make all the doorways in your abode a little bit narrower and pay him double since his work forced you (generic you) to start working out and go on a diet. It's funny how people think but I know what you mean, Nick. No, really.