996 Sat Idle for 3 Months

[boxster bill]

Folks,

May sound like a silly question, but here goes.... My 996 (C4 Cab) has sat idle in my garage for a little over 3 months while I was out of the country. I'm anxious to fire her up and drive the car, but given it's long slumber, is there anything special I should do?

The only thing I did before I left was disconnect the battery.

Thanks for any advice!

[wross996TT]

Uh...connect the battery. The best thing to do is to plan for leaving the car with some simple prep (inflate tires, fill gas tank, etc.). Just fire her up.

[144mph]

I don't think you should leave the gas tank completely full or nearly empty. Somewhere about half leaves room for expansion and if it's nearly empty, then the fumes could be dangerous. Fumes are more flammable than the fluid.

I've been living outside of the country for 4 years now, visiting about every 3-6 months. The first time I left I was paranoid about getting flat spots on the tires from it sitting in one spot for so long. I guess the best thing would be to jack the car up, leave it on stands and stack the tires flat. I'm too lazy for that though so I just wash/vac it and put on the cover after disconnecting the battery and leaving the windows cracked a bit for ventilation. The car is in a dry, though non-climate controlled, storage locker. I leave it with a half tank or so of gas. Gasoline itself is good for up to about a year or so I've read. Never had any issues with my cars so far.

[rockjock]

I don't think you should leave the gas tank completely full or nearly empty. Somewhere about half leaves room for expansion and if it's nearly empty, then the fumes could be dangerous. Fumes are more flammable than the fluid.

I've been living outside of the country for 4 years now, visiting about every 3-6 months. The first time I left I was paranoid about getting flat spots on the tires from it sitting in one spot for so long. I guess the best thing would be to jack the car up, leave it on stands and stack the tires flat. I'm too lazy for that though so I just wash/vac it and put on the cover after disconnecting the battery and leaving the windows cracked a bit for ventilation. The car is in a dry, though non-climate controlled, storage locker. I leave it with a half tank or so of gas. Gasoline itself is good for up to about a year or so I've read. Never had any issues with my cars so far.

Its actually best for longer storage to add any stabilizer in the fuel-run the car to get the fluid in the lines-and store with a full tank of gas-if jacking the car up-be sure not to go so high as to expose the shock/struct tubes (really no need to remove the tire and rim). I cant remember but you are also to leave the vents fully opened or closed (for small animals-I'm thinking its closed).

Cars dont need ventilation-they're cars :P

[wross996TT]

The reason to leave the tank FULL (as is recommended by nearly all car manufacturers) is to prevent condensation (i.e., water) from forming in the tank.

[Mabuhay]

The reason to leave the tank FULL (as is recommended by nearly all car manufacturers) is to prevent condensation (i.e., water) from forming in the tank.

+1

[DWPC]

I imagine you've already run it, but after sitting for three months there's very little oil film left on wear surfaces, so I'd crank it for a short bit with no ignition to get the oil back where it belongs before firing it up.

[txhokie4life]

I imagine you've already run it, but after sitting for three months there's very little oil film left on wear surfaces, so I'd crank it for a short bit with no ignition to get the oil back where it belongs before firing it up.

A good way to do this is to pull the fuel pump fuse, and just let the car crank via the starter

without providing gas. This will help prelube to some extent.

Do not run your starter for extended periods of time -- maybe 5 or 6 cranks of 5-10 sec each

should do the job.

It is likely your battery will have drained down prior to this -- so put it on a charger before doing this

cranking. If the battery needs periodic maintenance -- check the water level and add distilled

water if needed.

mike

[wross996TT]

I could understand if you had drained the oil, but I do not think it is necessary for having the car sit...to each his own...