Car sitting in garage for a year, any advice?
11-05-11, 05:45 AM
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Car sitting in garage for a year, any advice?
Hi guys, first post , but I've been lurking for a while, lots of good info here. Anyway, I've inherited a 2009 ES 350, with the premium plus package, navigation system, H.I.D headlamps, and parking assist. The car has been sitting in my garage for a little over a year now. I started it occassionally over that year. I just registered and insured it, and have taken the following steps to get it road ready: Charged the battery, replaced the batteries in the key fobs, changed the oil and filter, replaced the wiper blades, replaced the engine and in cabin air filters. I've driven the car about 75 miles so far. I think the tires went out of round due to sitting for a year in same position, but that problem has seemed to correct itself. Any other advice you can give me to make sure the car's inactivity hasn't harmed it would be appreciated.
Thanks
Tom
Thanks
Tom
11-05-11, 06:49 AM
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I would be most concerned about the fuel. As a boater it is our biggest concern when winterizing. We pickle the gas real good with fuel conditioner. And now with ethanol, which starts undergoing phase separation in as little as two weeks, its become a huge issue. Sounds like you may be OK given you have driven the car.
What I do in the spring is add some fresh fuel with more conditioner before firing the engines. (Used to be we would leave the tanks full to guard against condensation. But with ethanol now the rule of thumb is to leave the tanks empty.) Run that gas out. Then change the fuel water separators. Would recommend you change out the fuel flter after you burn the old gas out.
How much gas sat in the tank for a year?
What I do in the spring is add some fresh fuel with more conditioner before firing the engines. (Used to be we would leave the tanks full to guard against condensation. But with ethanol now the rule of thumb is to leave the tanks empty.) Run that gas out. Then change the fuel water separators. Would recommend you change out the fuel flter after you burn the old gas out.
How much gas sat in the tank for a year?
11-05-11, 11:20 AM
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Hey Mack, thanks for the response. It had about a quarter of a tank, but I did add a pint of stabilizer when I first put it in the garage. It seems to be running very smoothly, I can barely tell the motor is fired up. This is really a pretty nice car, not too big, not too small. I would only wish for a little more road feel, but that's not the mission of this car I guess.
I spent about 2 hours reading the manuals, and watched the dvds that came with the car. It only has about 10,000 miles on it. Lots of features, I'm getting a kick out of the voice command functions, especially the " Go Home" command!
Tom
I spent about 2 hours reading the manuals, and watched the dvds that came with the car. It only has about 10,000 miles on it. Lots of features, I'm getting a kick out of the voice command functions, especially the " Go Home" command!
Tom
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