When I parked my 2002 SS in the garage in April of last year, it was only supposed to be for a month or so. I put a battery tender on it and made no other special considerations. Now it's 14 months later and for a variety of reasons, I haven't turned the engine over

She was running perfectly when I garaged her. However, there was no fuel stabilizer used and her tires were not protected. all belts, hoses, and the complete A/C assembly was replaced in 2013.

My question now is what will it take to safely get her mobile again, and approximately how much will it cost?

 

I would just drain the fuel from the tank may be bad ,change the oil ,that should not cost much ,if the fuel does not smell bad like turpentine , put some seafoam in it top it off with fresh 93 .an with the oil change 4 ounces in the crank case to ,then every time you store it put seafoam in the tank an crank case should start right up every 6 months tires if there bad get a set of the size you have now $300,00 mabey ,so 350.00 + about 75,00 to mount new tires ,first check the old tires for cracks ,an the date like I got a new set for my 99 say 116 meens they were made first week of 2016 tires should not be older then 10 years ,an not be weathered ,they want to pass a 6 year law for all tires not yet though, so if you don't need tires cost is near nothing

 

Don't use SeaFoam for a fuel stabilizer. Yes, I know it says it's good for that but you are much better using something made for that purpose and that purpose only. Everyone turns to SeaFoam as the "go to" product when there are much better and less expensive options. Stabil is probably the best and most well known fuel stabilizer.

I agree though, drain the fuel or poor a crap ton of dry gas in the tank. I'd pull the ignition and fuel fuses/relays and turn the engine over just to build the oil pressure before you actually fired it.

The best things you can do to store a vehicle is fuel stabilizer, fogging oil in the spark plug holes, and a battery tender.

 

yes but use the blue stabil marine ,not the red ,I had the red go bad on me in less then 6 months in a generator ,its a personal thing with addatives an the cost is not much different as far as seafoam I use it never failed me an says right on the bottle for fuel stabilizer an oil too for bad fuel sticky valves its the all around fuel stabalizer I switched from the red to that ,an it also works as a great sludge remover a few times a year ,it helps to burn it out while running the car stp also has there version of it too wich I have used ,but the red stabil is not as good as the blue for lasting,most important is start your car more often an you wont have to worry about this ,some guys just start there car once a month ,an use high octane fuel only for winters i do both allways starts right up, point is if the fuel does not smell like turpentine just add 8 ounces of seafoam top off the fuel an burn it out ,then you may not have to drain the tank ,I seen gas stay good for years without a stabilizer just depends ,you know the smell difference ,I used to work in junk yard an you could tell what gas was still good or not after emptying tanks all day .we would put all the good gas in one drum the bad in another ,an the good stuff was used in the work slash plow trucks

 

My point exactly. It's something that has chemicals and additives for a general, all purpose use and I'm sorry, but you can't have your cake and eat it too. Read the back. The only ingredient is "Petroleum Distillates". That is about as general as you can get, it could have just about anything in it.

For the fuel I've always used the red Stabil with zero issues for storage. Sure you can use the blue, it's meant for marine use but it'll work as well.

As a regular fuel additive I've always used BerryMan's and I won't stray from it ever.

Sludge remover, I'll use a little ATF. Works excellent.

Dry gas I'll always get the Iso-Heet (red bottle). It's easier on fuel pumps than the yellow since it's Isopropyl Alcohol not Methyl Alcohol.

I am the type that doesn't believe in the "All-in-One" fix and that's what people make SeaFoam out to be.

 

those are all the cheapest products one ,can get maybe its where we live has to do with it ,but the old saying is if it is not broke don't fix it ,this guy has not responded anyway ,berrymans he can use that to for bad gas too,they now have 2 cycle oil with stabil in it I use that for my chain saw an weedeater ,all guys use different things .different strokers for different folksters happy 4th I know guys can use berrymans for a 3rd of the cost of seafoam too ,an the stp version cost less too,an as well as some use 100% toluene as octane booster couse its cheaper ,I told a friend I will stick with what I know ,but when I had the bad gas with red I switched couse like10 guys all said the same thing blue stabil or seafoam or the equal ,I am the kinda guy that does not like using one to many additives ,an dry gas just run 93 get rid or moister ,? if you had the red fail on you, ? you would try the blue yes no,an many guys that happened to them too,i think that tends to change our minds I would use berrymans I have some on hand but red again no,who knows mabey the station had some bad gas ,but around where I live a lot of people stopped using it because of bad gas to early word travals, an they came out with blue,some guys use home products ,an some use nothing at all for additives an like said just start there car once a month or every few weeks,personaly I would have had someone start my car for me an ss would not get the time to sit for me an one more thing ,some perfur the v6 car over the v8 couse of the gas mileage thing,an the old saying is use what works for you ,if it stops working try something else so I have an it works ,all we can say is what works for us ,not whats the best ,couse the best will be different from one place to another ,from one man to another ok that was 3 more things hehheehe ,oh an one can spend even more for the royal purple version of seafoam at walmart ,I get all my oil an additives there saves some,so if you we go to 5 different garages an ask them we may get 5 different answers true

 

A year is not that long. If you have synthetic oil all you need to deal with is the gas. If you have dino oil you should change it. If your tank is low you could probably get way with adding more of a high grade fuel. If your tanks is over a half you should suck most of it out and replace it. Might be a good time to change the coolant also if it is more then 2 years old.

The thing you want to do is keep a close eye on things for the first month. Sometimes seals and gaskets hardened and oil leaks will start, there is nothing you can do about it preventively. So basically if you had something that was near the end of its life before you parked the car then it will fail in the first few week of returning the car to the road. I would check oil and coolant daily for first week and every other day for the rest of the first month.

 

I agree with that as another thing ,if the gas is not smelling real bad ,gorn true

 

I just started up my 96 with a year old gas in it. Seems to run fine. It has a full tank. Since it has synthetic oil all I did was air up the tires. I had started the car in November and again in April but yesterday was my first drive in a little over a year.

 

yes I know couse I used to work in a junk yard we would empty the tanks every few years when the car crusher came an would put good gas in one drum an bad gas in the other ,an use the good gas in the trucks ,an if you ever get turpintine on you wich I have it smells bad an the clothes I wore were thrown away ,some of the tanks were there a long time over a year with good gas still not to mention its very dangerous to make the holes in the tank with claw of a hammer ,couse there was no easy way to do that dirty job it was