Starting a car that sat for a year

Factual Questions
1

In a day or two I’m about to go pick up a 95 Saturn SL that hasn’t been started for almost a year. It ran fine before being put in a garage, if that makes a difference. The last time anyone tried to start it it was completely dead—no electricity at all.

I do have a battery charger, made by Century Manufacturing. It has settings that say auto(10A/12V, 2A/12V) and manual(10A/6V). I can’t think of anything else to bring with me—which is why I’m posting here.

Other than electricity, is there anything else I should have on hand to get this thing up and running (other than a AAA card)? Which of the settings on the charger should I use? I won’t have unlimited time with the car, just a morning and early afternoon. I will be there the night before though, so if it would make a difference to charge it overnight I can (provided there’s no fire risk to leaving it hooked up like that).

Thanks,

Rhythm

2

Definitely charge the battery overnight before trying it but also try and have a spare battery on hand as the one fitted is probably beyond ressurection by now.

Check the electrolyte in the battery before charging, it will almost certainly need topping up.

If possible, crank the engine a few seconds before starting it to get some oil pumped up to the camshaft. Probably won’t fire straight away anyway.

Check the coolant and oil levels, unlikely to be a problem but it doesn’t hurt to be sure there actually is some there.
Is there fuel in the tank? Are you sure?

3

The liquids will be the problem. I have done this once, after three years. I had two buddies who advised. One said “change the oil” - sediment will have built up in it - and the other said “drain the fuel system and refill it” - impurities settling in the carburettor (though your Saturn probably has injectors). I also had to repump the tires and charge the battery overnight. We did the above and it started first time! Drove it round a while then switched off, let it cool, drained the radiator and replaced, and it was fine for about ten years after that.

4

Most carbs gave a drain cock under the needle ur bottom of the float chamber to facilitate this. Sometimes a pain in the arse to access though.

5

I left my 88 Honda Civic sitting for two years while I was stationed in Germany. I reconnected the battery, started it up, and it was fine. I’d relieved the fuel line pressure prior to leaving it, though. I also left the parking brake on, requiring me to do a brake job there in the storage lot, but that didn’t affect the running. Of course once the car was on the road, one of the first things I did was top off the tank and change the oil and some of the other fluids.

6

I’ve started quite a few cars that have sat for a year or two.

Don’t bother bringing a battery charger. Bring a new battery. The battery is in there is not only dead but the cells have chemically self destructed. It ain’t worth the effort to try and bring it back to life. You may be cranking a lot too, so bring jumper cables and plan on jumping the car while you crank it even though you have a fresh new battery. You don’t want to kill your brand new battery.

Check all of the fluids to make sure nothing has leaked out. You don’t need to change the oil or even change the gas. It will run on what is in there, but be forewarned it is going to run like crap until you get all of that old gas out of the tank.

Check to make sure that the air intake isn’t obstructed. A year is a long time and critters may have built a nest or something. Check the wires and the fuel line to make sure nothing got chewed by a critter.

Other than that, just crank the heck out of it. I don’t know much about Saturns. If it has a throttle body, dump some fresh gas down into the throttle body. The engine should run for a couple of seconds every time you do this and it will help to get the thing warmed up to where it will run even on the crappy gas that’s in the tank. Once you get the engine going, keep it running until it gets nice and warm because it’s still going to be hard to start.

The brake rotors are probably rusty and the brakes are going to be stiff. After you get the engine going and it’s nice and warm and you are sure that it is going to keep running for a while, drive it around the neighborhood and keep slamming on the brakes nice and hard. Do a lot of go-stop-go-stop-go-stop type stuff until the brakes loosen up and start working properly. Your car has been in a garage, and the cars that I’ve had to start were all kept unprotected outside, so your brakes may not be so bad, but still, make sure they work good and aren’t binding up before you take the car anywhere out of the local neighborhood.

Once you’ve got engine and brakes all working, drive immediately to the closest gas station. Hopefully the car was left with half a tank of gas or less in it. If not, then maybe you want to drain a lot of the gas out before you start this whole affair. Fill it up with nice fresh gas. It will run better on half crap gas and half good gas than it would on the crap gas that’s left in it, but it’s still not going to be perfect. Drive it around for a few days, let the gas get all the way down to almost empty, then refill it and you’ll be fine.

The tires are going to feel a bit wobbly since they probably have developed a bit of a flat spot from sitting for so long. After about a week, the tires should be back to normal and all the crap gas should be out of the system. It’s probably not a bad idea to change the oil at the end of the week. Change the oil a little early the next time too, then go back to a regular maintenance schedule.

7

Not only did mine survive three years of dormancy, it also lasted another five!

8

Air pressure gauge and tire pump–possibly electric so you don’t have to do all the pumping yourself.

The tires may be ok pressure-wise, but a little one sided, but you’d be better off to be prepared for one or more to have developed a slow leak, and be in need of more air pressure.

9

FWIW, I never had any of the problems that engineer_comp_geek mentioned. The engine ran noticably fine on the two year old gasoline. The front disks had a very small amount of surface rust, but it was brushed off almost immediately upon braking (I drove back and forth several times to auto-adjust the rear brakes that I had to extemperaneously replace). The battery was discharged, but with a jump the car started right up, and I ended up trading in the car with the same battery a couple of years later for a 95 model. Of course without having said so, I did follow all of the rest of his advice as far as critters and damage and so forth.

Here’s how my car was stored, though: I took the tires off and left the car on concrete blocks; disconnected the battery; let out the high-pressure relief for the fuel line; tank was probably half-full; tires in the hatch; parking brake applied (why? I don’t know); middle of rural southeast Michigan.

(The parking brake caused the pads to stick to the rear drums. It was a PITA to take off the rear drums, being stuck to the pads and all, but I managed it. Of course now I had to take the drums to be machined, and throw on some pads. [It was tricky finding pads for a foreign car in rural Michigan in those days.])

Last year while working out of town for an extended period, my cars tires started to dry rot (or something; they went bad). Because it’s a upper-end car, I put upper end tires on it ($$$). Now I’m working out of town again, and worried that my tires will fall apart while the car is parked. Last time I went home (every time I go home, that is), I took it out for a drive, and just what engineer_comp_geek says would happen, happened – flat spots worried me. It’s reassuring to know, then, that if I drive the car enough the tires won’t necessary fall apart and the flat spots will go back to normal!

10

Bring a new battery. In a case like this, where the battery has been dead and then sat for some time after that, it’s toast.

11

You were very lucky.

12

Here’s what the numbers on your battery charger mean. 10A/12V is for charging a typical car battery at a max current of 10A. This should allow you to start a car with a weak battery after 5 minutes of charging, if the battery is totally drained you might have to wait more like an hour. The 2A/12 volt setting is for charging the battery overnight. Sounds like your charger might automatically switch down to the 2A/12V setting when the battery is almost completely charged, this is so the charger will not overheat the battery if it is left on too long. The 10A/6V setting is for charging a six volt battery which are sometimes used on lawn tractors and such.
After telling you all that I have to add that I would bring a new battery. Murphy’s law tells us that if you bring a new battery and you won’t need it. If you don’t bring a battery you will. Also to change the battery you are going to need an 8mm combo wrench to remove the battery terminals. You will also most likely need a 10mm to 13mm socket ( I can’t remember the exect size) and a long extension to remove the battery hold down. IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: Remove the negative (black) cable first! Be careful not to touch any metal to both terminals at the same time! When reinstalling the battery connect the positive (+ or red) terminal first. The reason for this is the negative side of the battery is connected to the frame and engine. If you take off the positive cable first your wrench could touch the frame causing a really scary and dangerous spark. Also you might want to bring some penetrating oil (for rusted screws), a small wire brush, to clean the battery terminals, and a pair of locking pliers (we call them vise grips around here) in case you find rounded off bolts. When transporting a battery set it on some old cardboard and make absolutely sure it can’t tip over, or wrap it in a heavy duty plastic bag. Spilled battery acid is a real headache!

13

Misread as: Starving a cat that sat for a year

14

Your average sized battery is about 60 amp hours. Charging a completly dead battery at 10A for one hour would give you about 1/6 of a full charge, mostl likely not enough to start the car. Add into that, when a battery if all the way flat, it won’t take a 10A charge due to sulfation, you can bank on it will take at least overnight if you can charge it at all.
Take a battey with you.

15

Wow, thanks for all the help!

I’m getting a wee bit pessimistic about all this. The thing is, our main goal is to just move it from point A to point B, and then decide it’s long-term fate. The point being that since it may sit idle once again for a long time after that, getting a new battery is an unattractive option.

It’s fuel injected, so no carbs to get to. It’s dusty, but the garage is attached to a house so save keeping it in a humidor it should be in good shape. But I’ll definitely be doing a grand critter sweep, and looking for mysterious stains/puddles on the concrete.

I don’t think I’ll have time to do much on it while I’m there except for checking, charging, and whatnot. That is, I don’t think I’ll be able to drain any fluids. My main concern is safely getting it from it’s current home in NYC about a hundred or so miles to it’s new home in the country. Part of my lack of time is that if it does get running I want to drive it around town for at least an hour or so to gauge it’s condition (and I’d forgotten about hitting the brakes in reverse to set the drums in the back). (Oh, and time wise I guess I should mention that the actual reason we’re heading back to the city this weekend is to catch George Clinton and Parliament, so there may be a bit of a hangover that morning!)

So, I’ve got a great list of tools to bring, and a good idea of what the charger settings can do should I go that route. Something I’m hoping someone will be pedantic about—what risks are there to charging the battery? It’s accessible, but should I definitely remove it from the car? Could it catch fire if left plugged in to the charger overnight? If it’s a sealed battery, is there any way of checking the electrolyte level? Please don’t let me take a chance of burning down my in-laws house!

Thanks for the help!!

Rhythm
Who is thinking he should just call AAA from the git-go

16

I have just one thing to add - if they left windshield washer fluid in the tank, try not to use the sprayer. The water & alcohol in the fluid will have evaporated off, possibly leaving everything coated in a nice, thick layer of disgusting goo. You really don’t want the goo getting into the washer pump, it’s a miserable pain to clean out.

I ran into this problem with my girlfriend’s car, which sat for a year while she recovered from Meniere’s disease (inner ear/balance problem, makes driving difficult). I had to pull the tank and clean the gunk out to get anything to spray. Windshield washer tanks are often the last bit designed into the engine compartment and have to fit around everything else, so getting them out can be a major pain.

Incedentally, her battery was fine after a 24hr slow charge. Her car started right up with no problems, despite not being properly put away. I changed the oil right away and filled it up with fresh gas, but didn’t really have to do much else to the car.

17

That should read 12 hour slow charge, 2 amp/12v setting.

Also, I forgot to mention the bees. Thousands of them, in a hive on the inside of the driver’s side door & B pillar.

Bring Raid. They’re rather unimpressed by waving a tire iron, no matter how effective it would be in a street fight.

18

Here is my answer to your safety questions. Charging a battery can be dangerous but not very if precautions are taken. First thing have the charger off when you connect it to the battery to avoid sparks. Ideally you should connect your negative lead to a clean bolt on the engine away from the battery (remember connect the negative lead last and remove the negative lead first). Once you start the charger you have to determine whether or not the battery is getting any charge. Most chargers have a gage (ammeter) on them. If this ammeter stays at or near zero when you connect and turn on the charger it means your battery is not taking any charge and there is no point in trying to save it (Note this assumes you have clean connections to the battery terminals!) . Another problem can be the opposite, your battery may have a shorted cell(s) and in this case it will overcharge and overheat. It won’t start a fire directly but it will give off a lot of really nasty smelling gas and hydrogen. The hydrogen could cause an explosion (but its not very likely). How do you tell if your battery is got a shorted cell(s)? This is more difficult particularly since you most likely don’t have a voltmeter. Basically hook up the charger & turn it on. If the battery is discharged the ammeter will read close to its max (10Amps). Come back in an hour, the ammeter should have fallen at least an amp or 2. If it ammeter has not fallen feel the side of the battery if it is hot (too hot to keep your hand on for more that a second) then turn off the charger. After this you can wait for the battery to cool down and try again, it should not get as hot after the second time charging, or you can just write it off. Safety Note: Turn the charger off then wait a minute or two before disconnecting it. If the battery is not too hot check on it again in an another hour or two. I am trying to simplify this for someone with very little automotive/ electrical expirience so I have left out a lot of details and justifications of why and what you are doing. As an aside most older cars (Pre -and early 1990’s ) were off when you turned them off. Meaning there was no drain on the battery at all. Most newer cars have electronics that use a very slight amount of current even when the car is off. This small amount of current isn’t any concern normally but it will drain a battery over an extended period of time. BTW- A new battery is fairly cheap and you can return it if you don’t need it. Good luck.

19

If it were my car, I wouldn’t bother at all with the charger. Chances are the battery is either completely dead or, if it does manage to hold a charge, it will be severely weakened. You want as much cranking power as you can get for a car that has sat for a long time, so a weak battery is just going to make things needlessly more difficult.

When you get the car to its new home, before you let it sit again, put gas stabilizer in the tank and disconnect the battery. The battery won’t go dead again if it’s not connected to anything, so it’s not like you are going to be wasting a battery for one trip.

Don’t be pessimistic. Unless a critter has chewed something important, it will start. It may be a little reluctant at first, but it will start.

20

lead-acid batteries do not respond well to being left unused for a year. It will mostly likely be totalled, or at best weak. Do not attempt to charge any battery when still in place in the car, as the risks of explosion or leakage outweigh any benefit in doing so. Any or all of the problems mentioned above with brakes, tyres, oil and fuel may be present.