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Sitting for 8 years....


trenton163
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Hi Everyone,

 

It's been awhile since I have been on here. Since my last activity on here I have moved, gone to college and started my career. All the while my pathfinder has been siting in my garage back home waiting to be resurrected...

 

I has been sitting in an enclosed garage for about 8 years. these are the things that I know that I am going to do to get it back on the road:

-Replace all fluids, Oil, ATF, PS, PB

-Remove old gas, (I foolishly didn't put in any fuel stabilizer)

-Replace Battery

-Possibly new tires? ( they where almost brand new last time I drove it and they are still holding air, but there may be flat spots)

 

Can anybody suggest anything that I maybe forgetting or overlooking. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

Thanks 

Edited by trenton163
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Probably okay since it was enclosed but the rear calipers on my Maxima froze up when it sat for a couple years with rare use - but that was outside in the harsh & varied weather of Kansas City. Just inspect & be careful regarding the brakes.

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11 hours ago, trenton163 said:

Hi Everyone,

 

It's been awhile since I have been on here. Since my last activity on here I have moved, gone to college and started my career. All the while my pathfinder has been siting in my garage back home waiting to be resurrected...

 

I has been sitting in an enclosed garage for about 8 years. these are the things that I know that I am going to do to get it back on the road:

-Replace all fluids, Oil, ATF, PS, PB

-Remove old gas, (I foolishly didn't put in any fuel stabilizer)

-Replace Battery

-Possibly new tires? ( they where almost brand new last time I drove it and they are still holding air, but there may be flat spots)

 

Can anybody suggest anything that I maybe forgetting or overlooking. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

Thanks 

i personally dont think tires. i mean you should but even a small flat spot might come out once it gets rolling. as long as they arent rotten or showing their age and what not then they might be alright. Like raingoat said you should check brakes. And also check and make sure that there are no rodents living inside the engine bay

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I'd  pop the drums and check the wheel cylinders, pop the dustcaps back and see in there is any moisture under them. This usually indicates a leaking cylinder.

If all good change the brake fluid, make sure your tyres aren't rock hard. Then enjoy that thing! 
 

Edited by FirstGenFreak
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+1 on checking the brakes. The fuel would by my main concern before trying to start it. I'd pull the pump and look inside and see how much crap you're dealing with, and decide from there if it's worth dropping the tank to clean or if you can just drain, fill, and send it. Might save you some future issues with clogged pickups/filters/etc. Might as replace the fuel filter while you're at it. Hopefully it's not too bad. My dad and I pulled a tank from a Jeep that had sat outside for about 14 years with a tank of ethanol gas, which had turned into some kind of caustic schmoo that looked like bear crap, moved like taffy, and had eaten a bunch of holes in the tank. Hopefully better conditions and less elapsed time were kinder to yours.

 

Do you know when the timing belt was done last? They have a mileage interval, but time kills rubber too. Unless the belt was getting close to retirement when you parked it, it's probably fine for a first start, but I'd want to replace that before putting miles on it.

 

Not a bad idea to clean out your heater box, too, on the off chance something's taken up residence in there.

 

Welcome back and good luck!

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Like the others have said, change the battery and fluids and do an inspection of the moving parts. Might want to pull the caliper slide pins and regrease them with a silicone based grease so they will slide properly. With the truck being stored inside, it has been better protected and sitting damage should be much less. The tires should be ok, but the rubber does degrade over time. That is why tire shops generally won't repair or install tires that are over 5 years old, the liability issues are simply too high. Replacing the belts wouldn't hurt either, but don't really see them as critical. They tend to give warnings before they quit. 

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Thanks for all of the info everyone! I definitely will take all of your advice. As far as the fuel goes, is best to pump it out through the cap or do I need to remove the pump? Which I believe is under the rear cargo area carpet? I really do not want to drop the tank but I will if I have to. 

 

Thanks again everyone. 

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You could go through the filler with a hose if all you're doing is pumping out the old gas, just watch out for the anti-splash whatsit (hinged bit of the filler that the gas pump nozzle pushes aside, it likes to get caught on things). For that matter you could just unhook the fuel filter outlet, put a piece of hose on that, and run the truck's fuel pump to transfer most of what's in the tank into a bucket. Personally I'd want to go for the pump so I could inspect it and the inside of the tank to make sure there isn't crap in there waiting to cause fuel system issues later, but getting the pump out and in again does involve some screwing around. There's an access panel under the carpet, but to get the carpet up, you'll need to remove the rear trim plate (plastic phillips screws that like to slip, best to use a small flathead with as little downward pressure as you can and get a fingernail under the screw head to keep it from slipping back in) and the cargo tie-downs (big Phillips bolts through the floor, I replaced mine with 10mm hex bolts after how much fun the Phillips heads were to remove).

 

I hear you on not wanting to drop the tank, it was no fun at all on my '95, mostly because every fastener on that truck was rusted in place.

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I would definitely do an inspection in the fuel tank, my wd21 has set up twice for several years with varying issues. The first time wasn't a problem, started it up and added new fuel to the tank. The second, the fuel pump sounded very rough, it had set up for roughly 4-5 yrs. I pulled the pump and the tank was full of rust due to the ethanol in the fuel attracting moisture. However I did pull the tank to clean it, but, pulling the pump doesn't take that long and is well worth it imho..

Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk

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Awesome, thanks for all of the info everyone. I will most likey start this whole process in a couple of months once I get enough funds together. I will let everyone know if I succeed haha!

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  • 11 months later...

Hi Everyone, 

 

It has been awhile but I wanted to update this and follow up with a few more questions. I did the following last weekend:

 

  • Pumped out all the old gas from the tank. I went through the pump so I could see the inside of the tank. Since it was stored in a Garage in CA there was no rust.
  • Bled the Brakes and greased the caliper pins. Thanks to everyone for suggesting this, the brake fluid was really old and I definitely felt a difference replacing it!
  • Changed the power steering fluid,
  • Oil change,
  • New battery,

 

After a little hesitation she started right up with no warning lights :jig:. I pumped up the tires and drove it around a few blocks with no issues. 

 

Here is where things go bad and I need some advice. 

 

I went go get a smog test so I could pay all the back fees and it passed all the tests except for the last one. It was a Evap pressure test. It looks like there is a leak between the gas tank and the charcoal canister. The Smog guy said that it usually is a bad fuel filler neck and this is a common failure for older cars. Does anyone know of a common fail point to check first?

 

The next question is a bout the doors. I know that I have the common door lock timer fail as it locks itself  a lot even with the key in the ignition. My problem is that I cant unlock the rear passenger doors, I can see the pin try and move up and down when I try and lock and unlock but is feels stuck. Are you able to take to door Panel off with the door closed or do I need to get a slim jim to open it? 

 

I know that some of this may sound like I should just go out and try it myself; but the truck is about a 7 drive away from me so I have to try and remote diagnose problems first and then try them out. 

 

Thanks again everyone, any advice is welcome!

Edited by trenton163
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Hi Everyone, 
 
It has been awhile but I wanted to update this and follow up with a few more questions. I did the following last weekend:
 
  • Pumped out all the old gas from the tank. I went through the pump so I could see the inside of the tank. Since it was stored in a Garage in CA there was no rust.
  • Bled the Brakes and greased the caliper pins. Thanks to everyone for suggesting this, the brake fluid was really old and I definitely felt a difference replacing it!
  • Changed the power steering fluid,
  • Oil change,
  • New battery,
 
After a little hesitation she started right up with no warning lights :jig:. I pumped up the tires and drove it around a few blocks with no issues. 
 
Here is where things go bad and I need some advice. 
 
I went go get a smog test so I could pay all the back fees and it passed all the tests except for the last one. It was a Evap pressure test. It looks like there is a leak between the gas tank and the charcoal canister. The Smog guy said that it usually is a bad fuel filler neck and this is a common failure for older cars. Does anyone know of a common fail point to check first?
 
The next question is a bout the doors. I know that I have the common door lock timer fail as it locks itself  a lot even with the key in the ignition. My problem is that I cant unlock the rear passenger doors, I can see the pin try and move up and down when I try and lock and unlock but is feels stuck. Are you able to take to door Panel off with the door closed or do I need to get a slim jim to open it? 
 
I know that some of this may sound like I should just go out and try it myself; but the truck is about a 7 drive away from me so I have to try and remote diagnose problems first and then try them out. 
 
Thanks again everyone, any advice is welcome!
Check the small rubber hoses going to the evap canister and the lines going to the fuel pump and tank.

You can unplug the door lock timer because it'll try and apply power to the lock actuators if it is malfunctioning.

Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk

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