Just wanted to get some of your thoughts on this.....I have had my 996 on jack-stands for the last 6 months. Turns out that I have been taking my time with new suspension mods and a third radiator kit (Thanks VividRacing.com). After a full year of racing in 2005, I also wanted to spend some time under the car checking everything and replacing this and that. I should be completed with everything soon and I wanted to know if any of you have any suggestions on how I should start up my car after its been sitting for so long? Should I just reconnect the battery and start her up or do you recommend something else??

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

I'd probably replace the oil and such if not already done.

BTW, what suspension did you go with and how easy/hard was the install.


Steve
2003 996

 

My only concern would be gasoline, unless you added a stabilizer 6 months ago.

 

Try to get it to turn over a few times before actually firing her up.
get the oil moving around a bit....(on the old cars you pull the wire on the coil) yes..if the gas is that old then you might want to pump it out...if your very low then you could just fill her up with a few cans and take her out for a long drive....

She will be happy to back on the road again......

 

Not good to leave it on jack stands that long. You can get corrosion on the shocks that'll compromise the seal. Too late now though!

If you didn't add gas stabilizer, definitely siphon out the old gas and replace it with some new stuff. If you did add some, and the tank is under a half a tank, I'd still throw some fresh gas in it. Changing the oil is also a must.

 

If you did not change the shocks, grease them up real good being sure to remove any surface rust before lowering car. This should protect seals from damage.

 

I 2nd Armondo's recommendation. Pull the DME relay, and crank the engine for about 10 seconds to get the oil pump to pump some oil to all the critical places and then start the car.

The last time I had my 993 on a jack stand for over 6 month I had all sort of probelm after them....... Valve cover leaks, A/C stopped working (All the freon leaked out from dry out seals, ended up had to replace the expansion valve, dryer...etc....)

But in your case, you don't need A/C as it is a track car...so....

but I would recommend anyone who is planning to leave a car parked for an extended period of time to at least started it once a month and run the A/C.

 

6 mos isn't that long. i wouldn't worry about a thing.check all the belt and hoses, look fo oil leak, inflat the tires and fire it up. fill up the gas and take it easy for the 1st tank.

 

I had a pretty serious problem with mine this spring, that was related to the car being parked. I take it off the road in the winter, and leave it covered in my garage. I was starting it every 3-4 weeks, and letting it warm up, during which time I would move it back and forth, run the a/c, roll the windows up and down, etc, just to keep everything moving in hopes of no dried out seals, and stuff like that.

Everything still works in my car (a/c, mirrors, windows, etc) but what did happen, even though I never started the car without letting it get to operating temp (over 180 degrees) before shutting it off, is that condensation got trapped in the oil bellows (I honestly don't even know what those are) and froze. This cracked the bellows and allowed oil into the engine where it wasn't supposed to be. I ended up with a car that wouldn't idle, and was FILLING my garage with white smoke come spring time. A quick call to my mechanic had my car on a flat bed. It turns out the engine was on the verge of hydrolocking (oil is NOT compressable) in cylinder #3.

So, they told me in the future just to park the car, put a trickle charger on it, and don't start it. Even though the temp guage comes up, apparently it is not possible to thoroughly warm this car up without driving it for a considerable amount of time.

Based on my experience, I do not recommend starting a car that is parked during cold (well below freezing) winter months. The condensation caused by the warming of cold things can do more harm than good.