So I've got a Maxima(4th gen if it matters) that has been sitting for ~a year now. And am looking at getting her re-licensed/insured and DDing. She ran fine when I parked her, was probably half way to an oil change. And needing a finished o2 sim('99 cali spec, fed converted).

Looking for input on what I should do in preparation of starting her up?
What I should do in general lol?

 

I would say the first thing is the oil change, other then that make sure all the hoses, and wiring are in good shape (small animals chew), other then that what I would do is pull the fuel pump fuse, and crank it over a bit to get the oil where it's going to need to be, pop the fuse back in and just turn the key to on, wait for the fuel pump to stop running, turn off, turn back on till pump stops running (maybe check for leaks) then start up. Let run till warmed up a bit, shut off and check for oil leaks (might have a bit from main seals) let sit for a while so seals can absorb some fresh oil, be sure to check tranny fluid level, and your on your way.

just my thought and what I do when putting a car that has been sitting for a while.

 

oil, and radiator fluids. check the plugs, check the air filter
look the engine bay over for mice/rat/squirrell(!) chewings (wire and vacuum), those pesky suckers are vicious, esp over a fall/winter).

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

yeah definitely check for any rodents, i remember one guy parked his 3rd gen for a bit and got a hugeass mouse nest in the engine, as well as a coolant flush/oil change/filter change or recharge.

did you have the negative battery terminal disconnected during storage or no?

 

Radiator fluid was changed when I changed my radiator maybe 10k before it got parked. Still change it?

Oil for sure. Plugs; just check and see if it's time to change them?
Air filter, have a cattman cai in my closet w/aem dry filter, was planning on putting that on.
Will def look for any signs of rodents.
Battery no; but it was only about a year or so old before it was parked. Died froze, went bad, something. I found out because I needed to replace the one in my 5th gen, exchanged it. So I'll be buying a new one for it.

 

Just crank it...it's only been a year...

 

Seriously, car's don't feel time. The fuel and oil are just fine.
Put a new battery in it and turn the key.
The used Ford S'ploder I bought sat for almost 5 years before I drove it home with a jump box.

 

i'm not sure about the fuel being 'just fine' put some isoheet in it for saftey...change the oil, then start it up

 

cars do feel time, garage queens get lots more seal problems than cars that are daily driven

 

Mine sat for 4 years and the only thing i had to replace was the fuel pump. i didnt hear it click or prime when i turned the key; thats how i knew it needed to be replaced.

all the things everyone said. i would start it up, put in isoheet for sure, burn off the old gas and fill up with some premium. you wont know if anything is leaking unless you get some miles on her!

 

yeah, check 'em out. it's better to find out that they had a buildup of some kind BEFORE the buildup falls into the chamber, bounces around and scars the walls (really, not likely, but better safe than sorry)...


and ima disagree about the cars not feeling time, too. saw gas gel up on a fuel pump after sitting for a few years. ended up having to swap the gas tank and pump on it to get it to run.

had another car fire right up after sitting for a couple of years, but developed rod knock after 5 minutes of running, because we didn't change the oil.