dcohen

So my girlfriends stepdad has a pretty nice 5.0 that has been sitting in the garage for the past 4 years. He isn't able to work on the car and I was thinking about trying to get it going. I am familiar with cars and know some of the things that can happen when one sits that long without running. My plan was to check the oil and antifreeze to make sure they are ok, drain the old gas, put some fresh fuel in it, and see what happens.

I feel like the fuel system is going to be pretty gummed up. If it were a carbureted engine I would just pull the carb and rebuild it, but unfortunately it is not. I am not super familiar with fuel injection systems and what to look for in a situation like this. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

tinman

I would also completely change the brake fluid as moisture will build up in it.
Be ready to buy a new battery also.......

dcohen

Good call on the brake fluid. My biggest worry is actually getting it running. I am really hoping that the fuel system isn't completely gummed up.

mattdel

It shouldn't be gummed up at all. The beauty of fuel injection systems, is they have a return line. The lines, injectors, regulator, all of that stuff should be clean as a whistle. I'd be worried about the pump.

dcohen

What is the best way to drain the old fuel out? Is there a drain plug or will I need to drop the tank?

humansieve

no drain plug, sorry

mattdel

Head over to your local harbor freight store and pickup an electric siphon pump, that'll make the job lots easier. The tank is held up with 2 straps, 1 bolt per strap. After that, drop it down a few inches and disconnect your lines/electrical. With that done, the tank will have to be pushed towards the drivers side, as the filler neck enters on the side of the tank, and it goes in quite a bit.

dcohen

so just figured i would give you guys an update. I got a battery in the car today and got it charged up. It has about half a tank of fuel in it. The fuel pump was not gummed up and the oil and antifreeze looked fine. I decided to give it a go. It fired right up (surprised the hell out of me). It ran pretty rough, but that is to be expected with 4 year old gas. I am definitely going to get the old gas out of it.

BUT, the girlfriend was happy to hear it run again

Jfsram

All these threads about adding Stabil to winter stored cars. Ya, what a waste of money.
Your Mustang proves it.