Running a car after 3 years

[supra legend]

My car has been sat for 2-3 years gathering dust and I want to get it back on the road. What should I be changing and checking before I take it for MOT?

Thanks

[ZOLLAR]

Make sure ther are no wasps in the engine bay

[Eggman]

Change the fluids, or as many of them as you can be bothered to. This would be my order of priority: brake fluid, engine oil, coolant, gearbox, diffs. I'd probably have a look at the last two and form a judgement about them; the others would be getting changed whatever happened.

Check anything else that's safety related, covered by the MOT or that you would be bothered by if it didn't work. As a minimum I would jack up each corner and give the wheels a spin to check for roughness in bearings, that the brakes aren't seized and that the tyres aren't perished or out of round. I'd run through some pre-MOT checks (wipers, lights) if taking the car for a re-test was going to be a pain, but if it was round the corner I'd let the MOT man do them. You don't buy a dog and bark yourself

[supra legend]

Zollar, no wasps just some bloody big spiders

Eggman, thanks I have got most of the fluids needed and will be replacing them all. The brakes I am hoping are ok, I have started the car a few times and moved it to free them up.

What about turbo's? could there be any problems with the car being sat so long?

I am assuming it would be an idea to replace fuel and oil filters?


Sorry for the the questions but I am not the mechanical type and this is going to be a learning curve for me.

Ta

[CraigyMc]

supra legend said:

Zollar, no wasps just some bloody big spiders

Eggman, thanks I have got most of the fluids needed and will be replacing them all. The brakes I am hoping are ok, I have started the car a few times and moved it to free them up.

What about turbo's? could there be any problems with the car being sat so long?

I am assuming it would be an idea to replace fuel and oil filters?


Sorry for the the questions but I am not the mechanical type and this is going to be a learning curve for me.

Ta

Have a look at anything rubber for perishing - for example, the steering rack gaitors. A common fail. This applies also to the turbo pipework, if it's rubber.

Petrol denatures with time - it hasn't got a sell-by date but it doesn't remain the same as when it was bought either. I'd think about at least putting new petrol in, or if it's a tank full of old, I'd be thinking about taking that out. It'll probably be fine, but I'm just like that!

C

[//j17]

supra legend said:

The brakes I am hoping are ok

I'd suggest that brakes are one of those things you SHOULDN'T leave to hope!

Actually it depends what you are referring to - brake fluid you SHOULD change (it's meant to be changed every 2-3 years regardless of use). Assuming the brakes are working you can probably skip a pad change - the MOT will soon tell you if you have any problems.

[Eggman]

supra legend said:

What about turbo's? could there be any problems with the car being sat so long?

I am assuming it would be an idea to replace fuel and oil filters?

I can't see why the turbo should be a particular problem once you've got some nice clean oil in the engine. Let everything warm up a bit before you start ragging it and you should be fine. You'll soon see if things are not as they should be

I'd replace the oil filter with the oil - daft not to, really, and they sometimes go a bit rusty with age.

Fuel filter? Hmmm - only if it's an easy one to get at. It would depend how keen I was feeling that day.