How Long Can A Car Sit Unused?

I do not thing you have much to concern yourself with other that perhaps needing a battery boost or a new battery at some point.

Tires will be fine. Fuel will be fine IMHO. Nothing that cannot be easily sorted when you get the vehicle running again.

If the storage area is subject to mice, rats, etc. there is always a chance that some wiring insulation may be eaten by these rodents. If so get as recommended above.
 
From my perspective the battery going dead is a minor issue at best. Solved by jumper cables and possibly a new battery afterward.
 
pb4uski said:
My experience and my neighbors and our small engine repair guy is the opposite. At his recommendation I use nothing but non-ethanol in all small engines (lawn mower, rototiller, golf cart, jet ski and outboards). The additional cost is minor compared to the cost of rebuilding a carb.
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This is a never-ending source of discussion over on the Snowblower forum. Every winter after the first snowfall in a given area there are a bunch of newbies who write "Last winter my snowblower ran fine and this year it won't start". Virtually without exception the problem is that after the last use they shoved it to a corner of the garage/shed and forgot about it, then complain about what a piece of junk it is because it won't run this year. There's nothing wrong with it that a little bit of preventive maintenance wouldn't have solved. Either drain the fuel system entirely (tank, fuel lines, carburetor bowl) which is what I do, or at least put some Stabil or other fuel preservative in the tank and run it for ten minutes or so. A fuel preservative is usually only good for one year and since here we may go several years with no snow that's why I drain the system instead.

If you can get it use non-ethanol fuel, or at least consider the canned variety for storage. Yeah it's expensive at ~$20/gallon but it's so worth not having to clean the carburetor or paying someone else to do it, or buying a new one and replacing it.
 
Walt34 said:
This is a never-ending source of discussion over on the Snowblower forum. Every winter after the first snowfall in a given area there are a bunch of newbies who write "Last winter my snowblower ran fine and this year it won't start". Virtually without exception the problem is that after the last use they shoved it to a corner of the garage/shed and forgot about it, then complain about what a piece of junk it is because it won't run this year. There's nothing wrong with it that a little bit of preventive maintenance wouldn't have solved. Either drain the fuel system entirely (tank, fuel lines, carburetor bowl) which is what I do, or at least put some Stabil or other fuel preservative in the tank and run it for ten minutes or so. A fuel preservative is usually only good for one year and since here we may go several years with no snow that's why I drain the system instead.

If you can get it use non-ethanol fuel, or at least consider the canned variety for storage. Yeah it's expensive at ~$20/gallon but it's so worth not having to clean the carburetor or paying someone else to do it, or buying a new one and replacing it.
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You reminded me, my snowblower is another small engine that I have in addition to the ones that I listed. It hasn't been used in 5 or more years since we became snowbirds but I set it up for use each fall before we leave for the season. Non-ethanol only. No staybil or anything like that. It has started each fall for over 5 years with just non-ethanol gas.
 
Yea... for a small engine going to get some non ethanol gas is a cheap way to go...

I do not have any small engines anymore... hire someone or use a battery tool...
 
Walt34 said:
This is a never-ending source of discussion over on the Snowblower forum. Every winter after the first snowfall in a given area there are a bunch of newbies who write "Last winter my snowblower ran fine and this year it won't start". Virtually without exception the problem is that after the last use they shoved it to a corner of the garage/shed and forgot about it, then complain about what a piece of junk it is because it won't run this year. There's nothing wrong with it that a little bit of preventive maintenance wouldn't have solved. Either drain the fuel system entirely (tank, fuel lines, carburetor bowl) which is what I do, or at least put some Stabil or other fuel preservative in the tank and run it for ten minutes or so. A fuel preservative is usually only good for one year and since here we may go several years with no snow that's why I drain the system instead.
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Slightly off-topic, but I use non-ethanol premium fuel for the small engines. When I can, I try to run them completely out of fuel on what I think will be the final use of the year.

I was happy that I estimated correctly and was able to run the lawnmower until it died last month. That MTD engine is almost 20 years old, but every spring, once I add new fuel, push the primer plunger 10 or 15 times, it always seems to start on the first (or once in a while second) pull of the cord.

Tomorrow I'll fill up the snowblower and fire it up for a minute or so. That one's a little more stubborn. (Craftsman) It has a 120V electric starter, and if I haven't started it in over 2 weeks, I have to push the primer 10 or 15 times and also plug it in so I can use the electric starter until it finally fires up.

One time I made the mistake of leaving the snowblower in my truck during a couple of weeks when we didn't get much snow. I brought it over to DMIL's house after w*rk one day, rolled it out of the truck, pushed the primer a handful of times, pulled the cord 30 or 40 times, but it wouldn't start. I gave up and tried to get it back into the truck, but I could not push it up the ramps without the engine running - So I was kind of stuck... Eventually I finally got it to start on about the 50th pull and a sore shoulder.

Lesson learned. Fire it up at home and let it run a while before I bring it to another location where an extension cord or outlet aren't easily available.
 
TheWizard said:
Crystalize, neato!
For the past few decades, I've left 10% ethanol gas in my lawnmower over the winter and my snowblower over the summer with no bad effects.
I must be living dangerously...
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Ethanol will absorb water from the atmosphere if left for several months. And ethanol eats at any plastic or rubber parts, seals and gaskets.
 
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I have 5 weekend fun cars that I keep on trickle chargers. They each get driven at least once every 2 weeks for about 9 months of the year. Over the winter, 2 or 3 of them may sit for a few months. They are under cover and out of the weather. I do add a little ethanol gas stabilizer to all of them as a preventive measure.
 
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Kept my wife's Infiniti in BIL's garage when we started traveling. Ended up outside the USA for almost 4 years when covid hit.

Steps I took:

1) Full tank of non-ethanol gas with a bottle of Sta-bil in the tank
2) Battery tender on the battery 24/7
3) Desiccant bags in interior (8) and (4) in trunk. Had a new box delivered from Amazon every year to replace with fresh.
4) Car cover tied down around the bottom to deter any critters.
5) Small compressor in trunk for tires if needed when we originally planned to return every 6 months or so.
6) Battery jump start that stayed charged in the house for if needed.

Once we knew we we're going to be completely out of country for an extended period he would pull it out once a year to get it inspected and keep the registration up to date. On those occasions he would drive it for the day and get it up to temp. Once we could travel back we would schedule a day to do this ourselves.

In almost four years it was driven maybe 150-175 miles total. Old 1940 era house with separate one car non-insulated basic structure.

Never failed to start. Never threw any codes, always passed emissions test no issue. No critters inside, no rats chewed on any wiring. Mice and rats were my biggest worry.

Did always smell musty when it was pulled out. Would take it to the nearest full service car wash and spend the money on a $50-60 full service and it was fine.

Only thing that had to be repaired was A/C compressor would no longer kick on. Valve went bad from non-use and seal dried out. About $300 repair.
 
OP update. Visited my sister last week, jump started her car, the battery was completely shot. To my surprise I didn’t notice flat spots on the tires, seemed to ride OK. It was dirty but no evidence insects or pests had taken over. So I had the car serviced, washed and put in a new battery. Offered to sell it for her, and she agreed it was time. Next day she said she wanted to give it to the home care girl that’s been with her an hour/day six days a week since May - worth about $18.7K per state. Fine by me, and the young lady was beside herself with the gift. At least I don’t have to worry about the car sitting anymore..,
 
Midpack said:
Next day she said she wanted to give it to the home care girl that’s been with her an hour/day six days a week since May - worth about $18.7K per state. Fine by me, and the young lady was beside herself with the gift. At least I don’t have to worry about the car sitting anymore..,
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What a great ending to the unused car saga.
 
As a mechanic plz do not just start the car for 10 minutes. Drive it for 30. Bring all aspects to operating temps to get rid of moisture in said all aspects. Battery tender if one can't do the previously stated
 
mcso said:
As a mechanic plz do not just start the car for 10 minutes. Drive it for 30. Bring all aspects to operating temps to get rid of moisture in said all aspects. Battery tender if one can't do the previously stated
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I like to add Lucas Oil treatment as well. Helps to keep all the lubrication from slowly dripping off the vulnerable surfaces in the engine.
 
Sunset said:
I've fairly regularly let my vehicles sit for 2 months before driving them again. Without doing anything special to allow them to sit.

Occasionally the brakes would rust in place on the calipers, (weirdly called "brakes are frozen"), but I would just drive off the rust. This didn't happen when the vehicle was stored in a garage.

Being so far away, there is not much you can do.
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I have gone as long as 6 months with my car garaged but not heated. Fill the tank full of quality fuel to reduce condensation and add a fuel stabilizer. Hook it up to a battery trickle charger/maintainer, makes sure is it washed and do a chassis undercarriage wash, put some mice poison blocks in the engine compartment and interior if you have mice. Make sure fluids are topped off and tires have proper inflation.

Before driving or starting after it sits, check the oil level and tire air pressure.
 
8.5 months while we were out of the country. Started first try and ran like usual. Indoor non heated storage, including winter temps of minus 20 to minus 40.
 
mcso said:
As a mechanic plz do not just start the car for 10 minutes. Drive it for 30. Bring all aspects to operating temps to get rid of moisture in said all aspects. Battery tender if one can't do the previously stated
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The dealer suggested same, so DW and I drove it for more than 30 minutes before putting it back in her garage. The young lady she gave it to is driving it daily now, so hopefully she’ll get trouble free service from it - it only has 29K miles on it. It’s replacing a very high mileage Hyundai Palisade with well over 100K miles.
 
I wouldn't recommend this: 2 months ago, we recovered a car that was off the road for about 10 years and in an unheated storage facility for the last 8 of those 10. After verifying the battery would not take a charge, not a big surprise at all, we jumped the battery and the car started. 10-year-old gas and all. My 20-year-old chain saw gets used maybe once every 2-4 years. I put it away with whatever gas was left in it when done. Never had an issue. I live where there is no ethanol free fuel for well over 30 years. Same with my mowers, and other small engines. I did drain and run dry my 6KW emergency generator.

I had a classic car that the battery disconnects from all circuits when the car was shut off. Common for cars with generators. I stored it over Winter in an unheated airplane hangar in November. I parked it, turned the key off and put on a car cover. That was all. In April, I simply removed the car cover and turned the key. It started right up.

These are my anecdotal stories and not what I would recommend to others to follow. But it is not guaranteed to be doom and gloom as some might suggest. YMMV
 
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