Buying a van that has been sitting for years?

[Naio]

I've been searching and searching, but it's hard to find a van with the specs I want.

I just talked to a guy who is selling one. The catch is, he inherited it, and it has not been driven since his relative's death in 2012...and not much before that. Low miles! One owner. Garaged.

I'm going to check in out, probably tomorrow. I can look into the issues of expired tags, insurance, etc. But what should I be concerned about, mechanically? Is it bad to even start it up without siphoning out the presumably antique gas that's in it? Someone else already has, drove it 3 miles, the seller says.

I spent $1500 on my current van after a bad tank of gas last year. Cleaning injectors, new fuel pump, etc. Am I looking at those, at least? What else?

Thanks, youse guys, for any advice :).

[MEXICOWANDERER]

With the Spirit I gave it an overdose of monitoring and discovered the fan thermostat to be inoperative. Yeah loosen that gunk in the tank all-at-once and plug the in-tank fuel pump. That'd get you off to a good start.

I did nothing but monitor instead of causing unneeded misery. If it looks good, runs good and passes the toughest emissions test in the nation save your money.

[Dave_H_M]

Too late for Stabil. Give it an overdose of Seafoam.

[Kayteg1]

The lack of condensation in CA is having its exceptions like everything else.
When I bought 40 years old car that was park its whole life under the tree and bare metal on suspension barely had any corrosion "patina" - I have seen San Francisco balconies where 1/4" thick steel on balcony railing turned into dust.
Good news is that Ocean salty breeze is having short range.
Don't think anybody made statistics, but doesn't seem to affect farther than 1/4 mile.
Same story with Florida cars, that usually are corrosion free, till you buy from a guy who has house on the beach.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Heard all the BS before I bought my toad. Laughed in USA laughed Harder in Mexico got the giggles in Guatemala which carried me into Honduras and Nicaragua. Someone forgot to tell the car all these horror stories.

[Naio]

Well, this van is back on my radar. Seems it IS the model I want, after all. Not a knowledgeable seller :).

Yes, it's in a warm climate. But why does that mean condensation is not an issue? Dews are heavy here, most evenings.

It's been test driven by a few people, so the chance for fancy tricks on first start up is over.

I can see it tomorrow, sounds like...

[John_Joey]

Now that we're telling stories, I'll add another.

A fellow snowbird just traded in his DW's Jeep Wrangler for a brand new one because of low oil pressure. He told me the worst thing a person can do is leave a car sit for six months while they were down south for the winter. Coming from boarder country I told him we do that all the time, plus people store their MH's all winter with no problems at all. This fellow is a very smart guy so his statement bothered me for a long time.

It finally occurred to me that maybe his problem is where he lived which was Kentucky. His area has a lot of freeze/thaw cycles over the winter which I'm betting generated condensation in the engine block. Since he did the right thing by changing the oil in the fall, he would just start the Jeep up after coming back home to Kentucky. That condensation I think helped wear out the main rod bearings causing the low oil pressure. When I asked him about it he said "yes the oil was a little creamy at first, but went away quickly."

He now changes his oil prior to startup, only time will tell if that was the real problem or not.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I purchased my toad the Spirit in 2008. It has been sitting enclosed for six years. 13,000 miles. Had the factory Goodyear tires. CV joints water pump and timing belt yadda shocks yadda have been replaced. Now it has 93,000 miles. Not bad for a 600 dollar purchase. Still is well within smog limits and gets 25 mpg. It got whacked pretty hard in the bum by a cops and carjacker Corvette - that's why I got it so cheap. My next ride's gonna have a harp or a pitchfork instead of cruise control. Nothing wrong with fiddling with low mileage Rip Van Winkle specials. Better than dealing with somthing so worn out the pistons change holes.

[Kayteg1]

Just to add my experience. Years ago I bought 1969 Ford LTD from my neighbor (for $1) .
At 170k the car died on freeway and they park it under pine for 6 or 7 years before I come with the offer.
I replaced fuel pump, what was likely source of main problem, cleaned the "sock" in the tank, replaced starter that died on long cranking and replaced filter that was build-into carburetor.
Even I cleaned the tank, the finger-sized filter was clogging every few miles for next 200 miles.
I remember replacing like 8 of them before I could drive the car across the county without stalling.
With this experience I would steam clean the tank and install prefilter, but with FI that can turn almost impossible.

[Naio]

Thank you so much, everybody!

Things being what they are, it turned out that the seller was confused about what model van he had and it won't work for me after all. But I have learned a bunch from this thread and am grateful to you :).

[John_Joey]

Naio wrote:

I would not start it on gas sitting over 4 years in tank. You can easy buy a small tank from lawnmower and run new hose to fuel system with fresh gas.
Old tank fuel strainer is very likely clogged with goo.

I am not sure how to do this. Would the fuel lines have the same fittings or would I need an adapter?

Since this is fuel injected and the fuel pump is most likely in the gas tank, this trick will not work.

Naio wrote:
Would it help to dump a jug of stabil in after the fact?

Way too late for stabil. Now with ethanol fuel you only get a few months before it degrades.

Some would say use Seafoam to dissolve the gum, others will say if you do that then be prepared for problems when the chunks start to go thru the lines.

Starting a car that has sat for that long with the new gas we use still is not an exact science. Also the location of the stored vehicle plays a big part in the problems you will or will not have.

Wish I could help more, but without being there to see stuff it's pretty hard to do.

I'll add just one more thing. This seller could have dragged it into a dealer for a trade in. The dealers mechanics could have then gotten it running (least amount of time/money spent) and then turn around and put it out on the lot for top dollar due to the low mileage without any disclosures about the past history.

At least you're not running that risk.

[Kayteg1]

Since the engine was already started on old fuel, I would just add 5 gallons of fresh stuff to get it home.
You can expect that old gas did varnish on tank strainer and beside replacing fuel filter you might have to pull the tank pickup and clean it.
Have couple of fuel filters handy.
Once you get it home, you can run Seafoam in the tank before taking it for longer drive.
You are not saying how far you have to take it, but be prepared for annoying fuel starvation.

[Naio]

Would it help to dump a jug of stabil in after the fact?

[Naio]

Thank you, folks!

Addressing some of the things you brought up:

The van has fuel injection.

What does old paint thinner smell like? I know what new smells like, maybe...

The van HAS been started, and it was driven 3 miles. Not sure if this is bad or good, but it's too late to do special stuff for the first start.

Should I try to do something about the old gas in it before I test drive it? If so, what?

Kayteg1 wrote:

I would not start it on gas sitting over 4 years in tank. You can easy buy a small tank from lawnmower and run new hose to fuel system with fresh gas.
Old tank fuel strainer is very likely clogged with goo.

I am not sure how to do this. Would the fuel lines have the same fittings or would I need an adapter?

[cjoseph]

Is it in California?

If the van checks out OK, check with the DMV or before purchase. California and some of other states keep the tags with the vehicle for life.

If the fees have not been paid, the seller may have to fork that over first. It may have to have a smog test before the seller can sell? Now, if you are going out and buying it with a clear title, you may have no problem getting it titled and registered in your name back home. This can also help you in price negotiation. If the van is in California, any local buyer will use that against the owner. An out of state buyer with the ability to get it out of there would be a dream if the fees are too high.

Maybe someone on here can help you out with details. If you are taking it to another state to register, that may be OK. I know someone who bought a car that sat for a while in California and remember there were issues. Too long ago to remember details.