Tempo sat in parking lot for 6 mos.....

[FordPimpo]

Hello. So I have an early 90's Ford Tempo and early this past summer it died at my job. I decided that I would forget about it seeing as how I could not afford another $500 repair. But recently, I decided to take it to a shop and see what was wrong. They flipped the inertia switch and it started right up.

Well, that's great, but I need to drive the car about 1000 miles in December and I was simply wondering what if anything I should do or have done to the car since it was sitting for 6 months. Should I get any of the fluids flushed or anything like that? THANKS A LOT

(ps, I don't really know a whole hell of a lot about cars)

[denisond3]

You should get the brakes bled, but that should be done annually anyway, and change the motor oil unless its pretty clean. Also ensure the CV-joint boots are not split. If so, they should be replaced before your long drive. Check your transmission fluid. I would either put a couple of hundred miles on it before your long drive, or I would make sure the ignition system was nice and dry, with no water trapped under caps anywhere. You would want to check the air in all tires, including the spare, and that the battery connections are not covered in crusty coatings. Being a Ford I would recommend you put a few drops on oil onto the ignition key and put it into the ign. switch - then leave it in there for ten minutes. If you do this to all of the door and trunk locks, it cant hurt.
Check that all of your lights still work - sockets may be corroded.
And the wiper blades may have died during the summer.
We live in south TX in the winters, in N. Va in the summers. In both locations we have two cars (one for me, another for the wife) that sit for 6 months unused (and outside on gravel), then are used everyday for the next six months. Other than adding air to the tires, and having wiper blades go streaky - we just start them up and drive them. We have been doing this for several years, and the cars were far from new when we started doing it.

[knelleken]

F#@! that last guy. just check the oil level, trans fluid, etc. add fluid as needed. make sure that the brakes work, so you can stop. check tires for exposed steel belting, or pack the trunk full of doughnut spare's.

[TENGRAM]

6 months isn't that long. i would change the oil, check tranny fluid level (if its an automatic), and add air to the tires as needed. they also sell stuff at the autoparts store to help ge any excess mooisture out of the gasoline. drive it and see how it does. could be that the tires have flat spots, since it sat so long, and may need to be replaced. any other potential problems that you notice you should post up about them here. good luck, enjoy the ride, and ALWAYS check the inertia switch first when the car cranks but doesn't start!