Starting a '86 Camry that has been sitting

[The Jackal 21]

I've recently been trying to start my mom's old 86 Camry LE automatic that has been sitting in the back yard/driveway for about 5 years. [Either to sell or drive until I get another car to drive] Before we moved it had been sitting in our garage at our old house for about the same amount of time, but my dad was able to start it and drive to our new house [a mile or two] with just a simple oil change and the such. I haven't had a fully charged battery to try starting it with, we've just been jumping it with a old one that holds a small amount of charge. We added gas and it will crank, and turn over, but never starts. It will only turn over about the first 3 tries, then it won't do it anymore. After that the starter will crank it but with no results. The other day when we were jumping it, it had started for about 3-5 seconds and then it died. Its a very odd proablem since it will only produce results the first few times you try and start it. We also tried putting a fine working battery in it with no results. Any ideas......

By the way, it burns oil last time it ran, and I also noticed a small antifreeze/coolant leak on the front of the block. It seems to becoming out of that plastic intake/outake router thing which's name I don't remember. My dad's had a small crack on his VW and I'm thinking thats the same proablem on mine.

[don24mac]

If the gas in the tank has been sitting for five years, then that's probably one of the main problems. You should syphon all the gas out of the tank and replace it with fresh gas and see what happens. But, with old gas it's possible that the filter and injectors are clogged with fuel residue.

If you can get it started with fresh gas, then run some good fuel system cleaner through it, maybe a few times (tankfuls). If you still can't get it started with fresh gas in the tank, it's probably time to start cleaning or replacing the injectors, replacing the fuel filter, and things like that.

Also, check/replace the spark plugs. Old gas will foul them up, too.

[The Jackal 21]

Alright man, thanks, I'll check that out.

[The Jackal 21]

I haven't gotten the gas changed yet, but I tried new spark plugs, and that hasn't done anything. On to the gas tank we go....