Greetings all!

I'm purchasing an 09 SS with 70k miles from a family member, that's sat in a garage undriven for the last 5 years.

I've been going over checklists for what to do with vehicles that have sat, before attempting to turn them over, let alone drive.

I'm curious if there's anything I should be doing with the turbo itself, as far as lubrication or anything like that.

I'm looking forward to being an active part of this community, and learning as well.

Any input regarding the vehicle would be much appreciated, and I'm also happy to answer any questions as well.

Thanks!

 

Maybe do an oil change, replace gas if possible. I would take off the fuel pump fuse and attempt to start the car to prime everything before starting it. I might be missing some stuff but that should help

 

Yea, I'm not taking any chances with the gas, so I'll be replacing that.

I think I read the fuel filter is in the tank, Is that correct? I'll put a new one in when I'm in there. I'm guessing because the gas is old that I should drop the tank, and not do the fuel rail bypass method where I let the pump push all the old gas out?

 

Yeah filter is inside the pump non- serviceable to what I've heard

 

Like, you don't replace it when you drop the tank?

 

like you would need to replace the whole pump if you want to replace it. thats if my memory isn't failing me

 

Yeah the whole pump needs replaced for that.

 

Alright, car is now home. That was a night. Started about 7pm, finished at 3am. An extra set of hands would have helped immensely, ha.

- I put in a new battery
- Pulled the plugs, shot in some PB blaster
- Hand cranked the motor a little
- Dropped the fuel tank, emptied the 3/4 full tank.
- Changed oil & filter
- Pulled the tires 2 at a time and took them to reinflate.
- Got a flat tire in the truck on the way

Car started up easy, took about two minutes of idle for it to settle down. I didn't need to break the cylinders loose, they moved easy. Nothing looked nasty in the old gas, so I didn't bother scrubbing the tank or pulling the fuel pump (which means I didn't put in the fuel filter I bought, just in case). With the tires totally inflated, they didn't feel like they had flat spots. Car feels great to drive, however I only took it up to 50, and never punched it hard enough to build boost, just babied it.

However, in low gears there is an occasional clattery sound, which I believe is coming from the clutch/tranny. My guess is a bad pilot/throwout/input shaft bearing, which one not sure. The videos I've watched on bad throw out bearings seem to have a whirr that goes on and off dependent on if the clutch is pushed it. That's not the sound.

Here's a video that mimics the sound very well (if you click the link it will take you right there, can't get the embedded video to skip to the right time)


My guess is that a bearing after sitting unused for 5 years, the grease has gummed up, or just isn't spread around anymore. But that's only a guess. Any ideas from anyone? Also it did turn out the car has 95k miles on it.

Lastly, could I get some input on the spark plugs? I pulled them and took some pics. I'll post them in order from left to right.

#1 - looks consistent with what you see in the photo, a little gooey black carbon buildup on right side.

#2 - light brown on one side of insulator, gooey black carbon buildup on the left side.

#3 - looks the best to me.

#4 - like 2, it's brown on one side. But otherwise looks good. All plugs seem to have the gooey carbon buildup around the bottom of that last thread.




Thank you all!