panamera125

As you can see from my signature, my parents own a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee, bought new by them in January 1995 (they've now given it to me). Being a Jeep, it's had many, many reliability issues, and being as we live in the salt belt, the shocks, control arms and some other suspension parts have become very rusted, but the body itself is in okay condition. We let it sit for about a year, and finally took it to a mechanic, hoping to get it running for the winter, but it turned out that it was unsafe to drive because of the rusted out suspension components. Now, that's not too hard of a fix, but on a car that's only worth about $1000, doing any repairs really challenges the value of doing it at all. Long story short, the Jeep is going to sit in a garage away from where we live, and I'm going to fix/play around it in the coming summer. But, my question is, how do I keep it in running condition while still storing it for about nine months? I can definitely start it up maybe once or twice a month, but that's about it. It's running now (hasn't been running for a year) and I don't want to have to take it back to a mechanic to get it started again, like I did this time. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

fyi; there are great guides at storing cars if you search google.com

where as here; you might get bits and pieces of information as people tend to chime in.


i'll start it off by saying store the car with little to no gas! or use a fuel stabilizer.
just go to google and type in; How to store car.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

How To Prep Your Car for Long-Term Storage

How to Store a Car: 15 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

Storing Your Vehicle for Long Periods of Time - How To Guides at DMV.org: The DMV Made Simple

AutoTraderClassics.com - Article How To Store Your Car for Winter

How does one store a car for a long period of time

http://www.unclebobs.com/downloads/h...or-storage.pdf

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

reading those articles will be better than us chiming in.

panamera125

Thanks for looking those up... I've seen most of them, just thought I'd see if anyone had any thoughts to my particular situation.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

well, what did you mechanic say what was wrong with it in the first place?
figure that out, and you'll figure out how not to do it again.

I'm betting the fuel fouled/gummed

panamera125

Yes, the fuel was very sludge-y, that's the first thing, and I'm definitely putting fuel stabilizer in.

I know that it helps to have fresh oil in the engine, but the screw is stripped, and it needs a new oil pan...Something I'm probably going to do after storing it. Anyway, can't get new oil into it.

Lastly, it's hard to know whether I should be driving it. Some articles say don't, others say it's helpful...

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

it needs to be driven. not start up and idle'd

if you cant drive it; i would store it with little no gas in it.
disconnect the battery/you might have to buy new battery on arrival/initial start up.

have air compressor for tires on arrival.


on arrival; cross fingers and pray that it starts up.

if it doesnt start up; trouble shoot.
1. power
2. fuel
3. air

TacoBello

It sounds like saving that Jeep might be more trouble than it's worth. Working on severely rusted suspension is as fun as putting your hands into a wood chipper. It can be the worst thing ever and at times you're forced to use a saw of some sort to start cutting shit apart because it won't separate. You strip bolt heads, you snap bolts, you have to re thread connections, so on and son. Doesn't matter how much rust penetrating stuff you use either. Since yours is at the point of being unsafe for driving, I'd honestly cut my losses and move on. You're in for a lot of work!

Beyond the sentimental value, like you stated, the car is pretty much worthless. Sounds like you'd easily have to put a lot of money into it, and even with that, you're not necessarily raising the vehicle's value.

And if the suspension is rusted to shit, I'd imagine your brakes are in the same boat. Might be time to send that Jeep out to pasture...

panamera125

Okay, thanks justnspace. Seems like this car is unending trouble! Unfortunately I can't drive it because it is not inspected or registered, but it'll be stored where there is a very small parking lot I can drive on... Probably won't be enough.

panamera125

Yeah, I considered all of that, it took a long time to make a decision. Yes, the brakes are very rusted. Honestly, I'm only doing it to learn about the car itself, and just maybe I'll get it back on the road again, kind of a summer project. It's certainly not a good financial decision!

TacoBello

If it has to be inspected in order to be put on the road, chances are they will scrutinize the shit out of the car, so you may be in for some unwanted surprises. Actually, I'm not sure if it's possible, but it would almost be worth getting an inspection on it NOW to see what everything you'd have to consider replacing/fixing to get it safe again. You might be in for a nasty surprise!

It can be a good learning experience, but dealing with rust can easily turn a person off. It just plain sucks and can turn a normal 1hr job into a several hour job with lots of cursing and beat up hands, lol. Ask me how I know

panamera125

Yeah, my mechanic tried to talk me out of it... I have pics of the underside, it doesn't look too bad to me, and if I soak the nuts/bolts/screws with penetrating oil, it probably won't be too bad. But what do I know!

Unfortunately it's not really possible to get it inspected now. Here are some pics of the rust, any thoughts? (too late to change my mind now though, the Jeep's all set to be garaged this coming Monday, I've just got to get it all set for storage )

As you can see, the shocks are in bad need of replacement, but I didn't think that the unibody itself looked too bad.

TacoBello

Hard to tell, but yeah, those shocks are toast. It'd be interesting to see what it looks like behind the wheels. That's where the headaches usually are. Good luck, my man, I'm sincerely interested to see how this all works out for you! If you do get it all up to par, god damn, I'd be impressed

PortlandRL

I've never seen shocks like that.

Aman

That doesn't look too terrible, beyond the shocks. Those trucks are great. Simple, and with the 4.0 straight six damn near bulletproof.

If you do plan on working on it yourself though, you'll need a damn good set of jack/jack stands. And unless you plan on moving south anytime soon, working on rusted fasteners will just become part of life. Might as well get used to it now.

The control arms don't look that bad to me. You could probably sand them down and repaint them. Or get a good set from a local junkyard for cheap. All depends on how deep you want to go with it.

panamera125

Yes, I was planning on hunting around junkyards for parts. All "part" of the fun!

Glad to see someone appreciating these old Jeeps! Everyone is spoiled these days, as even a basic new Civic or Corolla is a truly luxurious car by standards set just a few years back, and nobody wants a gas guzzling Jeep. Thus, Grand Cherokees have almost no value. Selling the car to a driver is about the same as selling it to a junkyard, unfortunately. But the straight 6 is great, has seen plenty of stretched oil changes over its life but still runs very smoothly. I don't believe its time has come, it just needs some work.