I have a 97 Z28 M-6 with a cat back and that's all. I have been deployed for the last year and just got home. I had the car on jackstands to save the tires/wheels. Other than checking the tires, what else should I do before starting it up?

 

If the gas has been sitting in there that long then I would drain the tank and put fresh fuel in, that's just me though. When I drained my tank after sitting about a year it had a dark brown tint to it

 

And thanks for serving

 

Just make sure you let it warm up good before you take off. This will allow all the lubricants to move around and let the moving parts get a nice coating.

 

Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. I was worried to start it after a year and wreck the engine before I ever moved it.

 

With it only being a year you shouldn't need to drain your fuel especially if the gas cap was never opened but i would add a can of seafoam to it so in case there was any particles in it the seafoam will clean it and clear it all out... But let it warm up to fan operating temp before you more it if at all possible should be idling probably for 5 minutes atleast before you move it just to let everything flow smoothly.. Check all your fluids first as well and make sure nothing is leaking mice tend to like to chew through lines of parked cars... So turn it on and make sure nothing it leaking and then take it out for a spin and recheck all your fuilds... and check your serp. belt for any type of dry rot..
Other than that if all checks good you should be good to go...

Thanks for your service!

 

First off thank you for serving. I have more respect for what you do than you know.

Make sure the battery is charged. There is NOTHING worse than being excited about starting a car and the damn battery is dead.

How much fuel was left in the tank?

As mentioned before check all the fluids before "go time". Pump the brakes and make sure they are good.

I would consider pulling the fuel pump fuse and unhook the coil and turn the engine over some before you start it. That way when it does start it will have oil pressure. The reason I say this is if you start it and it goes to a high idle it will take a few seconds to build oil pressure up. The added engine RPM's combined with the little amount of oil on the bearings could cause a problem.

Before you start it cycle the key several times to pressurize the fuel system to help with a quicker start.

When you do start it let it idle and don't rev it. I'm not saying you would but I have seen people start cold engines and rev the **** out of them. Let it run till it warms up, make sure the fans kick on and off like they should. Look under it frequently to see if anything has decided to start leaking.

Hope this helps. I'm sure you will have a smile on your face when it's sitting there idling.

 

another thing to check since it's on stands is that the brakes haven't siezed up. that happened to my car.