So Im dumb and have let my car sit too long

konablue11gt

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I never thought Id let the car sit as long as it has but its going on 13 months since the car was started or driven. It has roughly 3/4 of a tank of gas . is it too far gone to carefully start up and drive say under 40 miles an hour? Its a 2011 gt with a Vortech V3 tuned by Ken B when he was with lund. Draining the gas looks to be a huge pita but if that's what I gotta do anyone have pointers?
 

Wes06

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I'd drain it. Disconnect the fuel filter, add an extension hose and shove it in some gas cans .get a tune from your tuner that leaves pump on 100% of the time when get is in acc position . It'll drain the gas in no time .

Also a good time to do an oil change and fuel filter once your done
 

stkjock

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my .02 - change the oil, fire it up, drive it any any speed you want, keep the RPMs below 3000 and use up the tank, fill it with fresh 93 and drive it like you stole it.
 

ILW84U

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I agree with STKJOCK but you could also add some octane booster to the old fuel for a little more protection.
 

skwerl

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As long as you don't have some hack tune that turns off the knock sensors, you have nothing to worry about. Drive it. The car's computer will automatically pull timing if it senses knock. So performance will be down but it will run fine and be 100% safe.
 

LarryJM

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I had a classic car I would let sit over the winter and it just white smoked a lot at startup until a fresh take of gas.
 

06JET

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Siphon what you can out if any, add some octane booster or some new 93 from some gas cans just don't fill it up (maybe 50/50 with the old gas), change the oil and filter then go on a easy road trip. Maybe for the next few tanks I would run some injector cleaner thru it.
 

Gabe

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There's no replaceable fuel filter on the '11+ 5.0 ..... I'd start it up and see how it runs, then let it idle for a good half hour, then simply drive the car. Even at moderate speeds these cars won't give you more than 150-175 miles out of 3/4 tank, so it shouldn't take long to run it out
 

406guy

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What do they use for a fuel filter?
Most modern cars just have a sock-type thing on the inlet of the fuel pump in the tank. No filter. Basically the pump just craps the bed sooner. This isn't a Ford thing...almost all 2010+ cars do this
 

s8v4o

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Just the one in the tank, that's it.
 

Gabe

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What do they use for a fuel filter?

Just the one in the tank.

The lines that would normally have the fuel filter mounted in-line are just lines, no filter:

20180513_fuel-lines-2.jpg




On my wife's '08 GT500, there's a filter there:

20180417_fuel-filter_68979mi-new.jpg
 

bujeezus

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That just doesn't make any sense. Mine is like your wife's car. Easy peasy.
 

Gabe

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That just doesn't make any sense. Mine is like your wife's car. Easy peasy.

Yeah I hate "lifetime" filters/fluids.
That's idiotic.
But it lets them advertise a lower maintenance cost for the car.
It's all about marketing and sales.
 

cavero

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If he had a fuel filter, why would he need a tune to run the pump? If you disconnected the fuel line and turned the key to the "ON" position, wouldn't the pump try to pressurize the line and drain the tank? Or does it shut off if it detects no pressure?
 

Wes06

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normally the pump will only prime for a few seconds.

On a full tank, having to key on/off is annoying and will take a while, Lito made me a tune that i just used to drain the tank, it turns the pump on and keeps it running. Or you could hotwire the pump to keep it constant
 

NUTCASE

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I've let cars sit before, and I have bought cars that were sitting before I found them. Like said above, see if it will start and run first, and if your tune isin't trash take it for a stroll around the block.

If it runs, even if it runs weak, top off the tank with fresh gas. Its counter intuitive, but a better strategy than burning 3/4 tank of old gas is to burn 1 whole tank of old gas diluted in fresh gas.

It might smoke a little. I have had cars that I bought smoke like a steam engine until they warmed up all the way on the old gas. If it idles, and you can walk it around the block, you can cut it with fresh gas.

and now you aren't stuck trying to dispose of 10+ gallons of gasoline.

Just don't rip on it until you have ran all the old gas out.
 
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konablue11gt

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Thanks guys yeah tunes not trash its a good one safe ect written by one of the best . I think i'll add a can of octane and start it and drive like a grandma we shall see lol
 

GLOCKer

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I picked up a 1998 Ford Explorer with the 5.0 for FREE that had been sitting for FOUR YEARS! I jumped it off my work truck to see if it was worth messing with and it roared to life with a 1/4 tank of four year old gas. Once I saw good oil pressure and that it was idling smoothly, I decided to drive it to check the transmission. The thing drove fine with the old gas in it!

I drove it home on the interstate (about 15 miles) and noticed the transmission seemed to smooth out after reaching a good operating temperature. As soon as I got a registration for it, I put a full tank of fresh gas in it with some fuel system cleaner, and had an oil change and coolant flush performed.

You should be fine but in the future consider using a fuel system stabilizer (like Sta-Bil) and keeping that thing on a battery tender.

Or just drive it and enjoy it so it doesn't have to sit for so long! :)
 

Pentalab

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Sta-bil is only good for 12 months max..and that's added to new gas. You can't add sta-bil to old gas..and expect to make good gas from it. With 13 month old gas..and 3/4 of a tank..... I'd top it up with 93 octane. Then you have at least diluted the old crap a bit. Then drive it, till you are down to 1/8 of a tank, then re-fill with more 93 gas.

With gas that's 2-3-4 years old, drain it, it's crap. All you end up doing is clogging up injectors etc. You can tell the difference between fresh gas..and old gas... just take a whiff of it with your nose. Old gas smells rancid.

If you ever plan on not using the car over the winter..or longer, add sta-bil at the same time as you last fill up.

On my 2010, it has a fuel filter..like gabe shows in his pix above. One day the car would gag whenever I tried to get into boost, even with just 1-2 psi. Turns out the 'sock' filter that goes over the bottom the oem fuel pump was completely clogged ! The sock filter is just like a fine mesh plastic filter. Bottom of tank on driver's side had all this misc crap floating at the bottom of the tank...and the bottom of the sock is sitting just a hair above the bottom of the tank. Once that was all cleaned up, eng ran fine.

Just a few weeks before the eng started gagging, the FPDC (fuel pump duty cycle) was sky high, like 94-96%. Installed the 10 gauge wire mod from battery post, through a fuse, then to trunk area. FPDC didn't drop at all, it got worse, went up to 98%. Then it stated the gagging one day ( only when above 0 on the boost gauge). When it gagged, FPDC was pegged....also the fuel rail pressure dropped down to just 5 psi.. ( from it's usual 40 psi). Once the sock was removed and cleaned..and re-installed, we had to prime the fuel pump by putting key to...'key on, eng off position' for a few secs..then repeat several times, till no more 'whirring' sound coming from fuel pump.

Ok, then everything was fine, FPDC dropped down to 38-40% at idle..and no more than 80% at 6.2 krpm. Fuel rail pressure stays put at 40 psi, whether at idle or 6.2 krpm. With key on..and eng off, the fuel rail pressure sits at 50 psi. Start eng, and rail pressure drops to 40 psi asap.

BTW, steeda's version of the fuel filter for the 05-10 cars is made of SS, designed to handle E-85. It also cost less than the oem filter. Never used one, but did come across it on their site years ago.
 
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