Starting a 2008 Porsche Turbo that hasn't ran in 6 years

[ndtman]

A friend recently contacted me regarding her late husbands 2008 911 Turbo (997). It has not been started or ran in the last six years, and she would now like to get it ready to sell. It has always been stored in a climate controlled garage. She was wondering what should be done before attempting to start it. What first comes to mind would be to change the fluids (engine oil, antifreeze, brake fluid, etc), along with draining the fuel tank. However, perhaps the entire fuel system should be flushed first.
Any thoughts? Thanks.

Jerry

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

Hi Jerry - take a look at the thread below to some suggestions. Other members will likely chime in as well.

Starting a 911 that has been sitting

[911 Rod]

I would only be concerned about the fuel.
How full is the tank?

[evilfij]

I would be most worried about bore scoring from sitting. I would fog the cylinders (replace plugs because you are in there). Change the oil too. New battery. Spin it over by hand for a minute or two. As far as the fuel, if it smells bad, it is bad, but if it smells ok, I would try starting it with the old gas and top up with fresh. If it is suspect, you can drain and then blow out the lines (not sure how to do it on a 997.1 turbo, but it should be self explanatory). The rest of the stuff I don’t see as mission critical to start, but I would do a full service before driving (brake fluid, coolant, steering fluid etc.). Probably needs little stuff like key fob batteries too.

[ndtman]

Thanks for all the good input. I haven't seen the car yet, so I don't know how full the tank is. And yes, smelling the gas would tell you a lot about it's condition - especially once you've smelled bad gas!

[Dodge Man]

The tank may need to be removed and fuel lines flushed. Modern gas with ethanol sucks up moisture like brake fluid. I use MMO(Marvel Mystery Oil) thru the plug holes to lube and free up the rings. In moderation of course with a hand wrench engine turn. Just old school. Best of Luck.

[da Vinci Dan]

Bleed the brakes and or replace all that fluid. Make sure they are in good working order before the first drive.

[spyerx]

that's a Mezger motor 997 GT engine car. if it were mine I'd have it towed to a shop that knows these cars. All fluids, and plugs changed, and likely remove the fuel tank. The pump is in the tank on these. these are very robust cars, but you don't want to do something that will cause an issue as the engines are also extremely expensive to repair. The fuel lines are solid to the back, likely OK but need to be flushed. Also check the power steering fluid, the seals can leak and you do not want the seals at the pump leaking on the exhaust as pentosin is highly flammable. You'll also want to have the car looked closely over for any rodent damage, especially engine harness wiring. Eyeball brake pistons make sure no corrosion (should be fine), and replace the tires.The GT1 engines also have an issue with coolant pipes at the engine. If the car is low miles likely no issues, but, have the shop inspect all the fittings to ensure none are leaking. These are 7 or 8 of them on the turbos and 2 plastic ones on the engine oil cooler that can all leak and blow.

[911 Rod]

^^ This. Spend a grand and do it right.

[RarlyL8]

Do you know if the battery was on a trickle charger during hibernation?
If not that will be the first problem to address. The electronics in these cars are rather complicated and the computers do not like losing power. As suggested, it is worth every penny to have an experienced shop go through every system before firing after sitting this long.