Recently my Grand Caravan was hit. Rather than fixing it, I've decided that if I can get my brother'* Bonneville outside our door running, I would use that.

So...

It has sat for over two years because my mother did not want to pay the insurance on it, I checked it out and the oil is black, coolant is gone (where?), and the battery is dead.

Today I picked up a new battery, coolant and a back flushing kit, oil, oil filter, fuel filter, and gasoline additives (I'd rather not drop the tank).

Is there anything else I might need? I'm going to try and get it running this weekend. Is there an easy way to drain the gas out of a '96 Bonneville?

Any vehicle that has sat that long and not driven or run is bound to be full of some issues. Some will show immediately, while others may show over time. It sounds like you have a good game plan so far. Any old fluids should be drained and replaced, including your fuel tank.

If you get the battery charged up, you can use the fuel pump to pump the tank out. Just crack the line before it enters the fuel filter and pump the fuel into a gas can for disposal. There will probably be heavy sedimentation at the bottom of the tank, and thats okay. You should plan on changing your filter a couple of times in the first few tank fulls after you get her running.

Sometime T-Stats will 'glue' themselves closed when sitting without being used. Seeing that you need to flush and replace your coolant, might as well put in a new T-Stat.

Check all your hoses and belts for brittleness or wear. Replace as needed.

Depending on where the vehicle was parked, you may have had some animals do some nesting or vehicle exploring. Mice and rats like to nibble on wires, so you may want to do a thorough check of the engine bay, and car belly looking for any damage.

Also check your tires. Tires can also become brittle and damage if sitting for long periods of time in one place. A tire that wont hold air is probably a good candidate for replacement.

Good luck and let us know how its going.

Purple said all that perfectly.

Just a question though; have you asked your brother if he knows of any known problems it had when he did drive it?

I hope and pray for you that the coolant being gone is just because of a leak and not something else that has gone wrong.

Whatever you find just let us know and we will be here to help.

So for the record it is a 1996 Bonneville...what model? LE SE SSE SSEi
How many Miles on it?

Also when you do get her up and running well...please be very careful when you drive it for the first time paying very close attention to the brakes. They may be very touchy being that it sat that long without use.

How badly is your caravan damaged?

Todd

It is an SE, and I haven't looked at the odometer yet...

Caravan would need the front right suspension to run... and the body looks terrible too.


I'll find out more this weekend

In addition to all fluids, you should change the plugs and air filter. Check the PCV valve, and clean the MAF. Be sure to check the brake fluid and power steering fluid.

I would change the oil, drain off the fuel (or give it a try) top off the coolant and check a couple plugs for any coolant wetness. If everything else looks passable, get it started.

Once it'* started and running, then I'd swap out all the plugs, wires etc. Only reason I say that is becauee with the coolant missing, it is possible being an NA motor and our not knowing why the car got parked to begin with that there are bigger motor issues.

What year is the car? 95+ and the above is possible.

So I got the battery in today, and was taking off the fuel line when it got dark... and cold.

There is half a tank in there, and the car only has 62,000 miles.

Also, on the engine side of the fuel filter, the line is pretty rusty, is there something I can do to break the nut without breaking the line? How would I go about repairing that?

You can try some penetrating oil.

So I started changing the thermostat last night, and there was coolant in the engine, I'm going to back
flush it anyway though...

What color is the coolant? If it'* pink in color, (Dex-cool) then make sure you only use Dex as your new coolant. If you use something else you will need to make sure you flush all the old coolant out. If you leave DEX in the cooling jacket and then add green coolant it will sludge up and turn black. Then you will have a problem and need to flush everything out.