Hey ya'll,
Just came back from a 6 month deployment. Before I left, the truck was running fine and my wife was driving it about once a month. The battery died two months in, and the truck has sat for 4 months now in the cold with about 1/8 tank of regular gas.

I replaced the battery, checked fluids (needs an oil change), and tried to start it. After 4-5 good cranks the engine finally started up. I let it run for about 10 seconds, then shut it down.

It ran very rough, with idle @ 1200 rpm, with some white smoke coming out of the exhaust.

I can't imagine any serious issues with the motor, and I'm thinking it's just running rough because it hasn't run in 4 months, but I don't want to cause further issues.

Any tips guys?

 

First thing I would do is get some fresh gas in it. The old gas probably has water in it. Put a fuel additive in it that dilutes the water.

 

I'm gonna top off the oil, add some Marvel Mystery Oil to the fuel tank, and add 5 gal of fresh gas to get it to the gas station. I'll get the oil change prob later this week.

Does the smoking sound normal on startup?

 

NO!! Not Marvel Mystery Oil - you need THIS:

 

What does this do? I just need something to make the 1/8 tank of gas that's in there usable to get it to the gas station. I also have a gas can to put some more in before I drive it.

 

Should have stored it with a full tank. The heat is alcohol it will make the condensation water burn.

 

If you read the label on the bottle, it says "Water Remover" and "Injector Cleaner".

If you only have 1/8 tank, I'd drop the tank, drain and flush it. If what little gas you have is 6 months old, it's waterlogged and stale and the injectors are probably varnished up too.

Get some fresh gas in there, put a couple bottles of that Iso-Heet in, and run it. When the tank is ready for another fill, change the fuel filter and put some Techron in the gas.

 

Sounds like it was only a couple of months the wife drove it. Do the heat thing add some fresh gas. It'll be fine.