Post-Sit Maintence + Long Road Trip
 

Due to unfortunate scenarios involving being unemployed after graduating college for 4 months my poor Blazer has been forced to sit in my parents driveway for 4 months with no movement. I just couldn't afford the gas. Now I finally have taken an offer, however this is where things get difficult for the Blazer, the location is almost 2,000 miles away from home. I am currently undergoing training in Memphis and will return to my home state of Michigan in order to get my things together for the drive to Phoenix Arizona. Did I mention I have a mater of 9 days to get packed and drive the whole trip? The way I see it, it's going to be at least a 5-7 day drive as I plan to take a very scenic trip down route 66. This means I got two days to fix the Blazer up and make her road worthy after sitting for by then 5 months. What do I need to do to make her road worthy? Keep in mind I will only be in Michigan for 2 days which happen to be on a weekend meaning no shops are open.

TL;DR: 2 days to prep car that has sat for 5 months for long road trip, what needs to be done?

Known Problems before the sit began:
I know it developed a slow oil leak that needs to be fixed, but I have no idea how to.
Battery dies, however it takes a few days of sitting for it to drain. (I think I found the issue but was not able to test it)

The Blazer has gotten me to and from college through blizzards as well as up and down the UP's vast trails. I hope I can get the chance to have new adventures with it in the deserts of Arizona. Any help and advice for this trip will be greatly appreciated.

My 2002 Blazer was put in a garage at 105,000 miles and left there completely undisturbed for around 5 years. The door seals were welded together (ripped off when I opened the doors), the tires were flat spotted, the battery was dead and the fuel was bad. Overinflated the tires, put in a new battery, pumped the old gasoline out and poured new in, changed the oil and went to the tire store for a new set. Now the truck is at 205,000 and doing well.

George

I would change the oil and filter, check the air filter (probably change it too), check the tires including the spare, throw multimeter across the battery to verify the alternator works, carefully inspect the serpentine belt, check all the fluids and add fuel injector cleaner to a tank of fresh gas. Drive it around town for a day. Wash it and load it up for your trip.

When I drove my Blazer for nearly 4000 miles in 12 days I had tools, gallon of water antifreeze mixed, 5 qts of oil and an old serpentine belt. Also zip ties.

Take your time and calculate your gas mileage so you notice a change before it drops you on the side of the road.

In addition to what the others suggested, when you first crank it over and start it, watch the oil pressure and make sure it comes up. Then while you are driving, watch the oil pressure gauge because if it suddenly drops, you must stop immediately as oil pressure is not measure of oil quantity and when it drops you have none left. Bring at least 5 quarts of oil just in case. Also bring some tools and extra coolant and water. The only case of an oil leak close to catastrophic happened to me when the o-ring for the adapter between the oil lines and the engine block failed. I would lose a stream of oil but not all at once.

I like and endorse all the suggestions you have gotten. Be sure to get a electronic scan of the engine. I especially like the spare parts and quarts of oil and even a oil filter. In addition to a serp. belt, be sure you have the tools needed to change it. Don't forget some funnels for the fluid fills. You know the coolant manuf.s have come up with a 50/50 mix, so that may be a good choice to take. Check the oil at each and every stop due to the oil leak. An accurate tire pressure gauge would be good to have. HFT has a good easy to read round dial one that is easy to read. On the trip , keep a sharp eye on those dash gauges to avoid a breakdown. Rain-X on the windshield and lights. Good luck on the trip. Jim

Five months is nothing. Seriously. :) Once my dad decided to empty his garage and gave me his Chevrolet (here Opel) Astra. Through eight years (or maybe even ten) of her stay in garage he's just been occasionally charging the battery.
I took her on 2 miles ride to my house on nearly flat tires. Yeah, tires had to be changed. LOL. I drove carefully first few hundreds kilometers. Asked about the timing chain, he said it was replaced right before he garaged her. She's been serving me for about last 6 years for now.

Another story is my Blazer's engine. A guy bought the ride from Austria. Since he had some initial problems with his Blazer he left it under the tree for four years. Eventually decided to turn it into a parts and sell. I took the engine as I've lost mine that time (RIP oil pump). I've changed filters + LIM gaskets. Drove carefully first 1k kilometers and the engine is awesome condition. Love it.

Cars just don't fall apart suddenly. Oil pumps do. But You can't fix them on the road. Praise the rosary and have faith :)

Thing I'd do is to drive a bit these two days to find out if anything new comes in.

Update
 

Well, got news from home that they got a new battery and the car will not start. My father says it almost starts, but doesn't get close enough. I'm currently 600 some miles away from the car and don't plan to fly home till Friday at which point I'll have the weekend to fix this and any other issues that come up plus pack for the next move and all that. The last time it did this I pressed down the gas peddle a bit and it fired right up. I know last time I let it sit it seemed to take about 50 miles for the RPM to finally settle back to the correct values again.

Any suggestions for where to start keeping in mind I am not very mechanically inclined. I was gonna start with cleaning the air intake system as it has sat outside for a while and go from there as this would explain why last time I had to push on the peddle a bit. My other idea was maybe stale gas? No idea how to siphon the tank though.

Thanks for any help.

You can pump out the old gas by putting a fitting and hose on the fuel rail Schrader on the top of the engine, jumper the fuel pump relay and pump the fuel into a gas can(s).

George