My brother in law is heading off to the marines and has a 2001 Xterra that's been sitting for about 4 or 5 years. It needs a little body work and a couple new tires, but other than that, it supposedly ran fine. It has about 71,000 miles on it. Other than putting fresh gas and a new battery in it, what kind of repairs/maintenance do I need to get it running, due to the time sitting,? Relace all fluids? Change all belts, etc? I don't even know where to start until I try to turn it over. To work on it, I'm going to need to get it towed to my house first. I'm not sure I want to undertake this if it's gonna be too much $$$. Any suggestions?

You are on the right track, but if you dont feel up to the task just let me know where it is and I will take ot off your hands for a small fee.

i think once you get the new batt and you start it up it will tell you if it nedds anyhting, probably just some needed attention is all, the thing is probably lonley

I would change the fluids - PS and Brake, too, if it's been sitting that long. Expect many rubber parts to deteriorate/dry rot, too, so check the brake system real well before you take it on the open road or anything.

The AC system may be compromised - they should be run every few months as there is lubricant inside the cooling loop that needs to be circulated, but this will not make it undrivable or anything...

Good luck, sounds like it's going to a good home.

The belts will probably be fine but definitely look them over for signs of cracking.

I would pick up a new fuel-filter (about $15 IIRC) just for safe measure.

Aside from what the others have mentioned, with a good battery, it (theoretically) should fire up.

Tires would be suspect too.

Also, depending on where you live you could have a family of squirrels living in the intake or the muffler. They like to move in there, build little houses, have wild parties and go all secret of nymh and shit...never trust a squirrel that lives in your muffler, I always say.

never trust a squirrel that lives in your muffler, I always say.

Haha!

Hah! I helped a buddy bring an old Cherokee Chief back to life. When we pulled it out of his barn and popped the hood, three rats ran out of the engine bay. We pulled a bunch of hay and crap out of there, changed the plugs, wires, battery, fluids and filters and got it fired up. Drove it around for a few hours. Came back to check for leaks. Popped the hood and TWO MORE RATS ran out of the engine bay.

I had a family of SEVEN mice living in the blower motor/ducting of my old car after just a couple months of sitting outside.

Well, it's on a tow truck, on it's way to my house. I had to put a couple of used rear tires on it ($60) so we could get it on the flatbed without damaging the rims. $100 for the tow so I'm into it for $160 so far. Alot of ants roaches and spiders. Looked under the hood briefly and wasps came flying out so I need to kill those first thing. No squirrels rats or mice...yet.
My next step is to drop the fuel tank and drain out old fuel. Anyone got any pointers on that? I thought about having it pumped out but figured there may be alot of sediment that I didn't want to run thru the system.

Those yellow wasp traps you hang up work really well if you don't want to douse the engine bay with wasp spray.

If sediment in the tank is the only stuff you're worried about, you can access the top of the tank easily from the rear passenger seat, then you would just have to pull out the fuel sending unit. There is a writeup by Silverdude I think in the how-tos.

If you find a squirrel in your truck I'm gonna howl.

Don't quote me, but I believe the X's block has cast iron cylinder liner (or something along those lines) vs FRM (which can be found in higher end cars and my old Honda Prelude block). I know old timers recommend spraying a shot of WD-40 into the cylinders before letting it sit for that long to help keep rusting in there to a minimum, and IIRC they also say to remove the spark plugs and add a drop or two of oil (or spray a touch of WD-40) to help lubricate the cylinder walls before first crank.

I'm sure someone else will have input on this though :) And me.. when my 91 Civic sat for 3 years, I just jumped it, fired it up, and drove it around the neighborhood. Besides a few crappy stops until the rust was rubbed off of the rotors, everything else seem to run okay

Personally, I would just jump in and drive it to the auto store. I would buy oil and a filter and drive it back home. Next, I would get trans fluid, and do that, then I would do the f and r diffs with the T-case. I would flush the coolant system while I did the T-belt and accessory belts next. After that, PS fluid, and brake fluid.

Hows it going with the x

Well the fuel pump and fuel tank needed replaced. Wasn't getting gas. I felt around thru the sending unit hole and nothing but rust. I just finished putting a tank from a Frontier, that I got from the salvage yard for $100, on. Getting the original tank hoses off was fun. Very stuck. They went on to the new tank easier with some KY Jelly. Could have just used the blood from my nuckles, lol. I'm picking up a delphi fuel pump at the store for another $175 tomorrow. I'm hoping I can just use the original sending unit.
I do have a couple questions though. When I pulled the fuel pump out of the plastic housing it sits in, the lower end of it looked to be glued in to the bottom with tar or black RTV or something. Is that supposed to be there? Or is that just sludge from sitting or something?
Next question..How was I supposed to remove the line from the bottom of the sending unit that looked different from the other 3? Special tool? Hope the new fuel pump comes with an extra. Not sure its gonna reattach.