It has been sitting for years chenged oil when I got it should I do it again here soon?

here is a good thing to do,first get valve cover gasket changed,now put a pint?of transmission fluid in engine with oil that is in it, crank it just let it idle,(DONT REV ENGINE DONT DRIVE JUST LET IT IDLE) for 15 minutes.PS do this when engine is hot.after 15 minutes of idle.drain oil remove oil filter.let drain 10 minutes.put in new oil and oil filter. what this does is clean out your engine,wont hurt a thing.and yes to transmission,filter and fluid change.also you may want to chang aintifreze to.

also if you change antifreze,open drain plug do this cold engine while running out put a water hose in raidor crank turn water on and let it run a few ninutes to flush out system.

I would change the oil anyways, just to be safe. Try to change the tranny oil as well to keep from further problems from occurring.

did yu do all this

change everything. except add tranny fluid to the oil and drive for about 100 miles. tranny fluid is also like a detergent. youl clean your car better

If you add tranny fluid to the oil and drive it as said,you WILL blow your engine,best way is add a pint of it let the engine sit at idle until it reaches operating temp then let it idle for 10 min,drain and change oil and filter,this will clean the gunk out of your engine,if you do this do not rev the engine,just idle.

I rarely see a Ford Tempo 2.3 HSC I4 that does NOT have a valve cover leak. There is a revised plastic valve cover with a rubber seal that can be purchased. Drain the coolant in the car via the radiator. I would NOT advise running the car without coolant... these engines get hot and will overheat very quickly (this is an iron block/aluminum head.. overheating will cause head gasket issues) If the car has never had its transmission fluid changed then i would suggest that you don't bother with it. Top it off if necessary. New fluid in a high mileage transmission has never been maintained often causes more harm then good. Inspect the engine and transmission mounts, these go bad on these cars and if one of them is bad you will end up snapping the speedometer cable, transmission cooler lines, and other engine to body mounted parts. Inspect the control arm to sway bar bushings. The bushing should have a metal washer on each side. If a washer is missing, or a bushing looks cracked or dry rotted replace it. When these go bad it can cause severe steering issues. I would replace them as a safe measure (a set it $10 at most auto stores)... they will also GREATLY improve the handling of the car. Replace your fuel filter as well, and throw a new set of spark plug and wires on it. Autolite plugs and Autolite Professional wires are what I recommend for this car. If you are looking to flush the engine I suggest replacing the filter and running Mobil 1 Synthetic oil with 1/3 a can of seafoam for 1 to 3 thousand miles. Switch back to basic oil and change your oil filter after.

Christopher is right about the revised valve cover gasket -- my '90 GL leaks as well. I inquired at Ford about the cover gasket (this is the usual fix) and was told that there is no longer a simple gasket...as Christopher says, you replace the whole valve cover with a seal. Price? $330!!! Why? The '90 (and older) car is now a "vintage" model, and the price is outrageous. Solution: check out your local junkie and hope his computer isn't wired into Ford's outrageously priced inventory listing...or just replace the cover gasket with a $24 set every year or so. It's a no-brainer except for the fact that you need the valve cover bolt torque specs. Over-tightening these bolts is as bad as leaving them too loose. As Christopher says, have the engine mounts checked. I didn't suspect a problem until a good dealership in KS told me that a mount (they're a rubber-like material) was broken. My car has 136K miles and has never been abused -- these things just get tired and need replacement. As Christopher says, ditto to those sway bar bushings. They are also "rubber", but get rock-hard and shouldn't be. I had the car overheat on me -- a thermostat that became stuck in the closed position. This can happen on any car, but usually on one that hasn't had at least one coolant flush/change. So if you're changing coolant anyway, put in a new thermostat and the gasket it needs. I suggest using anti-freeze that is NOT a 50/50 mix. Use the 100% stuff and mix it yourself with de-ionized distilled water like you'd use in a flatiron...about $1 a gallon, and a good way to keep your cooling system (and your heater!) from "rotting" any more than it already has. I don't trust Ford/Prestone/etc. to use distilled water; they use tap water -- like your book says to do. But for a lousy $1/gallon I never have, never will. If your car is like my '90, the fuel filter is located on the left (passenger) side of the engine compartment, on the inside of the fender. It is a simple change, but NOT WHEN THE ENGINE IS HOT! It must be done on a cold motor! Get a replacement from any auto parts place. It should be about the size of a can of condensed soup, and have slip fasteners on each end. Carefully check the way the old one is mounted (there's an arrow showing the direction of fuel flow through the filter), and then place a nice-sized rag under it. Slip the connectors to loosen them, and then pull the connector on the in-flow side off first. Quickly tip the old filter up to stop unnecessary spilling (it won't stop it all, and you'll get some on your hands, but that washes...). Then, slip the outflow connector off, but try to catch the fuel still in the filter by putting your finger over the filter hole. Keep that rag under it, just in case. By now, you know enough to put the new filter back on. Snap the slip fasteners back, and make sure the filter's secure then turn on the ignition to "run" (don't start!) and make sure nothing leaks. When that's OK, start the car. Check it again and if there's no gas squirting out, you're home free.