I was going to say that too...
mandatory that you put a fuel stablizer in the fuel.

also ..IMO ...just running the engine , no load, is very bad for everything.
You have to move it some in gear ..
even if you drive it back and forth 30 feet or so ...that gets lube to
lots of things.
idling in neutral is not very good really.
holding the clutch in is not good for it.
holding the clutch pedal in to start a manual trans vanagon is not good
for it.

They are built to be driven ...that's what's best for them..
not lots and lots, but 'some' for sure.

For someone who really knows what they're doing..
and if they charge reasonably .....it shouldn't be impossible to get it
to pass smog.
I could need a new cat say ..
and some shops might want to charge you a huge sum there. . check out
prices of cats at some of the vendors.
if you can find a completent shop that can sniff test or smog test it
...and you have some $ to work with ..that would be best.

no need to disconnect batt to charge it.
just make sure key is OFF.

I'm sure you know it's a simple matter to get a moving permit so you can
drive it to a shop to get it worked on.

Scott

On 1/4/2014 1:22 PM, Robert Stevens wrote:
> How about putting a container of Sta-Bil in the gas tank?
>
> http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/
>
> Bob
>
> On Jan 4, 2014, at 2:08 PM, David M <covrambles@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>
> My van is laid up after failing the emissions test three times. It will be out of commission for a while so I am starting the van and running the engine weekly and I also need to keep the battery topped up. Is it safe to recharge the battery without disconnecting the leads or will I fry the ecu? Also, how long before the gas goes bad. Its 4 months old now and the van still starts but I'm very concerned about it. The tank is about half full. I cannot drive the van as the registration has expired and I need the emissions certificate to register it.
>
>
> David (1987 Wolfsburg, Tempe AZ)
>

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