I live in Ohio and the winters here can get quite nasty. I have a small graveled garage that I cleaned up to store the 86 in. I put layered cardboard down and drove her in for the winter. I put Irish Spring soap around the garage and a couple under the car to keep rats and mice away. I also put dryer sheets inside the car, the trunk, and front storage compartments.
I made sure she was clean outside, filled the tank 3/4 of the way, put a good gas treatment in her and checked all my fluids.
I plan on doing a bit of work on her over the winter. My questions.... How often should I start her up and let her run? I plan on no snow days to run her up and down the driveway, is that a good idea or bad? How often should I change out the cardboard underneath her?
Unless you run it long enough for the OIL to get up to operating temp, don't bother starting it. If she doesn't got good and hot, then it just causes condensation every where which in turn causes rust. (Oil takes much longer to get up to temp than the Coolant does).
Originally posted by Gall757: store it somewhere warm (not on concrete).
FWIW: Info from a Google search "storing batteries on concrete":
Car batteries used to be encased in hard rubber, a substance that was porous enough that battery acid could seep through it and create a conductive path through the damp concrete, draining the battery. The cases of today’s batteries, however, are made of sturdier stuff that far better contains their contents than those of yesteryear. As well, time has brought technological improvements to the seals around the posts and the vent systems.
These days, the problem of car battery electrolyte seepage and migration has been all but eliminated. Says battery manufacturer Yuasa, “Nowadays, containers are made from a solid plastic that does not allow any current to flow through it, so the batteries do not discharge, even if they sit in a few inches of water.”
Interestingly, some experts (including Car Talk’s Click and Clack) believe that storing car batteries on concrete floors might actually be a better idea than keeping them on shelves or other surfaces because the cold of the floor works t
Unless you run it long enough for the OIL to get up to operating temp, don't bother starting it. If she doesn't got good and hot, then it just causes condensation every where which in turn causes rust. (Oil takes much longer to get up to temp than the Coolant does).
I have been letting it run at least 15-20 minutes and since we haven't had a lot of snow yet, I have been backing it out of the garage and running it up and down my driveway? I only drive it on the driveway when it is dry or ground is at least frozen? I have only been doing this once a week?
I would just leave the car to hibernate for the winter; it's not that long.
How dry are your winters? I'm thinking that one of the items at risk would be the brake rotors that could rust, and then pulsate thereafter.
When I used to store my Fiero outside, I sprayed Rust-Check oil on the brake rotors. Of course, the brakes didn't work in springtime; the first thing I did after warming up the engine for the first time was to drive around on the gas and brake pedals at the same time; overheating the brakes to drive out the oil. Once the brakes cooled down and the smoke went away, they worked fine.
quote
Originally posted by David Hambleton: The cases of today’s batteries, however, are made of sturdier stuff that far better contains their contents than those of yesteryear.
I live near Akron so similar weather. I have heated storage now but here is what I did before 8nhad heat.
Put down rubber Matt’s like old truck bed mats or even flooring that you can buy cheap. This will create a barrier that is better than cardboard.
If you have power buy a battery tender from a Summit Racing.
Fill the tank full as it will prevent condensation and rust. Use stable and run the car for 10 min to get it into the injectors.
Buy a cover that is breathable.
Pick up the soap and buy traps or bait traps. Don’t try to scare rodents kill them.
Wax the car well before you cover.
No need to drive it unless you want to.
If you do start it always run it till it is up to full temp
Fill the tires to 40 psi to help prevent flat spots.
Make sure the anti freeze is good for low temps we get.
Most moisture issues are in the spring here. When the ground is frozen and the temps warm the cold car collects condensation from the humid marker air. Get the car out in the sun to warm it up and it will help eliminate the condensations.
When it is below freezing there is little moisture so in those time there it little issue.
I'd be inclined to fill the gas tank completely to minimise condensation in the gas tank. I'd also try to find gasoline that has no ethanol in it because ethanol has an affinity for water.
Ethanol is hygroscopic. It will absorb water directly from the air. I found out the hard way. Filled up a KZ650 tank with E85 gasohol in October before I put the bike in storage and had a rusty tank when I took in out of storage in April. The tank was pristine before. My guess is the gasohol evaporated letting air in and the moisture was absorbed by the ethanol in the gasoline.
Running the car is useless unless you run it long enough to drive off moisture and gas from oil. At idle... that can take a long to a very long time.
Pull battery and keep it at "room temp" for people or between 40° to 80°F. And Don't use Battery Tender etc all the time. The few units that shut off charging still eats some AC power doing nothing.
Why? Low charge lets battery freeze easy. Froze battery is a ruined battery even if take a charge after. See my Cave, Battery Doesn't like Trickle charge for week or months either. Check volts once a month and if under 12 to 11.5 then charge to top up.
constant charging may seem to work w/ battery connected to whatever because that load, even small ones like radio/ECM standby power, eats some power. IOW Battery Tender types often never see a full charge battery in the car and never "switch off." If you have APC and most other UPS in home/business... The batteries are on trickle charge 24/7 and batteries often only last 2-3 years because of this. APC and others makes a huge profit selling replacement batteries and why makes UPS that never shuts off charging.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
The biggest thing is to fill it with 0-ethanol premium and put a can of seafoam in it. and make sure this mix has run long enough to make it through the whole fuel system.
Yes, Fill the gas tank full and use Stabil et al and follow directions on bottle. Add it before filling tank. (this washes the fill port so stabilizer is in the tank.) Then drive enough so gets to engine. Don't use Seafoam, MMO, and others as can cause problems for the cat and O2 sensor. Ignore BS on bottle or from others.
Non Ethanol can be hard to find in many areas. In some states/areas only marinas and airports can get it. Caution: Marinas may not fill a car because gas there may not have Road Tax and can be big problems if used for street vehicles. Most airports only sell very high octane that you don't need and many won't sell to you either for same issues as marinas.
Many areas are now on "Winter Gas" and affects how much ethanol in there. I think is less then "Summer Gas" in most places. Yes, That's Real thing in many market. Most distributors or refineries change gas formulas in spring and fall to meet EPA and State rules. Note that Label on pump may say Contains 10%, or Up To 10%, Ethanol but often less to far less then 10% in many areas depending on season etc.
I would not start the car at all, because I would take the battery out and store it somewhere warm (not on concrete).
I agree. And or leave a trickle charger on it. Also it takes longer than many people tink to get the condensation out of the crankcase when running a car from a cold winter start, lots of times all people do is get it all condensated up and then shut it off leaving water vapors in the oil system over and over on these start ups.
Check the water level of your battery prior to putting it on the trickle charger for the winter. It might be low from summer driving, why cook it down further during the winter.
Second the filling the tires to max pressure listed on the sidewall to avoid some flat spotting. Also a full tank with some brand of stabilizer.
Crack a window slightly for ventilation, then cover the car with a breathable cover.
Try to keep the garage a dry environment. Don't park the snowblower next to the car.
