I will be storing my Fiero for the winter in a week or two. Non heated fully enclosed garage. Any sugestions? Remove the battery? Additives to the fuel? Appreciate any feedback.
I do a few more things. I put sta-bil in the tank, fill the tank, run for a bit so sta-bil gets up to rail, test anti-freeze to make sure it will not freeze, pull battery out and put it in my basement on a wood block, and I put it n blocks because my tires always get flat spots from sitting all winter and it annoys me.
I do a few more things. I put sta-bil in the tank, fill the tank, run for a bit so sta-bil gets up to rail, test anti-freeze to make sure it will not freeze, pull battery out and put it in my basement on a wood block, and I put it n blocks because my tires always get flat spots from sitting all winter and it annoys me.
Sounds good.
Also take precautions against mice. There are many things you can do. Stick dryer sheets all over in the car is usually all I do, in an enclosed garage it wont be as bad as outside.
Stored cars are no fun. I NEVER store one just for the sake of storing it. I drive everything, even my show cars all the time. I even drive my motorhome every week or two at least 10 miles.
Stored cars are no fun. I NEVER store one just for the sake of storing it. I drive everything, even my show cars all the time. I even drive my motorhome every week or two at least 10 miles.
Here in the north, storage is pretty much necessary for "summer" vehicles. We have ice/snow on the roads for most of the winter (yes... literally... there is a coating of snow/ice on top of the blacktop for weeks or months) and taking a vehicle out for a spin can be bad news.
And then there is the salt issue.
It isn't to say that the vehicle can't be started up once and a while, etc though.
Something you may also want to do is make sure you have wiper fluid that will not freeze. Drain out or use up the summer stuff and run the winter stuff until you see it come out the spray nozzles. Different colors make this easier. You don't want to have to replace all the lines.
Aside from that, I keep my battery connected in the car with a trickle tender hooked up. That way, once a week or so, I can start it and let it run to operating temperature without having to lug the battery from the basement. My car sits outside under a cover. Starting it weekly and wiping the snow off it seems to prevent mice but extra precautions wouldn't hurt.
Putting the car on blocks to take weight off the tires seems like a good idea. I'll probably do that this year.
Lastly, I have a question. If I am starting it every week, is it worth it to put Sta-bil in the tank? Like I said, my car is outside.
Stored cars are no fun. I NEVER store one just for the sake of storing it. I drive everything, even my show cars all the time. I even drive my motorhome every week or two at least 10 miles.
..That way, once a week or so, I can start it and let it run to operating temperature without having to lug the battery from the basement. My car sits outside under a cover.
How long do you run it? In my experience if its in cold storage youd need to idle it for near an hour to get all the condensation out. I had a Grand am with a 3.1 that I warmed up twice over an entire winter the way you stated and in the spring there was rust colored oil due to condensation. Just my experience I'm not saying thats the same for all cars. If I have one setting cold it sets til i drive it in the spring. If I do start it its for a short enough time that nothing warms up.
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 10-03-2013).]
Something you may also want to do is make sure you have wiper fluid that will not freeze. Drain out or use up the summer stuff and run the winter stuff until you see it come out the spray nozzles. Different colors make this easier. You don't want to have to replace all the lines.
Aside from that, I keep my battery connected in the car with a trickle tender hooked up. That way, once a week or so, I can start it and let it run to operating temperature without having to lug the battery from the basement. My car sits outside under a cover. Starting it weekly and wiping the snow off it seems to prevent mice but extra precautions wouldn't hurt.
Putting the car on blocks to take weight off the tires seems like a good idea. I'll probably do that this year. Not worth the hassle.
Lastly, I have a question. If I am starting it every week, is it worth it to put Sta-bil in the tank? Like I said, my car is outside.
Thanks, Josh
I put my Fiero up in the air one year, but it just put extra stress on the brake lines.
Put stabil in the tank, drive 20 miles, then store it. Frankly, I wouldn't start it, but maybe once or twice over the season. And let it warm-up.... 1/2hr run time maybe.
[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 10-03-2013).]
OK, dont drive it when they salt the roads. None of my cars have any rust..... I even drove the Super Bee after I restored it all winter. I just didnt when they salted the roads. Even 6" snow was gone in a few days. I drive the Sebring nearly every day...all year long. Theres not a speck of rust except on bare frame parts that were already rusty when it was brand new. I just take care of mine.
Running an engine for 1/2 hour dont do anything for transmission, brakes, suspension, tires..........
Every one of my Corvette friends who store theirs for 8 months a year in their garage, generally have to make some repairs every spring when the take them out. Its usually leaks, batteries, brakes or no-starts. Almost all tires flat spot setting still for months. Some are permanent.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 10-03-2013).]
Long storage, Stabil AND a little Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas, & run it for a while. ( this will leave a very Small oily film on cylinder walls, ring grooves,valve seats etc) .Sitting a long while, Oil completely drains off of everything
Originally posted by jaskispyder: I put my Fiero up in the air one year, but it just put extra stress on the brake lines.
I should have mentioned that when I block it I don't have it high enough for the tires to be off the floor. Just so the weight of the car is on the blocks not the tires.
How long do you run it? In my experience if its in cold storage youd need to idle it for near an hour to get all the condensation out. I had a Grand am with a 3.1 that I warmed up twice over an entire winter the way you stated and in the spring there was rust colored oil due to condensation. Just my experience I'm not saying thats the same for all cars. If I have one setting cold it sets til i drive it in the spring. If I do start it its for a short enough time that nothing warms up.
What I normally do is let it warm up for about half an hour, then I will go up and down the driveway about a dozen times so I use the transmission and the brakes. I never really get out of first or second gear (auto) but it keeps the fluids moving. Even brand new cars get hung up calipers from sitting over the winter. Doing this should also prevent flat spots provided you end up parking with the tires in a different spot each time. It depends on how much driveway room you have to move around in.
OK, dont drive it when they salt the roads. None of my cars have any rust..... I even drove the Super Bee after I restored it all winter. I just didnt when they salted the roads. Even 6" snow was gone in a few days. I drive the Sebring nearly every day...all year long. Theres not a speck of rust except on bare frame parts that were already rusty when it was brand new. I just take care of mine.
Salt is usually on the roads up here from Nov thru part of April. It doesnt have to be just laid down, and you wont know when it will be laid down. The pavement up here is white with the stuff, the water road spray off my own tires and other cars is salt water .
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 10-04-2013).]
Salt is usually on the roads up here from Nov thru part of April. It doesnt have to be just laid down, and you wont know when it will be laid down. The pavement up here is white with the stuff, the water road spray off my own tires and other cars is salt water .
Yup, it is pretty sad when you have to wash the car because of the salt DUST. sigh... and that is why nice cars stay in the garage
When I lived down state, there were weeks I could drive without worrying about salt on the roads.... but not up here where it snows.
[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 10-04-2013).]
Maybe Mi uses more salt than Ohio. They salt everything over 2". When it melts, it generally washes off into the gutters. Ive taken lots of long fun drives when there was a foot of snow on the ground and the streets were dry. When I wash my cars, I spray under the rockers, fenders too. Like I said I dont have any cars that have ANY rust. I sold my 180,000 mile 95 Astro with absolutely no rust on the body and the only places you could find it was on the spare tire rim underneath and the sheet metal piece under the radiator that I just yanked off and threw away.
Salt is usually on the roads up here from Nov thru part of April. It doesnt have to be just laid down, and you wont know when it will be laid down. The pavement up here is white with the stuff, the water road spray off my own tires and other cars is salt water .
Same here. I don't store, but I am poor enough the Fiero is my daily year round traveller. I just wash the car a lot during the winter.
I've been storing cars in the winter months for 25+ years, so I have a fair amount of firsthand knowledge on this subject.
There are two camps of thought on winter car storage, one is to start the car regularly and let it warm up or even drive it a bit. The other camp is for putting the car away for winter, and leave it basically untouched for the winter months. I have always put my car(s) in storage and left them alone for the winter. For as many times as I've read Roger's reply's in car storage posts, I have never once encountered a new problem with a car in the springtime when I get a car out of storage. But the method I use to store my car, and the steps that I take are probably part of the reason I've never had problems when I get a car out.
When I put a car away for the winter I do the following: 1) Thoroughly wash the car before it goes into storage. 2) Drive the car to a gas station, add the correct amount of StaBil, fill the tank and drive home. 3) Lay down a 6mil thick sheet of plastic on the garage floor where the car will be stored. Here in southeast Michigan it is not uncommon to have a warm spell in March. You can have weather in the mid to high 40's(F) one day, and then get up into the 60's, and possibly even the low 70's the very next day. This happens when the ground is still frozen, so the cement floor of the garage will have moisture condense on it because the ground underneath the cement is still frozen, but the air temp is in the 60's. It's the same thing that happens to a cold beverage in a warm room, the outside of the can/bottle will "sweat". So by putting a nice thick sheet of plastic down on the floor, that plastic acts as a vapor barrier to block out moisture that will evaporate off the floor and rise up through the stored car. I also have purchased some pressure treated 2x4's that I have cut in half lengthwise (to make 2x2's) and I slide those under the plastic once the car is up in the air to keep the plastic off the floor. This allows air to circulate between the plastic and the floor so that moisture on the floor can dry without degrading the surface of the pavement. 4) Pull the car in on the plastic, jack it up off the floor, and set it on jackstands. This will prevent flat spotting the tires, or deforming the sidewalls from sitting in one position for several months. This also makes it more difficult for mice or rodents to set up home in your car for the winter. Putting a car up on jackstands will not prevent mice from getting into your car, but it makes the car more difficult to get to. 5) As the car has just been driven prior to putting it up for storage, I change the oil and filter. As oil is used in an engine, it's Ph becomes slightly acidic to do the cleaning action of the oil (the stuff that the oil cleans out of the action plus the lesser effect of coming in contact with by-products of combustion). Leaving old oil in a stored car is bad for the engine - compared to storing the car with fresh clean oil. I do not start the engine once I have changed the oil. Changing the oil and letting the car sit for 6-8 months is really no different to the engine than if you change the oil and start the engine immediately after the oil change. Starting the engine following an oil change simply pressurizes the oiling system, and I've never seen any evidence that a car needs to be stored with a pressurized oiling system. 6) Remove the battery and take that into my house and set it on a block of wood on the basement floor. The basement is cooler than the rest of the house, but the temperature is stable and the battery will not freeze. 7) Put four fridge-freezer boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking soda in the interior. This keeps the interior from getting a musty smell while it is in storage. 8) Place a cover over the car to protect the finish from dust and whatnot). I have always used custom fit covers from California Car Cover, but any quality cover with a soft lining would do the trick.
Now the car is in storage. come springtime or early summer when I get the car out all I have to do is get it down off the jackstands, put the battery back in it, check the tire pressure, then begin another summer season of enjoying the car.
As I said before, I've been using this method for over 25 years and have never pulled a car out of storage that has had any new problems that were not present in the previous fall when I put the car away. My current Fiero sat in an extended hibernation for 8 years stored this way, and when I got it out after 8 years I put a new battery in it and it fired up on the first turn of the key.
[This message has been edited by lateFormula (edited 10-05-2013).]
