gpruitt54

First time vet owner heading toward first winter since buying the C5. What do I do to but the car to bed for the winter?

bluestreak63

Pull it in a garage. Put a battery tender on it and drive it when the roads are dry. Don't overthink it.

coia96vette

I agree. Also fill the tank.

foggy

Fill up your tank with NO Ethanol Fuel. Add fuel stabilizer..
Drive it a few miles to get fuel thru out system..
Change Oil AND Filter. Put tires to Max Rec Pressure- 35 psi
Make sure it's clean and dry in and out.
Put bounce dryer sheets under seats, rear hatch/trunk, etc to keep out
critters.
Disconnect Battery - charge it fully with charger or tender occasionally thru winter.
Wait til Spring !

gpruitt54

What! critters don't like bounce dryer sheets?
So then, I am not keeping the battery tender on the car all the time?
Am I starting the car from time to time through out the winter?
Max tire pressure prevents flat spots?

The car will be on dollies so I move it when necessary.

Pounder

I say don't start it at all, unless your going to get the whole drive train hot. many views on this. this is mine, I have mine in a heated garage so I don't do anything, until the batt gets below 11.7 volts, then the tender goes on.

Vetteman Jack

Here's what I have always done with mine:

• Thoroughly detail the car (wax if desired too)
• With gas tank about 1/4th full, add a bottle of Sta-Bil and Techron then fill up the tank. I use 10% ethanol gas (all we have here) and have not had any problems.
• Put an old piece of carpet under each tire and add about 5-10 lbs of air pressure to each tire.
• Add Bounce dryer sheets to the interior and engine bay areas to keep critters away.
• Connect battery tender and leave it until spring.
• Do not start the car unless you plan to take it for a drive that will get all fluids up to temperature. I do not start it up just to let it idle.
• Put a good cover on it to keep the dust off the painted surface.

vettenuts

I agree but don't use the Bounce. Found they actually made a nest with it in a friends car. I also use something called a Carbag. Car goes into the bag along with desiccant and is zipped shut. Absolutely not rust on rotors or anything else. We have very cold damp salt air where I am and not protecting the car can be a big mistake. I also pull the battery completely out and put it on my work bench so I can charge it once a month.

lownslo93

I also use the carbag with the car cover. They are nice. I used to fill up the fuel tank full, but a friend of mine told me a few years ago to leave it as empty as possible. That way when spring comes you can fill it full of fresh full instead of trying to empty a potential full tank of stale fuel. So far haven't had any moisture issues.

jjc508520

Someone also posted here that they don't like the smell of Irish Spring bar soap - and you'll have something to shower with in the Spring!

Pounder

I suggest not waiting til spring to shower !

gpruitt54

WHAT! folks shower at other times of the year than spring? Well don't that beat all!... You sure bout that?

Pounder

tzoid9

Actually, this one is pretty thorough,but some unnecessary over kill.
1) not really necessary to detail the car. I'd vacuum the inside and wash the car. A nice wax job would be nice, but not necessary...in fact, wax it in the winter time as long as your garage is above 45-50 degrees.
2) Stabil or similar gas treatment unnecessary unless you are storing the car for 6 months + and that's a conservative time...probably could go 12 months without any issue. Fuel tank is non metallic and as long as you filled the tank up (good quality hi test gas) prior to storage, you should be just fine if you're storing the typical 3-4 months or less.
3) Carpet remnants under the tires is an old policy, but I still do it and also recommend it.
4) Don't know about dryer sheets, I just slide a tray of DeCon under each axle (front and back) on the floor. That stuff attracts rodents and kills them dead.
5) I'm in complete agreement with last 3 items...
6) no one thinks of this one, but it works well. Slide a small wooden block under each wiper blade arm just so the rubber wiper blade isn't touching your window. Extends the blade life greatly....a blade laying on the window a long period of time actually slightly deforms the blade and shortens it usable life.
7) DON'T start the car until you are ready to drive it. That practice gets moisture in your oil and without driving it, it's very difficult to get that oil temperature over 212F so the moisture can burn off. Don't worry, your baby will fire up instantly when you hit the start button.
8) Nothing was mentioned about an oil change. My advice is if the oil in the engine has less than 1500 miles on it (normal street driving) and your storing the car for 3 months or less, it's really not necessary to change the oil. If you're outside those parameters, then a fresh oil and filter change would be in order.

Everyone has an opinion....this is mine and I've been storing cars for winter since 1995 and this has worked just fine for me. Good luck!

K-Spaz

I personally don't worry about the tires. I don't think they flat spot the way they used to 20+ years ago.

I also don't use a battery tender. I simply put the charger on the car every month or two. Mine will go 3 or 4 months without trouble starting. I also don't start it, nor do I drive it while there's calcium chloride on the roads. It's hard on O2 Sensors and corrosive to alum (your undercarriage).

I do like the windsheld wiper idea. Never gave that a thought. I do open the hinges to my vert top and drop my windows just a tiny tick so they're not compressing the weatherstrips. Probably doesn't do a thing to help but hasn't seemed to hurt either.

I like to run my car down to about a 1/4 tank and then add a bottle of techron, then top off the tank and store it that way. I don't know if it helps or not but my gas gauge works and I don't need to bother with it all year long.

UstaB-GS549

I live in northern Illinois and park mine when the first snow flies, usually December and it sits until April.

I disconnect the ground cable and charge the battery overnight with a trickle charger. Then I disconnect the charger and wait for April.

In April I connect the battery, set the clock and turn the key to start the car. That's it. I have been doing this for 10 years or so now.

deejbee

I have been storing cars over the winter for many many years and just put 2 into winter storage including our C5.
Here is what I did for the C5.

Added Techron to the tank, added some gas to about 3/4 full.
Added air to the tires.
Washed it.
Brought it to the place it is being stored.
Disconnected the battery.

Will go back in the spring, reconnect the battery, and drive away. Been doing that for years with much nicer cars than the Vette and never have had problems except for the odd slow leak in a tire or two and that is why I added air to the tires so I don't have to fill them in the spring.

junk c5

I live in Chicago and I park mine in my heated garage. I set the thermostat at 68* and let it sit on a battery tender. It's got almost a full belly of good summer blend E85. This is my 1st winter on E85 so I'll start it every 3 weeks or less so the fuel doesn't sit in the injectors and drive it around town on the fluke nice days that the roads are not covered in salt. Unusually to get lunch & a car wash. I might even get 1 more track day in if the weathers nice over the weekend.

C7DriverOnt

Stored my C7 in a unheated garage (attached to house though) on dry cement last two years and put 40lbs in the tires, no flat spots. Haven't used stabilizer, just filled the tank up, no issues. I just wash it, pump the tires up , put the cover on. I do add the battery tender every couple of weeks for a few hours, for a couple of months when we go to Florida I disconnect the battery. Come spring , start it up and drive away, no need to over think it.

geoffl

I also pull the blower motor in mine for the winter being mice seem to enjoy holing up in there. They've eaten pieces of Irish Spring soap and chewed dryer sheets. I put a line of mothballs under the car front to back and all around the perimeter of the car, adding new ones every month. Seems to keep mice away. Oh and Decon at all times.