I start mine every 3 weeks and its in heated storage.

 

Start my 70 454 at least once a week and let it run about 10 minutes or so.I love to drive in the winter as it runs great with the cold air,BUT it has not stopped snowing since the day after Christmas here in NJ so i have not been able to drive it but still start it up and let it run.

 

these reasons do make sence. as far as the springs go i guess you could crank it without starting it to get them in another position.

 

i think about starting her every day,but alas she will have none of that.

 

dam BILL, it looks like you keep your car in a freezer.

 

I have a clutch car..I haven't had this happen to me in a short winter storage before but I thought I would mention that sometimes the friction will stick..rust..to the pressure plate and flywheel..it makes for an interesting first start! I don't start it but crank it a couple turns every couple of weeks just so it doesn't take off! I also back the car in so if it does it will go out of the garage instead of thru it..this is a rare thing and if you have an auto then its just some fun info..

 

If you didn't start it in the first place, you wouldn't need to worry about water vapor.

Yes, I agree.

This is one reason why you should disconnect the battery when charging or storing for the winter.

 

If the cars going to sit for years, driving it occasionally will help, but none of this will be an issue for the few months that the car will sit during the winter.

 

nutsy, think i need new weatherstriping on my garage doors? i had planed to run her all winter but this has been a horrible winter so far, but i will leave her be till it clears out and i can run her a bit.i agree that a few months would not harm anything.

 

To each his own....

 

I disconnect the battery and dont do the charger thing..don't want a 50$ trickle charger burning up a house..I just don't think keeping a cheap car battery charging all winter is needed..old wiring can do weird stuff..I un hook the battery all the time..

 

Nope. Not me. I wait for April and warmer weather. Keep the battery topped off, thats it. Have a good day.

 

This makes better sense to me and I will start doing this instead of charging 2 or 3 x's/winter. I never leave the charger on overnight b/c of these same fears.

 

I have always hated driving a car in the winter just to go get groceriers or pick up the girlfriend. The engine doesn't even get a chance to warm up fully before you turn it off. So I try to avoid the short runs if I can.

My normal driving car (mustang) doesn't get driven all that much. I am a college student and I have it packed in a parking garage most of the time. I live on campus and so drivng around is not needed on a regular basis. So when a week to 2 weeks go by and I haven't driven it, I always hate starting the car because I feel it has to work so hard to get going. Nothing has been moving, all the liquids have settled and it is cold; so I feel that the viscous level of my fluids has gotten thinker since they are not warm and been in freezing weather. I let the car sit for at least a minute before driving to give the engine time to calm down from the initial RPM jump to start and get all the parts moving. Kind of like stretching before working out.

I think starting the car every two weeks and letting it get up to temperature is a good idea. Driving around I am not sure since the whole point of not driving it in the winter is to avoid the bad roads, the salt, snow, etc. I also don't understand how letting it idle to temperature will cause more damage (water vaper build up). The temperature is still getting up so how would driving around make a difference? Also, I thought about just shifting through all the gears and putting it into reverse to to make sure things are still moving properly, but not really driving anywhere. Is that bad?

It seams that everyone has their own opinion on the matter. So it hard for me to take what is a good idea and what is bad as everyone says to do one thing, while others say to do the opposite. lol.

 

The coolant is getting up to temperature. The oil is not. The oil is where the condensation is formed that needs to be boiled off.

 

So how does the oil get up temperature? Just from the length of time the car runs. Could I let it idle for 20min or do I have to drive it in the cold to get the oil temp up?

 

The oil temp will probably not get up to temp unless you drive it. Or let it idle for a couple hours maybe.

 

Although I've been in agreement with everything you posted before this, I'm not buying this one. By the time my coolant gets up to full operating temperature (which would take at least 20 minutes at idle when it is cold outside), I wouldn't want to put my bare hand on the oil pan! The oil will be plenty warm by then to evaporate some condensate.

 

I guess we need to find someone with an oil temp guage that can check for us. What temp do you think would be hot enough?

 

Since the thermostat hold the temp at either 160 or 180 the water is not going to boil off. The best you can hope for is increased evaporation. So that water will recirculate through the engine where it will condense in the cold exhaust system. Sounds like a lose - lose. I think I'll keep my battery charged, maybe start it a couple times over the winter just to keep the insides nice and slippery!