Winter wx is coming fast, I don't have inside storage lined up yet. Question : What do I need to do to my baby before she goes into storage ?

 

nothing.

 

Get a battery tender, I like CTEK that goes in the cigarette lighter. STABIL in a full tank of gas. Invest in a good cover, keep that dust off your paint. Fully inflate your tires and if storing on concrete, put some carpet or cardboard under the tires.

 

Basically.

At most, change the oil, fill the fuel tank.

People will recommend ALL manners of BS, carpet squares under the tires, potions in various orifices, tire prep, on and on....OH! Someone already did!

None of it does jack ****. Tires are fine at typical pressures, they don't care what surface they're on (pump 'em up on concrete? But don't sweat it on....wood? ) All those things are is treating psychological problems...not actual ones. I know...I know. I sound like a dick for saying that....but it's true. Fill the tank, change the oil if not done recently. Park it.
"Open" and enjoy in the spring time.


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I use the winter off season to do major modifications (putting a ZF in this winter) and repairs that would take the car out of service for long time spans.
Granted: I have a heated garage that is no cooler than 45° (I live in Wisconsin so it isn't uncommon for it to get -20° or colder in the winter.
The only thing I do is disconnect the battery as I am usually doing some sort of electrical work and put it on a battery tender. I always fill it with non ethanol gas but try to top the tank off right before I put it up for the winter.
Put Stabil in the gas if it makes you feel better but I've found that to be unnecessary.
You don't need to do anything special like put it on carpet, on jackstands, or some other strange ritual.

 

IMHO there is such a thing as “bad gas”. I’d siphon out the tank and run it dry. Use that gas in your daily driver while it’s still potent. Then in the spring fill it with high test. That will keep your lines dry and clean over the winter and start the spring with a known good.

 

The lines won't be dry, b/c you syphoned out your tank. Nope...that won't work.

And yes...there IS "bad gas"...but you ain't gonna get it in your car, in 4-6 months....especially if you....

 

Battery tender and or disconnect the battery. That is about all I would do.

 

I fill the car with E0 and hook up a battery tender, thats about it, but I do drive the car every couple weeks or so even in winter.

If it were somewhere that moisture could get to it, might put dessicant bags in the footwell.

 

Tom is dead nuts on. Don't over think this one.

 

I said "and run it dry"... that will run the engine until the fumes run out. And yes, modern gas starts to "go bad" in 3 to 6 months. Even if you fill the tank, there is still air: 1) you can't fill it to the absolute top and 2) your gas cap does not tightly seal your tank enough to prevent oxidation. Every authoritative article I can find says "3-6 months IF sealed in a gas can. And ethanol? 3 months. According to the U.S. Energy Information Admin, about 90% of all gas in the US is ethanol. So, I'm basing my advice on worst case; 3 months.
Thirdly, my point was also to make use of the "fresh" gas now, while it's most productive. Wait till Spring and you're driving with old gas.
And.. it's not just me...

 

Leaving a tank dry will ruin it. Condensation will get through the metal and rust it inside. My friend recently was given a 2004 Frod Expedition that has sat since 2018 in California with the Ethanol gas. We started it right up. No smoke out of the exhaust or anything. For a few month winter storage like others have said, do nothing except your basic maintenance items you should do anyways. If you're planning on storing it for years, then you go through that whole procedure of putting additives for long term storage, etc.

 

Fill the tank with premium fuel, battery tender on battery, moisture/silica dry packets inside the car, and tuck her in for the winter slumber.

 

Ayuh. I heard/saw what you said. The "fumes" won't "run out". Your lines, rails, injectors, filter will all have fuel in them. And air. By doing that, you've actually created a better scenario for evaporation and gumming things up...than if you'd just left it alone/full of fuel. You ain't gettin' all the gas out unless you disassemble the fuel system and drain/dry EACH part.


1. You can get enough air out, to get the meaningful amount of moisture out of the tank.
2. Yes it does. The tank is sealed to atmosphere. It vents through the engine/charcoal canister (if working correctly), when the engine is running.
3. I'm an authority (see below). I don't write shitty, click-bait articles and I don't make shitty, click-bait YT vids that suckers fall for. I pass on GOOD information; the kind of GOOD information that actually helps those willing to learn, and the kind of GOOD information that people are here looking for.

Yep....~6 mos older than "new" gas. Tell us; what, exactly are the consequences of running this, "old gas"?

A few years ago, I fired up MY car on 6 mo "old gas", backed out of the garage, drove down to our local drag strip. Pulled into the burn-out box, cleaned the tires, staged and ran the fastest pass the car has ever run; a 13.73. What were the consequences of my "old gas"? How badly "damaged" was that old, ethanol gas?? Where's the consequences?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's ONE example. It's a pretty ******* fantastic example of how pointless it is to worry about your gas for 6mo's...but it's only one. I "get it". But then there is my other vehicles that sit for 6+ mos. My boat, snowmobiles, mower, chainsaw, etc. etc. They all start and run flawlessly, next season. Where's the consequences?
O.K. o.k....yeah, you're right; that's only about 10 vehicles or so...so Tom's full of it. "Doesn't prove a thing!"

But then there is the fleet that I manage maintenance on; over 150 pieces of equipment....most of it seasonal; snow cats, snowmobiles, UTV's, ATV's, snow blowers, trucks, cars, busses, heavy equipment....about 1/2 sits all winter, about 1/2 sits all summer. They ALL fire up fine at the end of storage season.....where's the consequences?

DUDE! I hear you! I "get it"!...that's only 1 fleet! Not enough vehicles to make a point!
You're right...you're right. But THEN...there is the fact that I've been doing this for 30 years. 5 different companies....decades of fleet turn over and now we're talking 1000's of vehicles, and 30 years of seasonal storages and start ups.

So go ahead: dick around and waste time sucking perfectly fine fuel out of your car, run the fuel pump dry, trying to get the lines emptied (in vein)....and you'll certainly FEEL like you did....something. You'll treat that psychological issue....but you won't have helped your car, one whit. So go ahead and do it! But don't give shitty, time-wasting advice to others who would like to get the GOOD advice.

Yeah....I don't know everything. But I know more than you do about vehicle storage and I know enough to not waste my time (and others') on stupid, sensationalized, click-bait videos. Sorry, but it's true. You're car will be fine in the spring, w/6mo "old gas"....just like mine always is.



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Thanks, I've never heard that before. Learn something new every day!

 

Do you guys randomly start your car though throughout the winter?

 

if I need to get to the front of the garage for something it runs. Or if there's a nice day with no road salt. Otherwise it's a waste imo.

 

Glad someone learned a thing in this thread!



It's actually worse than just a waste.
One of the products of combustion is water. Running the car puts water in the exhaust. When you DRIVE the car, the exhaust system gets way hotter than hot enough, and it turns the water to steam (actually, it stays steam/gaseous rather than condensing). The steam exits the tail pipe with the other exhaust gasses. When you start the car and idle it, then shut it off, the exhaust system doesn't get hot enough and the water condenses in the exhaust system, then sits in there after you shut the car off, for days/weeks. That causes corrosion in the exhaust and will eventually rot it out. It also puts condensation into the oil, which doesn't get run long/hot enough to evaporate the water out of the oil...basically you're creating what the owners manual calls, "Severe operating conditions" (too short a drive cycle).

Why not just idle the car...longer? Idling the car simply won't get the exhaust (or oil) hot enough to evaporate the water out as quickly as it's being produced. How do I know this? Form experience, but because I like to give GOOD advice, one day while I was messing around with my car, I started a thread, shot some temps and took some pics to illustrate this point and help educate.

Thread is right HERE, so have a look/read about water in the exhaust....



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Never let a car sit over the winter on an empty tank....That will led to more issues. Condensation doesn't take long to set in. A lot of you guys are over thinking this. Fill the tank up with a good grade of gas, and disconnect the battery. Or just take the battery out and bring it in the house. That is all I have been doing the last 7 years on my ZR-1. When 1st snowfall hits, it goes into the garage and battery gets pulled. Doesn't come out until late Spring, and always starts everytime...... I wouldn't put any of that Stabil crap or anything like that in the tank or engine.

 

I'm in the opposite camp. Don't fill the tank. Park it with a regular amount of gas. Unless you run ethanol free like a curmudgeon, youre gonna have some water content in your fuel after sitting that long. I would dilute with fresh gas in spring and drive it like hell. MAYBE use some heet to try to encapsulate and burn off the water content if you have too much gas to dilute.