winter storage
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 62,066
Likes: 1,722
From: Athens AL
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
C4 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
Re: winter storage (mjfox)
PREPARING THE CAR FOR STORAGE
- Thoroughly wash, dry (including a short drive to get the water out of all the cracks and crevices), and wax the car. Clean the interior as well, using vinyl and leather protectants where appropriate.
- Fill the gas tank. Get "real" gas, not ethanol-blended stuff for storage. The ethanol blends tend to contain more water, which may result in corrosion in the fuel systems of older cars. Add fuel stabilizer and allow the car to run for a bit to let the stabilizer permeate the fuel system.
- Perform routine maintenance including oil and filter changes, chassis lube, cooling system flush, transmission fluid and filter change, change brake fluid, etc. On water-cooled cars, verify the coolant is sufficiently strong for the storage temperatures that the car sees.
- Check the air in the tires - remember that pressure falls with lower ambient temperatures, so you may want to over-inflate the tires to 55 lbs or so (but remember to bleed off the extra air in the spring). Even though I don't move the car during the winter, I haven't had a problem with the tires flat-spotting (although I do sit in it and make car noises :-)
-Put the car on jack stands to prevent tire flat-spotting
- Chock the front tires to prevent the car from rolling during storage.
- On a standard transmission, leave the car in reverse or first gear. On an automatic, leave the car in park.
- Do NOT apply the parking/hand brake.
- Disconnect both terminals on the battery. If you remove the battery from the car, store it on a plank or some blocks of wood rather than directly on a concrete floor. (The concrete slab is a great heat sink and the battery will not perform well until it warms up again.) Fully charge the battery now and once a month or so to keep it ready for the spring. Or buy an automatic battery charger that turns itself on/off to maintain a proper charge.
- Place blocks under the wiper arms so that the wiper blades do not sit on the glass. This will prevent the blades from taking a set and being nearly useless in the spring.
- On air-cooled cars, leave both the heating and ventilation flaps open to allow air to circulate. Nasty-smelling things tend to grow well in warm, damp places without air circulation...
- Plug the exhaust and fresh air intakes to prevent unauthorized entry by small critters.
- Cover the car with a lightweight cover.
REMOVING THE CAR FROM STORAGE
- Removal is the reverse of installation. ;-)
- When reconnecting the battery, connect the positive terminal first.
OTHER NOTES
- Battery charging: A steady 2 amp charge will eventually overcharge and boil out your battery acid. When using a battery charger, disconnect the cables so the car's electrical system is not hooked up. Otherwise, a certain amount of the electrical energy will go to the alternator and regulator and will eventually destroy them.
- DON'T start the car periodically. Cold starts after weeks of inactivity in extreme cold are not helpful to the oil-fed components. Short periods of idling without significant load are not enough to fully warm the oil and evaporate the raw fuel and moisture that condense inside the engine on a cold start. If you must: make sure the car gets *driven* to fully warm it up. If applicable, run the AC to circulate the refrigerant/lubricant to keep the seals fresh. But, remember that freon condenses into a liquid at -22F so starting the car to run the AC at this temperature is useless anyway.
[Modified by vader86, 1:19 PM 1/1/2003]
- Thoroughly wash, dry (including a short drive to get the water out of all the cracks and crevices), and wax the car. Clean the interior as well, using vinyl and leather protectants where appropriate.
- Fill the gas tank. Get "real" gas, not ethanol-blended stuff for storage. The ethanol blends tend to contain more water, which may result in corrosion in the fuel systems of older cars. Add fuel stabilizer and allow the car to run for a bit to let the stabilizer permeate the fuel system.
- Perform routine maintenance including oil and filter changes, chassis lube, cooling system flush, transmission fluid and filter change, change brake fluid, etc. On water-cooled cars, verify the coolant is sufficiently strong for the storage temperatures that the car sees.
- Check the air in the tires - remember that pressure falls with lower ambient temperatures, so you may want to over-inflate the tires to 55 lbs or so (but remember to bleed off the extra air in the spring). Even though I don't move the car during the winter, I haven't had a problem with the tires flat-spotting (although I do sit in it and make car noises :-)
-Put the car on jack stands to prevent tire flat-spotting
- Chock the front tires to prevent the car from rolling during storage.
- On a standard transmission, leave the car in reverse or first gear. On an automatic, leave the car in park.
- Do NOT apply the parking/hand brake.
- Disconnect both terminals on the battery. If you remove the battery from the car, store it on a plank or some blocks of wood rather than directly on a concrete floor. (The concrete slab is a great heat sink and the battery will not perform well until it warms up again.) Fully charge the battery now and once a month or so to keep it ready for the spring. Or buy an automatic battery charger that turns itself on/off to maintain a proper charge.
- Place blocks under the wiper arms so that the wiper blades do not sit on the glass. This will prevent the blades from taking a set and being nearly useless in the spring.
- On air-cooled cars, leave both the heating and ventilation flaps open to allow air to circulate. Nasty-smelling things tend to grow well in warm, damp places without air circulation...
- Plug the exhaust and fresh air intakes to prevent unauthorized entry by small critters.
- Cover the car with a lightweight cover.
REMOVING THE CAR FROM STORAGE
- Removal is the reverse of installation. ;-)
- When reconnecting the battery, connect the positive terminal first.
OTHER NOTES
- Battery charging: A steady 2 amp charge will eventually overcharge and boil out your battery acid. When using a battery charger, disconnect the cables so the car's electrical system is not hooked up. Otherwise, a certain amount of the electrical energy will go to the alternator and regulator and will eventually destroy them.
- DON'T start the car periodically. Cold starts after weeks of inactivity in extreme cold are not helpful to the oil-fed components. Short periods of idling without significant load are not enough to fully warm the oil and evaporate the raw fuel and moisture that condense inside the engine on a cold start. If you must: make sure the car gets *driven* to fully warm it up. If applicable, run the AC to circulate the refrigerant/lubricant to keep the seals fresh. But, remember that freon condenses into a liquid at -22F so starting the car to run the AC at this temperature is useless anyway.
[Modified by vader86, 1:19 PM 1/1/2003]
