First upcoming winter with my first non-year-round vehicle. With cold weather approaching, I've started thinking how I'll be storing my new-to-me C5Z during the winter. I have a non-powered detached garage so I can't leave the battery in the car on a trickle. Would my best bet be to remove the battery and bring inside for the winter on a trickle? Or possibly have some kind of trickle charger running off of an external battery (maybe another car battery) that I can periodically bring inside and recharge? I already have a cover to keep the dust off and plan to make sure the tires remain properly inflated throughout the winter as well as stabilize the fuel. After storing, I don't plan to start it until it's ready to come out in the spring. TIA.

 

Chemical reactions slow down in lower temps...thus, a battery actually discharges at a slower rate when it is cold. No need to bring it in the house unless that is your only way to put it on a trickle charger. If you can reasonably run an extension cord out to the garage, that's what I would do. If not, pull the battery and put it in the basement if you have one and keep it on a trickle charger there.

 

As said in the post above, if you can just run an extension cord into the garage, do that and hook up the battery tender. Or bring the battery inside the house and hook it up to a tender. Either way will work.

 

Thanks for the replies. Extension cord isn't an option - it's an apartment. Looks like I'll remove the battery to trickle inside.

 

Do you think you'll have a mouse problem? They love chewing on wires. Will you have access to the garage to check traps, etc.?

 

That answers a lot. So, realize that some valves will be wide open, springs fully compressed, all winter--not good. Also, an open valve allows humidity into that cylinder--all winter. By spring you could have rust on cylinders and rings, etc. I would urge you in the strongest possible terms either to start the car periodically OR put a ratchet on the crank bolt and turn the motor over on a regular basis all winter (after you fog the cylinders). Finally, change the oil, and circulate it by running for a few minutes before storage. That's because used oil has acids in it that eat the soft babbit surfaces of bearings. You don't need to change it again in spring. I usually try to put like 5 mil plastic under the car to block humidity from leeching up through concrete floors and spread some mouse poison around. Mothballs evaporate and then you're vulnerable again. I put mine up on blocks and put the tires in the cool dark corner of the basement.

 

I will respectfully disagree with starting it periodically during the winter. Unless you are actually going to drive it for at least 30 minutes and get the oil up to operating temp. You can idle the car damn near forever in winter temps and never get oil hot enough to vaporize the water in it. It will also load your exhaust system with water that sits inside it all winter. Lastly, a very large percentage of engine wear occurs at cold start.

Oh - I will add this regarding the valves being open/springs compressed - unless you have a very high lift cam and some really stiff springs (I am talking well beyond stock), it isn't an issue for winter storage. If you have the car in a museum for years on end, then yeah, turning the engine over with a socket on the crank bolt might not be a bad idea...

 

I don't wish to argue, and just knew that the OP's questions would elicit a lot of pet theories, but just trying to give a little back. I should have known not to stray from the racing forum, and probably won't again. I've stored my z06 for 5 years doing this, and Phoenix just dyno tuned the motor and said it was a surprisingly stout stock motor, cranking out 400 RWHP, and they could have eked out a bit more, but like a margin of safety. Blackstone has analyzed the oil twice and said wear is consistently below average. This despite my car runs at 10/10ths at the track regularly. OP: if you want to see REAL wear, let the cylinders form a grudge ring from excessive sitting all winter. Wear is negligible with full synthetic oils, it's not the same problem as it was 40 years ago when I taught auto mechanics and oils got very thick in the cold. Synthetic oils might just be the slipperiest substances known to man presently. Just make sure you turn it over somehow--since I first stored a 427/425 HP roadster in 1973, this has worked well for me. Also, with no air passing through the radiator, the fans not called for, and the thermostat closed, the motor reaches operating temp very readily, and the exhaust gets plenty hot. Think for yourself. See ya.

 

I don't wish to argue either...

OP - you have two different pieces of advice here to choose from.

I have no doubt that apex26 has had great success with his method and that is why he believes in it and does it that way.

I too, have had great success with my methodology. I have been storing collector cars for 30 years now, one an old school '69 Cutlass and two of them more modern, fuel injected engines just for reference points for you.

Perhaps others will share how they do things.

Wish you all the best with your new (to you) Z!

 

 

last winter was my first year putting a car in storage, an 03 anniversary coupe with a little over 4K miles, all stock. I went through all the threads here and guys can get really carried away with this stuff. What most of us have here are just a nice old stock C5 and there is really no need to go to the extremes some guys go to for winter storage. I have a mechanical background, so don't get me wrong here, a lot of these posts I do agree with but unless you have a beefed up racer or exortic 100K vette you really don't need to do much.
I stored in an unheated garage with no electricity and a concrete floor, she sat there for almost 6 months, I cracked open the windows and put a quality car cover on it and spread some mouse bait around. Came back in the spring, hooked up the jumper cables, checked the tire pressures and took her for a spin, no flat spots on the tires and she ran like a bear. and I have done nothing to her since, I do now have 9K miles on her over two seasons and will do an oil change next spring.

 

If you can run the gas tank close to empty and refill with ethanol free marine fuel if it is available in your area. When fueling when you have the tank about half full add a 20 ounce bottle of Techron because it is "magic". If the battery is healthy you can disconnect the negative terminal and leave it in the car. I've been doing that in trucks and boats for years without a problem.

 

There are a lot of good suggestion that have come your way. Don't over think what you NEED to do. This will be my 21 year getting my car ready for winter. It has never sat in a heated garage. I make sure it has a full tank of gas. 5 more pounds of air in the tires. Cover. My car does not need a tender. In those 21 years it did not start twice because of a 5 year old battery. I change the battery every 5 years if it needs it or not. Same with the antifreeze. When i first put my car away i didn't know any better what too do to it. This is what i did and it worked for me. I don't start the car unless I'm going to drive it so it heats up. I do try to drive it during the winter as long as the roads are clean and dry. I am not telling you to disregard what others have suggested, this is what works for me.

 

The mouse problem can be handled with peppermint oil. Apply some to cotton ***** or fabric and place it under the hood and around the car.
Mice hate the smell of peppermint and will avoid the area.

 

If the car will experience freezing temperatures, I personally would not leave a battery in my car without a maintainer. If the battery discharges enough, the battery can freeze and crack the case. Since the C5 battery is above the PCM and there are documented cases of battery acid leaks causing damage to the PCM and or wiring, I would not risk it.

 

I can only relate how I handled a '66 Sting Ray convertible that I bought in 1985. Every year in November I would hook up a battery tender, put the top up, pace a Noah cover on it and forget about it until April. The battery would last about 6-8 years. I did it this way for 31 years without issues. Sold it in 2016. No mothballs, a little fuel preserver, an unheated garage where temps sometimes went down to 5F., and it started each time w/o issue. Tires had flat spots until a decent run and they heated up. They were bias-ply... IMO all this other stuff really is unnecessary.

 

I agree with this guy 100%.

I'm not sure why you'd have a humidity problem on cylinder with the valve that open. Once the motor cools down, the valve is still open, and air can flow as it needs to. Now, if it sat in a high humidity climate for years, then maybe you'd see an issue. But, we're talking 6 months here...that's not a long time. Also, most of the people that are storing their vehicles in the winter are doing it because of snow/salt/ect. Not sure about your winter climate where you live, but where I do, and many others that store their car, have extreme dry climates during the winter.

I do pull my battery, and throw it on a multi-bank charger. Not sure if that's really needed or not, but I got it for charging all my boat batteries, and figured, I have extra ports, why the heck not. I do put stabilizer in the fuel, and also top off the fuel tank. Not sure if this is all needed, as my vette sits in my extra garage which is climate controlled. But, it seems to work for me, and I've never had problems.

Also, dryer sheets work pretty well to deter mice and other rodents.