...... we'll leave the light on for ya

 

You guys sure do have a sense of humor. I'm glad you folks in the warm weather enjoy this fun we get to have in the frozen tundra. What's up with the Amoco Ultimate gas problem? That is exactly what I was going to use with Stabil. My son used it last year with Stabil when he stored his Trans Am and I used it when I stored by 2002 Firebird. And, we just put his Trans Am away today with a fill of the Ultimate and the Stabil. Could you have just gotten a bad tank of gas? If there are problems with that gas, I certainly want to know about it now. I can't imagine the Amoco Ultimate is exactly the same everywhere in the Country. But, enlighten me if you know something I need to know. Despite the fact that I have to put my new Vette into hibernation soon, you guys do crack me up. Later. Dan

 

Coming from a hi-performance Wakeboard boat, one of the most important items for winterizing or when the engine was not going to be run for over a 30 day period (no matter what the climate is), was to "FOG" the cylinders, along of course, with Sta-bil.

The fogging oil comes in a squirt can, readily available at just about any auto parts house, or for certain at any marine dealer. After the engine is up to operating temp, start squirting the fogging oil in the air intake for 20 to 30 seconds continuously. The engine would sort of sputter for a second, but the ECM (computer) would sense the change and adjust timing and fuel automatically. After about 30 seconds, shut the engine off, then you are done.

It WILL smoke (white smoke out the exhaust) when you first start it up, but that is normal and will only last a few seconds.

Not sure this would apply to car engines, but don't see why not. Any respected marine shop would say this is standard procedure!

Another factoid I learned was that condensation in the fuel tank is all but non-existant on non-metalic fuel tanks. With ABS plastics, just can't happen. That is not to say that water could not enter from another source, but good fuel and Sta-bil are mainstays for winterizing the Indmar Monsoon fuel injected 350 hp engines.



FWIW ~~~~~

 

Thanks for the posts! I appreciate the guidance. Dan

 

As I understand it, different brands of gasoline can get their refined products from the same refinery in a regional area. Just recently in Florida and Louisiana, for example, Shell, Texaco, and Chevron ended-up paying to repair malfunctioning fuel gauges in customers cars because of bad product that was coming out of one of the regional refineries that they all took raw product from. I could have picked-up a bad tank of gas. However in reseach, I found that the BP refinery in nearby Toledo is processing "sour crude" (high sulfur) to take advantage of cheaper raw feedstock. The skeptic in me thinks that there is more of a potential to put out bad product from this refiinery than others that process sweeter crudes. I noticed that you have an 04 so you may not have the sensitivity to the problem as those with older models. The problem is that elemental sulfur in the gas corrodes the silver contact material Corvette uses in the fuel gauge sending unit in the tank. I thought I read somewhere on this forum awhile ago that GM changed the sending unit contact materials but I dont know when....you might be OK. Just to be safe, if you know somebody in your local Corvette club, ask to see if there is view on gauge unfriendly gasolines in your area.

 

And are these boats equipped with O2 sensors and cats?

 

One thing that would bother me about storing a car without even cranking it for several months, is that some of the valvesprings are compressed the entire time. Now this may be a non-issue, I really don't know since I have never stored a car, but if I were to store one I would do some research on this. It just seems that sometime in the past I heard that not turning an engine over periodically could weaken the compressed springs. Maybe someone can chime in with some info on this.

 

The most I put on my Corvette is 3,000 miles per year. I change the oil once a year in the spring when it comes out of storage. Is there a problem with leaving 3,000 mile old oil,for my 5 month storage? If so, what is it?

 

BobbyO: Thanks for the info. I will check with local club members. Up here in northern Minnesota, BP and Tesoro are the big players. I don't think we have any Chevron stations. Nonetheless, I'll check it out. Time to go for a little drive now. The wind is blowing mercilessly and the leaves are scooting about. Should make for some fun! Regards, Dan

 

If you are going to change oil only once per annum, I would change prior to storage, not after.

Otherwise, the contaminants stay over storage.

I am not a mechanic, but this seems to be advice in all I've read. I do store my car over winter & always have fresh oil prior to storage.

 

Thanks,

steve

 

And I'd recommend the opposite, as any moisture that may have formed in the oil over the winter needs removed in the spring.

My real opinion? It doesn't matter. It's not going to be the cause if your car dies. Drive it as long as you can in the fall. Get it out as early as you can in the spring. Drive it.

 

I have a nice warm garage here in South Florida you could leave it in. And it would help me by keeping the miles off of mine. Of course, we do have the odd occasional hurricane come through, if you don't mine that.

Scott

 

 

This is normally what I do,,and I neve let it sit for more than a month without driving. I just try and take it out when there is no snow...if it's going to stay dry and no salt for a few days I'll drive it a little more. My goal is just to keep it out of snow and salt.

 

One caution about desiccant sacks: if you have too many they will draw enough moisture to make a puddle. How do I know? Back in the day, I moved to the Caribbean for two years. I mothballed a Porsche and put about five pounds of desiccant (is it calcium chloride? I can't remember...) in the passenger footwell. When I got back, there was three inches of water on the floor. Really.

Regards,
Garibaldi

 

And it will be removed, the very first time you take it on a long highway drive. Why change out perfectly good (and expensive!) synthetic oil when all you need to do is drive the car in order to rid the oil of moisture? Besides, if you don't start your engine during the winter storage period, you won't build up very much moisture in that oil at all.

 

That is great advice patman!

 

Is it really necessary to fill up with gas before storing. Wouldn't it be better to drive it almost empty and start the new season with a fresh tank? Is there really a condensation issue and couldn't you use some dry gas?

 

That has always been my way of thinking as well.