Just an awesome day weather-wise in Sioux Falls today so I decided to take my '08 3LT Vert and my wife's 66 Mustang GT Vert (30K original miles) out of storage from their long winter sleep (since early October).

The Vette started great, ran great, no issues. I changed the oil, check all the air pressure in the tires before I took her out for a long cruise in this beautiful 60 degree sunny weather.

My question is this....I noticed a slight hesitation starting out from stop signs (auto/paddle shift) for the first 7-8 miles and then after that it seemed fine. Any ideas? No biggie since it seems to be fine now, just curious if any one has experienced this before.

My wife's Stang was not as fortunate. Funny enough both cars were on battery tenders over winter, my vette did great, her Stang turns out there was no life what-so-ever in that battery. Even trying to jump start it was futile. I ran to the parts store and got a new battery, put it in and she popped over after a few cranks. Then the familiar smell of gas.

I shut her off quickly, look in the engine bay and for what ever reason the after market in-line chrome Edlebrock fuel filter I had installed a couple years ago cracked right in half (never seen anything like it before), so off to the auto parts store I went again. I got the new fuel filter, put it in and finally my wife's car was off and running.

After changing oil in the Stang and checking air pressure on the tires I took my oldest son in the Vette and my wife took our other 4 kids in the Stang (we added a 3rd seat belt in the back seat last year) and off for a long cruise we went with the tops down, just enjoying the weather. We stopped at Sonic for dinner on the patio and got quite a few lookers as well as people stopping by to chat telling us they wished they would have pulled out their motorcycle or cars today as well.

I think I actually got a little sun / wind burn on my face.

Great day.

 

It don't get much better than that.....well maybe a few more degrees warmer.

 

Assume you used Stabil or some type of gas preservative? Still - -could have sucked some water or sediment from the tank that simply took a couple of miles to burn through. If it persists, perhaps double check plugs, wires or add a can of Chevron injector cleaner and fresh fuel.

 

Yes, I used Stabil in both vehicles. Thanks for the advice.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. It probably wont happen again.

 

What, after all that you forgot to bring a camera????

You know we love our pics here on the Forum.

 

Long winter sleep for any car isnt that good, I hope you started and drove them at least around the block. Letting a car lay without starting and driving for a mile or 2 can lead to problems.

1) the fuel isnt being circulated in the tank (sediments condensation etc. can build up at the bottom).

2) the engine isnt being turned over, mechanical parts internal and external arent being moved to prevent siezing up.

3) the suspension isnt working, not to mention the tires can flat spot if they sit in the same spot for long periods of time.

I believe that any mechanical part that doesnt get at least some use does more bad than good. During the winter I have started my car and drove it around the block a few times at least once every 2 weeks. (dry ground permitting). I hope you correct any problems you have.

Enjoy the verts (I own a triple black '08 myself)

 

I'll get some pictures posted.

 

I agree that is one of the philosophies of storing vehicles.

I've stored a number of muscle cars over the past 25 years, where I put them to bed in October and wake them up in spring and do nothing in between. Wisconsin (where I grew up before moving) and South Dakota have pretty tough winters so there isn't a lot of nice days to start the cars and drive them around the block. Also, I not a big fan of starting the car and letting it run in the garage since you'd have to do that for about 45 minutes to get rid of all the condensation, and you could introduce more moisture into your fuel system by doing that so I'm not a big fan of that.

New technology on tires have gone a long way of preventing flat spots (not to mention I put a triple layer of carpet under the tires).

There are pros and cons to all sides of the philosophy of storing vehicles.

The obvious choice is to move somewhere you can drive them year around but I kind of like where I live.

 

Send that weather this way will ya.....

 

I might try to bottle some up and uncork it during those -20F degree days we get in January .......

 

Finally someone close (relatively) to my neck of the woods! Are you planning on attending the Corvette Classic? I'm still waiting for my Z to be delivered here in Rapid from Kansas City... hopefully the next couple days I'll have her here!

 

I was hoping to until I found out I'll be flying out to Taiwan for business the morning all the vette owners head to the Black Hills.

I'll do the Hot Summer nights (Harleys & Vettes) here in Sioux Falls the evening before I leave and probably attend the car show at Billions Chevrolet that afternoon, but then it's off to Taiwan for 10 days.