Boucherman

I know I'll get a few differing opinions, but can I store the Vette for the winter with only 1200 miles on the oil?? The percent will be at about 85% or so. I plan on driving for a few more weeks.
2015 Z51 Mobil One

Thanks

dvilin

Simply stated yes. No harm.

Power Hawk

I have about 1800 miles on the oil in my Corvette and plan on storing it w/o changing it.

LT1 Z51

I stored mine with 7300 miles on my car. Now I'll change it before starting it in the spring, but for now it will sit in the car.

justplainjim

I was in the exact same situation with 1200 miles. I changed it..

walleyejack

i have to agree with the majority, always left the oil in, stored, and changed in the spring, never hurt my last 3 cars.

Patman

Absolutely no problem at all leaving that oil in there for the winter. In fact, with my C6 I only change the only every two years, so for the winter storage period in the middle the oil would have anywhere between 3000 to 5000 miles on it. I get my oil analyzed every time I change it and it shows this to be a safe practice. I just can't bring myself to change the oil after one year if I have gone less than 5k, the oil is still in near perfect shape at that point.

walleyejack

PegasusCapital

There aren't going to be any problems with storing the car this way as the oil isn't going to be flowing anywhere anyway. The important thing is to get the oil changed ASAP in the Spring.

joeybsyc

I'm always amazed at how much my oil life monitor drops as the car is just sitting in the garage. Mines already at about 60% now with probably about 1000 miles or less since the last oil change. I'll bet it drops another 20% or more just parked in the garage over the winter. Seems like it moves down way quicker than it should.

LT1 Z51

The C7 algorithm has an aggressive time component. I think it wants you to change the oil every 12 months regardless of mileage. It's annoying.

Patman

That's not important at all, the oil still only has 1200 miles on it, and is still going to be suitable for continued use. After the long winter there will be a bit of moisture in the oil but that will evaporate after the first long drive. No harm no foul. IMO, there is no benefit to draining out perfectly good oil with such few miles on it.

23/C8Z

OP, i would change the filter before the restart if you're not going to start the car on the regular (think every 2 weeks or so). i would worry about the filter element.

Also i posted in a thread a couple weeks ago that they do NOT include magnetic drain plugs (two on the pan) in these cars. something i added. i know not many actual "metal parts" in there, but i can GUARANTEE you when i pull those plugs at next change they have stubble on them... oil hasn't been the issue for a while now.. to me, it's the degradation of the filter element and WHEN/IF the filter goes into bypass etc..

a good read

http://www.machinerylubrication.com/...***-filtration

JK 23112

Just make sure that you get the engine good and HOT before you change out the oil. You want all the 'stuff' {what little might be in there} to drain out with the old oil. Also, don't forget to replace the oil filter as well. Changing the oil and not the filter is like taking a shower and putting on dirty underwear.

My old house "closed" today with the new owner -- so I should be thinking about placing my C7 order sometime late next month. I now have a new house with a garage in which to keep a nice car. :-)

Maxpowers

As others said you have nothing to worry about.

JHundertmark

Ref #13 - Many opinions on this, however, I would not start the vehicle on a regular basis over the winter unless you are driving it. Starting it & letting it idle for 10 or 15 minutes will not warm up or lubricate the rest of the powertrain. In addition, idling will generally not get the oil warm enough to disperse moisture in the oil.

walleyejack

creates nothing positive letting it idle

jschindler

On the other hand, running the engine allows oil to recoat surfaces where the oil has drained down over time without the engine running. So what if it doesn't burn the water out? Logic says that if the water is there before you run the engine, and the water is there after you run the engine, what's the difference?

But it seems to me that I have seen something over the years about some sort of acid being formed....I'll have to google that.

I just googled and am finding a little, but not a lot of concrete information. But one thing I had not considered is that condensation forms as a result of the combustion process. Not just from the engine sitting over time.

So this may imply that starting an engine for a very short time is actually creating more water in the engine and that is why the engine has to run long enough to burn it off. I have found one source that indicates that ten minutes is required.

I think this is one of those topics that the more you study, the more you don't know.

John Ulrich

Let your conscience be your guide.

Patman

I don't think this really becomes a concern unless you're storing the car for an extremely long period of time, such as a year or two. For a 3 or 4 month period of time I don't think it's much of an issue at all. I've stored many different cars for the winters up here and not started them up and even after 4 solid months the engines fire up instantly and run smoothly with no strange noises. If those engines had insufficient lubrication, I'm sure it would be noticeable on that first initial start in the spring.

This is definitely a debate that has been going on for decades though, and I've got two decent reasons why I don't like to start an engine and just idle it and that's because it's a waste of my time, and it's a waste of fuel. If road conditions allow it, I like to take my car for a good long drive during the winter, that's the best solution of all, but if the roads never get fully dry and clear of that nasty salt they put down, I'd rather let my C6 stay asleep in the garage.