I never start mine over the winter. As mentioned, introduces moisture that doesn't get boiled off in the cold engine. The battery tender is all that's needed.
Winter question!
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Drifting
Joined: May 2002
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From: Back in Nebraska
Winter question!
The car has been in the garage for 6 weeks hooked up to a battery tender. Does it need to be started and let idle for a while? There is too much salt and gravel on the roads for a drive.
Melting Slicks
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From: Howell N.J
Rich
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The quick answer is No. There are several old threads that talk about the best way to placing your Corvette into storage. Depending on the age or your Corvette will determine the best way to get it ready for hibernation. But one thing all of those post document say is once the car is put away is to just leave it. Do a search on general discussion tab of your corvette version and you'll find several threads on this topic.
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Hearing and feeling the V8 is the reward for the exercise, last time I started the car it sounded like a damn explosion :-)
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St. Jude Donor '13
I start mine every 2-3 weeks but I make sure I get the oil temp up, I also move it around a bit so that everything gets used a bit...I did that with my C6 and had no leaks etc.
Hearing and feeling the V8 is the reward for the exercise, last time I started the car it sounded like a damn explosion :-)
Hearing and feeling the V8 is the reward for the exercise, last time I started the car it sounded like a damn explosion :-)
Just starting and letting it idle for a couple of minutes is probably bad, and I don't do that.
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Drifting
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From: Houston Tx
Gearhead Jim has the proper caution. If you decide that you must start it (which most including me would say is not necessary) be certain that the oil temp is at least 170 before shut down (yes, oil temp -- the coolant temp is irrelevant). As Gearhead says, that will take quite a while if you stay in the garage or driveway. Reason for the caution is that combustion products contain water vapor, and some of those gases get past the piston rings as piston blowby, into the crankcase. When the engine and oil are cold, some of the water vapor condenses into liquid water, and that plus other components in the piston blowby make an ideal setup to form carboxylic acids. So what you accomplish with a brief startup is basically to inject some acid into your crankcase and oil. If you let the oil heat up to 170+, the water will evaporate and the carboxylic acids, with heat and without water, will break down. This same mechanism is the reason that most owner’s manuals say that if most of your trips are short (which prevents oil from getting above 170) you should change your oil more often.
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In 14 years of owning Corvettes I've never started them in the winter unless it was for some other reason.
I am a fan of leaving it on the ground (so suspension loaded), not in gear, and no parking brake engaged.
I am a fan of leaving it on the ground (so suspension loaded), not in gear, and no parking brake engaged.
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St. Jude Donor '13
^^^
I think there is some upside, particularly in exercising most of the other systems in the car. But nobody is doing long-term controlled tests to find out, so we all take our best guess.
I think there is some upside, particularly in exercising most of the other systems in the car. But nobody is doing long-term controlled tests to find out, so we all take our best guess.
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No, unless you plan to take it for a decent length drive to where everything can get up to temp and stay that way for a while, just leave it sitting in the garage hooked to a battery tender. It won’t hurt anything to let it sit a while longer.
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Drifting
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From: Back in Nebraska
Thanks everyone! I guess that I am a little anxious to get out on the road. I won't take it out until the roads are clear of the chemicals/salt and sand is washed away. It will be hard though, next week the temps are supposed to be in the upper 60's!
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From: Howell N.J
