Do or don't do, sounds like you've already got your answer.

I thought you sold the car, that you just bought? Buyers remorse or something? If you're selling it, let it sit, start it or don't, drive it or don't, what's it matter if it's sold (or going to be)?

 

This is by far the funniest thread I've ever read. Thank you

 

I've owned 42 Corvettes and dozens of other vehicles over the last 47 years and have never had a an engine failure, even an engine repair, so I will continue to operate my vehicles the way I have been and you continue with the way you operate yours.

 

It doesn't need to be kept in any kind of climate controlled storage. But do keep a battery tender hooked up to it. There is no need to start it up. I put my C7 away for the winter, generally in November or early December, and get it our usually in late march. When I do, it starts up like I have been driving it every day. Like one member said, you are over-thinking it.

 

I guess I am one of those old guys - when I am not driving the car, it is hooked to a battery maintainer. Not sure why the hesitancy to use one, but your car, your choice. I have never had a battery fail using one and only replaced them after a lengthy period of time as a preventative measure.

I would agree with do not just start the car and let it idle for a few minutes. Better to just let it sit unless you can take it out for a ride and get all fluids up to temp.

 

My 2016 C7 is connected to a Deltran Battery Tender when parked in my garage. I started doing this back in 1987 with my first C4 and have had batteries last 10 years.

 

For the last 21 years, we have kept our current (now on #4) Corvette on a tender in our unheated garage where the temperature gets below freezing rather frequently.
I won't drive it on salty roads unless I can do a thorough underside flush promptly.

Twice per month December-March, I start it up and let it idle for a few minutes, then drive back & forth on our clear driveway (50 yds each way) a few times. Let it idle for a few minutes while I exercise every switch and control (there's lots of them!), then up and down the drive some more. Use brakes moderately then firmly, turn the steering full lock multiple times, use different gears, etc. Total run time is about 30 minutes, coolant gets up to normal fairly soon, oil temp takes longer but does get to 175.

Despite the wailing of those who seem convinced that this will somehow ruin the car, none of them have had any unusual problems and one was still running really great after 8 winters and 100k+ miles.
I get oil analysis after every oil change just from curiosity, the change after my winter runs shows identical to a summer-only run.

Probably it doesn't make any difference, but my procedure certainly isn't hurting anything.
But I don't just run it for a couple of minutes.

 

You actually let your Corvettes idle for more than 30 seconds? Do you realize how much damage you are doing to the engine??? How could your Corvette engine possibly have lasted 100,000 miles??? And keeping your battery on a tender, that's just insane.

 

I totally disagree with the above statement regarding battery maintainers, these late model Corvettes are notorious for having battery drain down issues while sitting idle, for less than $100. you can have peace of mind that the car will start after sitting for a few weeks or longer

 

If you let the car sit for two weeks, you will most likely wish you had put it on a battery maintainer because the probability of the car not starting is high. Cold to cool weather and there is a constant discharge load due to electronics in the car will definitely pull the battery down. I would guess that at three/four weeks it is highly likely to be unable to start. These high compression engines do not turn over easily also. It is your call but my 2019 Z06 is on its second battery as the maintainer failed due to a power blip over last winter. FWIW, I was in a care facility having my knees rereplaced due to an infection so couldn't check on it . Nonetheless I ended up buying a new battery once I could get into the car again. $100 and a little electricity for a good maintainer (NOCO or CTEK) or $300+ for a new battery, your call. Tip, I am always concerned about forgetting to disconnect the maintainer so loop the extension cord over the drivers outside mirror as a reminder to remove it..

 

I thought we were done when you gave the ultimatum that you were old, stubborn, and enjoyed ignoring facts.

 

You try so hard to appear knowledgeable, however the more you post the more your knowledge on Corvettes becomes suspect. According to you, idling for more than 30 seconds at startup will damage your engine? You don't need a battery tender even when storing your C7 for 6 months?
Yes, I'm ignoring your non-facts................ While it's not a good idea to idle your engine say over 5-10 minutes, show me proof where idling an engine over 30 seconds at startup has damaged one. Show me a C7 where you can store it in the cold for 6 months without a battery tender and it starts right up.

 

Your Z06, like mine, is a forced induction motor, thus it actually has far LESS compression than an NA counterpart.

Nobody can show proof of anything.
IMO it isn't going to do any tangible damage, it's just totally pointless and pollutes way more than just driving and getting warmed up fast.
Obviously the longer an engine is cold the more fuel dissolves into the oil, so that's not good, but does it matter? Probably not unless you don't change oil responsibly.
Plus internal oiling isn't so great at idle speed with freezing cold oil. And we have a pushrod engine, so I believe oil splash is a main method of oiling the camshaft, something that doesn't happen well at idle with thick oil.
Again, probably no tangible difference even after years of doing it one way or another.

 

OP is parked inside. Windshield will be clear. One minute warmup is enough. Then drive gently until completely warm.

 

Nope. I feel that this is a gross misinterpretation of what was said in order to sensationalize something to make some sort of point -- I forget my audience sometimes, so let me try to clear it up.

Soot deposition is an issue when running below operating temperature. Condensation is an issue when running cold. Extending the runtime in these conditions increases the soot and water deposition into your oil, which can lead to increased wear and in the worst cases premature component failure. This is what was said.

It's super-fantastic that it hasn't happened to you, and I'm genuinely happy that you've had no perceived issues with your methods. If I had to assume, you must have excellent maintenance habits, which largely addresses (albeit wastefully) the above-mentioned issues. Kudos to you!

The fact of the matter is between the two strategies, one is objectively better for both the engine and the environment. So why not just do the better thing?

No, but this is pretty nuanced so let me try to cover the big points here.

To directly answer your question? No. I do not need a battery tender. I'm guessing you and others who swear by battery tenders don't disconnect your battery, though. I do.

I don't use a battery maintainer. Ever. They are just another wasteful thing that I need to spend some amount of time managing -- hell, if I'm hooking up a maintainer, I'm already touching the battery, might as well undo one 10mm nut instead. That's free.

So if I'm going to be storing a car beyond the projected lifespan of the battery, I will unhook the battery. If it's a flooded lead-acid battery, which the C7 unfortunately has from the factory, that means by the books you have about 8 months before it self-discharges to the point it is considered "dead" -- however, experience has taught me that this figure is more like 12-16 months, of course assuming it's a healthy battery to begin with. If it's an AGM, it's practically a nonissue as this battery technology has an extremely low self-discharge rate.

Let's talk about "projected lifespan of the battery" because that's the crux of this argument. The parasitic drain on your battery imposed by the car plus the self-discharge rate of the battery itself plus the specced depth of discharge on the battery gives the C7 around 5 months on a healthy battery before you'll have serious concerns. The majority of discharge here is because it's a flooded lead acid battery. The parasitic drain shouldn't be more than 10mA -- if it is, something's up. So swap an AGM in there like Chevy should have done to begin with and those 5 months become a very comfortable 8-12.

But hey.. that's bad for the battery. Following the idea of "just do the better thing" above, people plug their car into the nearest outlet. I opt to not incur the expense and concern of a maintainer and just disconnect the battery. Same end result, I'm just cheap.

 

Battery life will be the limiting factor. I'd not go beyond about 2 weeks at a time. Don't overthink the rest - start - drive - have fun. Vettes in storage are sad vettes

 

I don't think anyone is saying it will hurt the engine (unless I missed it). The point is it is pointless to let it idle for 5-10 minutes. In 30 below I've been know to let it idle for almost 5 minutes but that is just so all the frost melts off the outside of the windshield if it's been parked outside.

 

It takes literally 1 second to plug in the maintainer into the socket provided in the cargo area. How long take you to get your wrench and to get to that 10mm nut? I think I'll survive without the 60 bucks or whatever I paid for the maintainer.

 

You make good points and I agree. My point was that you are not going to destroy your engine by letting it idle for more than 30-60 seconds at startup. I expect many of us like to warm up our Corvettes for at least 5 minutes to get a little warm air blowing into the cabin as opposed to cold air when we take it out for a drive on a clear cold winter day.

You also make another good point. We dissect oil filters to try to determine which is best, we go on and on for days arguing which oil is the best, however like you stated, as long as you change your oil responsibly you really don't have to worry much about filters/oils/idle duration etc.
As I stated earlier, my 96 Tacoma has 415,000 miles on it and has never had an engine cover removed, much engine repairs. But then the oil & filter has been changed every 5,000 miles in it's 26 years.

 

Mark of Titus-Will in Olympia, WA (after mine died in the garage) stated that you have 25 - 30 days of normal starting/running without a maintainer (of course there are so many variables). He strongly recommended one after, like you, I didn't want to mess with one until it died, threw all kinds of codes, which disappeared after being on the maintainer and driving the car......I became a convert. I get it, I should be able to hop in my modern car and go for a spin but this one is complicated and filled with devices/systems which create a constant drain.....