stored car fluid changes
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 906
Likes: 196
From: Northeast, PA
If it were my car, I would change the oil before storing and again before starting it 4-5 years later.
I would pull the battery and put it on a tender in a controlled temp environment.
I would not do anything to the brakes before storage, I would bleed the brakes before driving, I do this every season just to get fresh fluid in the calipers/system.
Coolant System I would not do anything before storing, make sure it's topped off before driving.
Transmission I would change the fluid on the mileage intervals the manufacturer calls for.
This is just my opinion; I am sure others will have their own opinions.
I would pull the battery and put it on a tender in a controlled temp environment.
I would not do anything to the brakes before storage, I would bleed the brakes before driving, I do this every season just to get fresh fluid in the calipers/system.
Coolant System I would not do anything before storing, make sure it's topped off before driving.
Transmission I would change the fluid on the mileage intervals the manufacturer calls for.
This is just my opinion; I am sure others will have their own opinions.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,036
Likes: 9,798
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
If going into a long-term storage such as 5 years I would change the brake fluid, coolant and engine oil. The OM states the brake fluid and the coolant should be changed every 5 years no matter how few miles. The engine oil should be changed every year no matter how few miles. Assuming the car has some miles and some time on it since those items were serviced the last time all of them should be serviced when putting the car into storage and when taking it out of storage.
Bill
Bill
