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Could someone give me a "for dummies" version of what to focus on as winter approaches. Getting cold here - I am guessing maybe another 3 weeks or so before I park the car till spring. Thanks!
I usually inflate tires to about 35psi, add stabil to fuel and run through the system and hook it up to a battery tender. Cover it up and pray for an early spring.
I usually inflate tires to about 35psi, add stabil to fuel and run through the system and hook it up to a battery tender. Cover it up and pray for an early spring.
4 or 5 months is more like extended parking than storage. Battery tender, air up tires, fresh oil. Nothing more. (cars with metal gas tanks I'll fill the tank to prevent condensation). Been doing it that way for over 35 years with all sort of cars including 10 Vettes. Never had a problem.
If you can find any stations local to you, fill up with ethanol free gas. Also place some fabric softener dryer sheets on top of the tires and in the engine compartment. Place some aluminum pie pans in the interior and place some dryer sheets in the pans. Mice don't like the dryer sheets.
Air tires to 40 psi and put a float charger on the battery(Harbor Freight $9 units work just as well as the $100 units.
Next spring, reduce the tire's air pressure, disconnect the float charger, and give the dryer sheets to your wife, and drive off.
If you can find any stations local to you, fill up with ethanol free gas. Also place some fabric softener dryer sheets on top of the tires and in the engine compartment. Place some aluminum pie pans in the interior and place some dryer sheets in the pans. Mice don't like the dryer sheets.
Air tires to 40 psi and put a float charger on the battery(Harbor Freight $9 units work just as well as the $100 units.
Next spring, reduce the tire's air pressure, disconnect the float charger, and give the dryer sheets to your wife, and drive off.
Also spraying caster oil or peppermint oil on the garage floor around/under your car will work to repel mice.
A friend was telling me the other day that he and his wife went on an ocean cruise a couple of weeks ago. They decided to drive his new pickup to Florida to board the ship and leave his wife's Subaru Forrester at home, in the garage(separate from the house). Her car hadn't been driven in a couple of weeks before they left for Florida.
When they got back, his wife went to start her car to run to the grocery store and it would not start, just the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. He opened the hood and a pack rat had taken over(it was there when he opened the hood, staring at him), eating the wiring insulation and the vacuum hoses, etc., and filled the engine compartment up with shiny things and acorns, etc.
All the wiring harnesses etc. have to be replaced. He said the pack rat sure made a mess of things. At least it wasn't his Corvette that was in the house attached garage, but his wife sure is pissed..
Not here you wouldn't. Picture below is mid winter.
One thing no one mentioned. Don't start the car until you are ready to drive it in the spring. I have heard some people say to start it once a month. Unless you bring it up to normal operating temperature, all you do is put sulfuric acid in your exhaust system.
Last edited by SMFCPACFP; Nov 5, 2015 at 06:16 PM.
"Summer" tires have been known to crack in the cold...ESPECIALLY if they are moved when cold. There are many posts on the subject.
TOTALLY agree with the advise not to start the car.
Fresh oil and filter. Stabilize the fuel. Anything that keeps mice/rats away from the car.
Car cover? I'm a bit on the fence and do not use one...although I used to and sometimes think about doing it again. The benefits are somewhat obvious...the downside not so much. My biggest concern is covers put the car in the dark...and mice LOVE dark confined spaces.
Keep the car in an enclosed dry space and reasonable ventilation... i.e. a typical garage.
Usually the insurance coverage can be adjusted during storage so as to save some premium dollars.
Winterizing Z06
