Storing the car for the winter

[Rypkr937]

I'm going to put the car away the first time our roads see any road salt. If it's sitting from say november-march should I add stabil, and should I top off the tank with gas also?

My other question is as far as battery tender, is there any reason I can not jumper it off the same tender I have my motorcycle on? I did that last year with my lawn tractor to motorcycle and it kept both fully charged all winter. Can I jumper them three ways this year?

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[Evolvd]

Put it on floor jacks and fill up with premium gas with stabilizer and then run the car a few minutes to get the stabilizer into all the lines. Don't start the vehicle and I'd remove the battery completely and leave it on a tender. These aren't my recommendations but that of many articles I've read over the years.

 

[H6G]

I would also change the oil before storing it....
As far as jumping the battery tender three ways.... I've done it before and it worked.

 

[Rypkr937]

Put it on floor jacks and fill up with premium gas with stabilizer and then run the car a few minutes to get the stabilizer into all the lines. Don't start the vehicle and I'd remove the battery completely and leave it on a tender. These aren't my recommendations but that of many articles I've read over the years.

What's the reason for puttting it on floor jacks and removing the battery?

I would also change the oil before storing it....
As far as jumping the battery tender three ways.... I've done it before and it worked.

Interesting. Why do you say to change the oil? I was going to first thing in the spring... why do a $80 oil change that sits for 5 months?

 

[2015 Silver GT]

It's important to change the oil before you store it not after to get all the contaminents out. In the Spring when you get it out of storage just take it out for a long drive.


Putting it on floor jacks is not necessary but a battery tender is a good idea.

 

[Rypkr937]

It's important to change the oil before you store it not after to get all the contaminents out. In the Spring when you get it out of storage just take it out for a long drive.


Putting it on floor jacks is not necessary but a battery tender is a good idea.

So change the oil now and it'll be good to go all summer next year?? (I run amsoil XL and only drive 5-6k over the summer)

 

[CliffClavin]

What's the reason for puttting it on floor jacks and removing the battery?



Interesting. Why do you say to change the oil? I was going to first thing in the spring... why do a $80 oil change that sits for 5 months?

The idea of the floor jacks is to prevent flat spotting tires as it sits on the same spot of the tire for a prolonged period of time. I have several vehicles in storage in a temperature controlled environment and have never had issue with this dating back a number of years for the period specified by the OP.

You change the oil to remove the contaminants that would otherwise sit in the engine and crankcase for a long period of time. In terms of the battery, I don't remove the batteries from my stored vehicles and instead just put the clips on the terminals. Again, no issue here.

 

[H6G]

Interesting. Why do you say to change the oil? I was going to first thing in the spring... why do a $80 oil change that sits for 5 months?

Because you would rather keep clean oil in the engine. Especially if it's going to sit for five months. Besides, once you pull it out of storage.... You'll start with clean oil.

 

[Armen]

Ummm... Not to disagree with anyone, but I'd be more likely to change the oil in the spring after it's been sitting all winter cooling and warming in the pan and possibly building up some condensation in the process. That's just my opinion tho.

I know a lot of guys get some piece of mind with adding Seafoam or Stabil to their tanks when storing for the winter, but honestly, it's a sealed fuel system and sitting for just 3-6 months really isn't go to hurt the fuel.

 

[Rypkr937]

I don't remove the batteries from my stored vehicles and instead just put the clips on the terminals. Again, no issue here.

Clips?

Because you would rather keep clean oil in the engine. Especially if it's going to sit for five months. Besides, once you pull it out of storage.... You'll start with clean oil.

I guess I still don't understand. My oil is about 3,000 miles old. It should be good for over 10k. My oil life monitor says I have 80% life or so. So if I weren't storing my car I would keep driving it with this oil for several more months. How could simply sitting with this oil somehow be more harmful than driving with this oil? I know it sounds like I'm being a d***, I'm just having a hard time understanding the concept (you may be well be right, I'm just playing devils advocate and asking why).

Ummm... Not to disagree with anyone, but I'd be more likely to change the oil in the spring after it's been sitting all winter cooling and warming in the pan and possibly building up some condensation in the process. That's just my opinion tho.

This was my thought process exactly. I thought if my oil was still good it should be fine to store it in. And it would be much better to start with brand new oil in the spring than 5 month old oil with 0 miles.

 

[Evolvd]

https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/10/how-to-store-your-car-for-winter

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-to-prep-your-car-for-long-term-storage.html

http://blog.caranddriver.com/how-to-store-a-car-for-the-winter/

 

[Khyber]

I would fall into tears if I had to store a car. the thought of it saddens me lol

 

[2015 Silver GT]

So change the oil now and it'll be good to go all summer next year?? (I run amsoil XL and only drive 5-6k over the summer)

Absolutely. I use Amsoil myself and change my oil just once a year in the Fall just before Winter storage. Been doing that for many years on all my Mustangs.

 

[Finally]

I'd suggest using Startron instead of Stabil. My mechanics all recommend it, and based on personal results I can absolutely vouch for its effectiveness in both gas and diesel fuel storage.

 

[Rypkr937]

https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/10/how-to-store-your-car-for-winter

http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-to-prep-your-car-for-long-term-storage.html

http://blog.caranddriver.com/how-to-store-a-car-for-the-winter/

Thank you for the articles.

I'm honestly not sold. I can't fathom how sitting in oil with 25% of it's lifespan used is more damaging than driving 50 miles a day in that oil, and then sitting in it for 23 more hours a few days per week.

Basically my rationale is this. If I had conventional oil being changed on a 3000/6month rotation and it had been in the car for 2000 and 2 months I can agree with the recommendation. But when we have oils rated for 5+ times that today I think that justification is invalid. If we argue that todays synthetics have has the same amount of contaminants in at 2000 miles (even though it's only a fraction of their lifespan) then it would be as equally not wise to drive any farther than 3000 miles on said oil.

Again, not trying to be a d***. I just can't follow how this makes any sense if the oil would have been fine to DRIVE with all winter.

Yes/no?

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