Not letting engine sit all winter

[Frank.Herbst]

I see some want to put there Shelby up all winter. Have you ever seen an engine on the engine stand waiting to be installed. Oil stays on parts for a while but eventually slides off the moving parts and ends up in the oil pan. I was very surprised to see what happened when we rebuilt a BOSS 302 engine during a total restoration. Then engine was covered with plastic on a stand with out an oil pan. During the rebuild bearings and other parts were coated with engine assembly oil designed to hang on and be there for the first start. With the body out for metal work and paint it was months till time to install the engine. To my surprise all of the assembly lube ended up on the floor below the engine and it's much better at staying on parts than oil.
Bottom line is unless you have a pressurized oil priming system your engine will be getting a very dry start. Not to mention having your engine seals go with out oil and dry up.
I always start my Shelby once a month unless the weather is just crazy cold. So it might miss a month but not all winter.
Before we would take out the distributor and prime the engine with a drill or at least take the coil wire off and spin the engine and build up oil pressure before ignition. Don't know if there is any way to do this with all the new technology.

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[ZX3ST]

Before we would take out the distributor and prime the engine with a drill or at least take the coil wire off and spin the engine and build up oil pressure before ignition. Don't know if there is any way to do this with all the new technology.

You can hold the accelerator to the floor before starting. The engine will crank without starting until you release it. Or push the start button again to end the cycle without starting.

 

[JAJ]

In the 2020 GT350 Owner's Supplement, Ford indicates that 0w-40 can be used below 20 degrees F. If you want to start the engine and run it for a bit during a cold winter, you could swap the oil in the fall, start it once a month or so for the winter, then swap again in the spring. You wouldn't have to change the filter, just drain and refill the oil.

 

[Frank.Herbst]

ZX3ST,
You can hold the accelerator to the floor before starting. The engine will crank without starting until you release it. Or push the start button again to end the cycle without starting.

My first thought is could I find a way to mess this up and go wide open on start. Just my luck

JAJ,
0w-40 can be used below 20 degrees F

Maybe a good option for some of the guys. I insulated my garage and it stays in the upper 40s and 50s during the coldest part of winter here in Denver. I guess the heat from bringing in our daily drivers and heat from the interior house wall does the trick.

 

[Frank.Herbst]

You can hold the accelerator to the floor before starting. The engine will crank without starting until you release it. Or push the start button again to end the cycle without starting.

The more I think about this, I'm going to test this the next time I have the Shelby out. It will already be warmed up so if I mess up nothing can get hurt.
Thanks

 

[V8 Voodoo]

I thought it has been well settled to not start the car in the winter if you do not plan on driving it. Turning it on and letting it idle is actually worse than just letting it sit.

 

[Frank.Herbst]

I thought it has been well settled to not start the car in the winter if you do not plan on driving it. Turning it on and letting it idle is actually worse than just letting it sit.

I agree, I usually get at least one decent day each month. If not I'm OK with missing a month but not all winter.

 

[Alain]

You can hold the accelerator to the floor before starting. The engine will crank without starting until you release it. Or push the start button again to end the cycle without starting.

This is what I did with my Hellcat last year. It's very easy to do so no worries on messing it up and starting the car at full wide open throttle.

The engine will crank without starting and the oil pump should begin to circulate the oil through the engine.

I plan on doing this with all three of my rides next spring.

 

[key01]

You can hold the accelerator to the floor before starting. The engine will crank without starting until you release it. Or push the start button again to end the cycle without starting.

Thanks for this.

 

[RPDBlueMoon]

I thought it has been well settled to not start the car in the winter if you do not plan on driving it. Turning it on and letting it idle is actually worse than just letting it sit.

I think starting it and letting it idle would be worse than letting it sit to the point that the oil become depressurized and having a dry start from that. At least if you let it idle the engine could warm up and get up proper oil temperature.

There was a post in the S550 Mustang forums and someone pulled the manufacture recommendations and it said 15 minutes idle under the engine section. I can't find the post though but I know I saw that

 

[RPDBlueMoon]

The engine will crank without starting and the oil pump should begin to circulate the oil through the engine.

Stupid question but how long do you do that for?

 

[cdh027]

Stupid question but how long do you do that for?

I think this last spring I did it for 2 crank cycles and I had 100 psi oil pressure before starting.

 

[Tomster]

Here is what I think. Start the car every so often. If the car has sat for a while, pushing the clutch in as well as the throttle down to the floor will not allow the engine to start. The oil pressure will increase. After the second start attempt, you are at 50 PSI. You can hear a difference in the sound of the engine turning over as the oil pressure increases. After two start attempts, I let it start.

The way I figure it, the oil pressure has a head start and after a long winter sleep, maybe this technique will help. Some might say the pressure isn't high enough, but it's better than nothing.

 

[UnhandledException]

Does the 0w40 apply to all model years or only 2020 with the new engine bottom?

 

[Hack]

I see some want to put there Shelby up all winter. Have you ever seen an engine on the engine stand waiting to be installed. Oil stays on parts for a while but eventually slides off the moving parts and ends up in the oil pan. I was very surprised to see what happened when we rebuilt a BOSS 302 engine during a total restoration. Then engine was covered with plastic on a stand with out an oil pan. During the rebuild bearings and other parts were coated with engine assembly oil designed to hang on and be there for the first start. With the body out for metal work and paint it was months till time to install the engine. To my surprise all of the assembly lube ended up on the floor below the engine and it's much better at staying on parts than oil.
Bottom line is unless you have a pressurized oil priming system your engine will be getting a very dry start. Not to mention having your engine seals go with out oil and dry up.
I always start my Shelby once a month unless the weather is just crazy cold. So it might miss a month but not all winter.
Before we would take out the distributor and prime the engine with a drill or at least take the coil wire off and spin the engine and build up oil pressure before ignition. Don't know if there is any way to do this with all the new technology.

So I love the idea behind your thoughts. You want to preserve your engine. We all want that I think.

But I'm not sure your theory is correct. Your theory as I understand it is that more oil will drain out of the bearing areas in an entire winter than in a month. Right? Because you are saying that you want to start the car once a month to preserve it.

I'm not sure that's right. I think most of the oil will drain within HOURS. I think the difference between the amount of oil on the bearings and in the top end of the engine THE NEXT DAY after shutting down versus a MONTH later versus 3 or more MONTHS later is virtually identical.

I think a surprising amount of oil will stay in nooks and crannies for a long time as long as the engine doesn't move. However, the oil that's going to drain out - my theory is that it drains out relatively quickly. Certainly less than a week for it to drain down.

I think if you aren't driving the car daily and you are storing it, starting once a month just means a few more dry starts. The starts are virtually as dry as they would be if you let the car sit all winter. The best thing you can do is to have the storage area be cool, dark and dry. Additional starts I think are actually worse for the engine. Not a huge amount worse, but still slightly worse.

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