Question: Storing for the snow months

[killain]

In December tha snow will start and that means not driving the vette through the salt and snow, brine, ect. I've gotten some advice about storing the car. One rule of thought says leave the car unstarted for the months sitting as 70% of engine wear happens at start up ? and the second, is putting carpet under the tires. Anyone know why the carpet under the tires, or leaving the car on a float charger and not starting the engine for the three months? Thanks in advance.

 

[vett boy]

No harm even though there has been a bunch of threads on this subject.One thing ,your in PA ,depending on where in PA your winters aren't that long.My guess is 4months or so.Hell other than battery I don't think you have many concerns.

 

[ScottNoxid]

In December tha snow will start and that means not driving the vette through the salt and snow, brine, ect. I've gotten some advice about storing the car. One rule of thought says leave the car unstarted for the months sitting as 70% of engine wear happens at start up ? and the second, is putting carpet under the tires. Anyone know why the carpet under the tires, or leaving the car on a float charger and not starting the engine for the three months? Thanks in advance.

I am no way a technician but my school of thought has been to keep the tires from direct contact with the concrete for extended periods of time. I understand the concrete will deplete the air somewhat, so I keep mine on carpet or rubber. The other stuff is a matter of feeling good just to go out and start of the vette just to hear it hummmm, and I do keep a trickle charge on the battery.

SC:WTT

 

[killain]

No harm even though there has been a bunch of threads on this subject.One thing ,your in PA ,depending on where in PA your winters aren't that long.My guess is 4months or so.Hell other than battery I don't think you have many concerns.

Thanks for the info. My own thoughts are to run the engine at least once every two weeks or so. I just changed the oil, so the Mobil 1 is pristine condition. And thank you for the note on putting the topic on having carpet under the tires Mr. ScottNoxid !

 

[Patrick]

I am no way a technician but my school of thought has been to keep the tires from direct contact with the concrete for extended periods of time. I understand the concrete will deplete the air somewhat, so I keep mine on carpet or rubber.

Hmm. I hadn't heard that.

From my own personal observation, what I've encountered is that at this time of year, when the temps drop to below freezing for extended periods, the effect it has is on the air inside the tire. Cold condenses air molecules, which has the effect of compressing the air. In a closed environment, that can cause it to look like the tire pressure is low.

So when you keep the car parked for an extended period of time, with the air becoming more dense through the cold months, it has the potential to create an artificial flat edge on the part of the tire in contact with the garage floor. I think the only benefit of having carpet under the tire would be to provide some insulation from the cold concrete.

 

[vett boy]

Some say start some don't but I always had a hard time not hearing the exhaust rumble every once in awhile.One thing it would recommend is bring the oil temp up to 200 plus degrees I always use to mark April 1st as coming out day and marked the calender

 

[Remo]

The Dreaded Winter Months

I get it cleaned up real good, put in the garage, hook up the battery tender and leave it alone for five months. During that period I take my winter meds and try not to think about it.
Remo:cool

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

In December tha snow will start and that means not driving the vette through the salt and snow, brine, ect. I've gotten some advice about storing the car. One rule of thought says leave the car unstarted for the months sitting as 70% of engine wear happens at start up ? and the second, is putting carpet under the tires. Anyone know why the carpet under the tires, or leaving the car on a float charger and not starting the engine for the three months? Thanks in advance.

The idea of not starting it is correct, but it's 90% of engine wear occurs during start up, not ameasly 70%. The carpet under the tires thing is bad science.

Hook up a battery tender and let the car sit.

 

[BigJimZ16]

A good wash and wax, a full gas tank with the appropriate amount of Stabil, over-inflate the tires to 35psi, hook up the battery tender, put on the car cover, open a bottle of Makers Mark, and wait for spring.

 

[killain]

OK, I think that the recommendation to fill the tank and hook up the foat- charger is the way to go. It's in a nice tight dry stone garage, not heated but dry. So I plan on leaving it from December till April. I drive my little Cavalier winter car for the snow months. thanks !

 

[GS Diva]

We fill up the tanks, wash the car inside and out, hook up the battery tenders, and then cover (my '05 has a red satin cover!!). That's it until about the first of April. We do go into the garage every so often to say hi.

Our big day to put the "kids" to bed is about Dec. 1st.

Elaine

 

[BigJimZ16]

We fill up the tanks, wash the car inside and out, hook up the battery tenders, and then cover (my '05 has a red satin cover!!). That's it until about the first of April. We do go into the garage every so often to say hi.

Our big day to put the "kids" to bed is about Dec. 1st.

Elaine

Don't forget to back it in for a rapid escape in the spring!!

 

[vett boy]

Don't forget to back it in for a rapid escape in the spring!!

That is probably the most important .

 

[vett boy]

The idea of not starting it is correct, but it's 90% of engine wear occurs during start up, not ameasly 70%. The carpet under the tires thing is bad science.

Hook up a battery tender and let the car sit.

I'm going to respectfully disagree on two counts .As long as the engine oil is brought up to temp it's no more damaging than starting the car any other time .Hell we've got 10-12 vehicles that start 6 days a week summer and winter .All the vehicles including diesels have synthetic oil .Even on the coldest day -50 (w/wind chill) .I've never experienced an engine problem .Second item is the carpet under the tires .Concrete in the past ten years have some seriously nasty add-mixtures included in most mixes .Read a few MSDS sheets and you probably won't want to walk on it.I park the Vetts and other cars we rent storage to on insulated wood floors. Like I said I respectfully disagree

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Like I said I respectfully disagree

And there's nothing wrong in that. :cool

Whether the correct figure is 50, 70 or 90%, it still represents unnecessary engine wear. The engines don't need to be started, no harm comes to them if they sit static for month after month and there's nothing gained by starting them.

The specific bad science about the tires was with respect to concrete causing air to leak out and that carpet (or anything) sitting underneath would prevent it. If you've got specific examples of tires being affected by concrete additives, then that's a different kettle of frozen fish.

 

[LLC5]

Fuel stabilizer and a battery tender are a good idea on any vehicle stores for months. Occasionally starting the vehicle, without driving the vehicle for 20-30 minutes, usually just creates more condensation in the exhaust and engine.

 

[killain]

Winter. . .

Well while we're on the subject, I have the 2003 50th AE red coupe with the aluminum /chapagne colored wheels and I'll be damned if I can go 40 days or more without the tires losing 10 PSI. Over the last five years I've tried everything to figure it out ie: stems, seals even silconed the tire bead, still loses 10 PSi every 40 - 45 days ?

 

[BigJimZ16]

Well while we're on the subject, I have the 2003 50th AE red coupe with the aluminum /chapagne colored wheels and I'll be damned if I can go 40 days or more without the tires losing 10 PSI. Over the last five years I've tried everything to figure it out ie: stems, seals even silconed the tire bead, still loses 10 PSi every 40 - 45 days ?

Most probably air leaching through the porousness of the wheel. If so the only cure is replacement. In your case I think I'd just check the tires a little more often if this was the problem.

 

[TooFast]

Don't recall seeing this comment but if you do start it, you need to make sure that all of the moisture is evaporated out of the exhaust system. if you start it periodically over the winter and do not allow the system to come up to temperature for a while you will get condensaion build up that will eventually cause problems.

In regard to the tires, they can "flat spot" if it gets cold enough and you do not reinflate the tires (tire pressure can drop as much as 7-10psi in very cold, unheated garages) unless you put some kind of soft, thick, rubber mats under them or elevate the car, removing all of the car weight. In my personal experience, the flat spotting goes away after about 5-10 minutes of driving on them in the Spring.

As far as initial start up damaging the engine, I remember a test performed back in the early '90's when Mobil 1 was first introduced, an independant lab took a brand new oldsmobile 6 cyl out of a Cutlass and they measured the entire engine internals with a micrometer, they then ran the engine for for 100K miles, simulating all kinds of road conditions including initial start ups. They dissassembled the engine, and measured everything; the results, no appreciable change in any of the dimensions, in essence, no measureable wear.