Proper maintenance when you have to leave the car for two months?
 

I have to fly back to my hometown in China for two months give or take a couple of weeks, and I will have to leave my less than 1K miles BRZ in the Sunny Florida for the summer. After that, I will have to drive all the way from Florida to California for college. Is there anything I should be careful about when I leave the car?

I might have to leave it under Sunshine (with cover) but I am trying to see if I can put it in a garage somewhere. Will the battery run out and should I be prepared in case that happens? Also, since I will have to drive more than 3k right after I come back in August and I might not have the time to get an oil change and other inspection, I plan to change it earlier (I wanted to upgrade the transmission oil and break fluids anyways), is that preferable?

My collector cars sometimes sit for 2 months-- no big deal.


But your battery might very well go dead in that time period. If you can put it in a garage and get a Battery Maintainer to keep the battery fully charged it would be a lot better.


Regarding the oil change, Scion stipulates changing every 7.5 months or 7500 miles, so follow those recommendations.


What brake fluid do you plan to upgrade to? DOT 4 is fine and I wouldn't worry about "upgrading" unless you plan track events.




Jim

Fuel inside the car might begin to expire. Try leaving less than 1/4 in the tank, so when you get back you can fill up on fresh gas.

What if I can't?

Car will be fine, disconnect the battery if you are concerned that it will run down, but I doubt it.

We constantly store car for winter (5 months) a year. Just disconnect battery negative terminal, as battery will discharge (half, if not full capacity). PB batteries wear out very quickly when not full. It would be best to fully charge battery before leaving (with external charger) and leave it disconnected. You will be able to lock/unlock car with key :)

As for fuel and oil - I wouldn't worry at all. Fuel definitely won't go bad in such time period and oil does not go bad so quickly as well (you could change it every 2 years if you drive rarely). 7 month oil change is recommended taking short drive cycles in mind (warm up, couple miles drive, cool down). When car sits in place oil can definitely sit longer than 7 months.

I leave cars in Fl. each summer when I travel north, if you want to keep the presets and "learned" parameters then a battery tender or a solar charger will be needed. Leaving the tank drained is ok but leaving a partial tank of gas is not recommended as almost every night the temperature drops below dew point, and water condenses out. By filling the tank there is very little air moving in and out from temperature and barometric changes. If you can find fuel with no ethanol "called REC fuel" that is used in boats it will absorb less water. I add stable to the fuel to help keep it from separating. I leave collector cars for extended periods all the time. The very best is to have a friend start and run long enough to get op to running temp every couple of weeks.

Consider renting a secure storage unit with electrical power.

Having a friend starting it every couple of weeks as mentioned is a good idea. Also, considering the climate, have them run the a/c on full cold, fresh air to floor and w/s while the car warms up to dry condensation and help prevent mold formation.

Not a good idea to leave it so low with ethanol these days. More likely to rust the tank (though I have no idea what our tanks are made out of...)


Personally, I'd throw some sta-bil in, throw some desiccant packets into the car (easy to make your own from silica based cat litter), and either remove the battery (to be put on a tender at some other location) or have the tender at the car.


Personally I'd be more worried about the weather getting to it if it's not in shelter.

For the battery to charge, should I just keep the car running or do I need to run it at certain speed?

This. I've had motorcycle tanks rust quickly and fuel gel in the carbs within a month or two. Fill the tank and use a fuel stabilizer. The ethanol in fuel will absorb water and degrade the fuel more quickly than gasoline of the old days.

Two months isn't that long, but you may also flat spot your tires. Best way to keep them from flat-spotting is to get your car on jackstands. You could also get the little rubber pads that you'd roll the car up onto that would inhibit this from happening.

I would also find somewhere that you can store it indoors - a garage or rented storage space. That time out of the Florida sun will do your car a lot of good. Make sure it's clean when you put it away as well... not to mention getting a shiny car out of storage will be that much nicer!

For most Denso alternators like ours I've seen, 2,200rpm+ provides maximum output. Idling won't cut it and become a net negative drain.