Drain STA-BIL gas after storing for winter?

[that_guy]

Steps to storing:

1. Clean car.
2. Change the oil (filter not necessary as it wont do anything with the car not moving).
3. Fill fuel tank and run for 5min with fuel stabilizer.
4. Park car on blocks of wood (tires, never let suspension hang), place bounty sheets in and around wires, engine bay, under the car, inside the car, etc to prevent critters from having a snack.
5. Put battery tender on car or remove the terminals from the battery (remove entirely from car if you wish and place on block of wood).
6. Cover exhaust tips to avoid risk of having cooked critter in Spring.
7. Inflate tires to max PSI recommended on the tires.
8. Cover car.

I parked mine on a tarp this year to keep moisture transfer down while in the garage. I also sprayed lithium grease on various bolts in the engine bay to prevent rust/condensation.

This seems to work well for me. To avoid issues with my summer wheels/tires, I just put the stock back on this year.

[1Cor10:23]

Thanks everyone for the tips - two quick questions:

1) how important is it to change the oil before storing? (I've got Eneos Sustina in there right now, about ~4,500 KM)

2) would you start the car to drive around a bit or wait until spring before touching ignition?

Thanks!

[RFB]

Originally Posted by 1Cor10:23

Thanks everyone for the tips - two quick questions:

1) how important is it to change the oil before storing? (I've got Eneos Sustina in there right now, about ~4,500 KM)

2) would you start the car to drive around a bit or wait until spring before touching ignition?

Thanks!

Seems like a waste to put new oil in it pre storage, then let it sit and absorb moisture for months of extreme temp. variation. Used (not spent) oil in a non running engine seems to me to be able to keep corrosion away, drain and refill in the spring with fresh new oil !




CERBERUS

[wbradley]

I always change oil/filter just before storage. Read somewhere about acidity in oil with dissolved fuel (old oil). I time my oil changes so the car is ready for one before storage +/- a few kms.

My checklist:
-fresh oil/filter
-full tank w/ stabilizer added while filling, run thru engine driving home 5 mins
-tires pressurized to max rating
-battery tender

That's it. Very simple and never had any issues.

This year I will not start the engine at all. Reason is, avoiding warming engine avoids water from condensation.

I disagree with car cover, it can hold in condensation and the car can take hits you wont realize you are doing if you cant see it. Dust washes off in the spring or California duster occasionally.

[that_guy]

Originally Posted by 1Cor10:23

Thanks everyone for the tips - two quick questions:

1) how important is it to change the oil before storing? (I've got Eneos Sustina in there right now, about ~4,500 KM)

2) would you start the car to drive around a bit or wait until spring before touching ignition?

Thanks!

Never start the car while it's in storage. Bringing it up to operating temp and then allowing it to cool is a great way to cause condensation to form in the engine and for rust to form inside it. Just set it and forget it.

Changing the oil is to get the acidity out of the old oil (fresh additives and no contaminants in the oil for storage). I didn't do it because I only had 2,500kms on the oil, but generally I would just drain and fill with something cheap, like Castrol GTX. Just something that's not dirty. Then you run the car for about 50kms after storage and drain/fill with new filter in the spring. But to each their own.

Originally Posted by wbradley

I always change oil/filter just before storage. Read somewhere about acidity in oil with dissolved fuel (old oil). I time my oil changes so the car is ready for one before storage +/- a few kms.

My checklist:
-fresh oil/filter
-full tank w/ stabilizer added while filling, run thru engine driving home 5 mins
-tires pressurized to max rating
-battery tender

That's it. Very simple and never had any issues.

This year I will not start the engine at all. Reason is, avoiding warming engine avoids water from condensation.

I disagree with car cover, it can hold in condensation and the car can take hits you wont realize you are doing if you cant see it. Dust washes off in the spring or California duster occasionally.

Bingo.

Only way to prevent rust forming inside the engine is to fog the cylinders with a fogging oil. The only easy way to do this on a flat 4 (rather than pull the plugs) is to just feed a vac line while it's running. This will pull it in past the valves and through the intake and into the cylinders. But it will stall the car out, so make sure it's in the final resting place when you do it.

Again, I didn't bother with this step.

[1Cor10:23]

This has been very informative - thanks everyone!

[stugray]

Originally Posted by that_guy

Steps to storing:

1. Clean car.
2. Change the oil (filter not necessary as it wont do anything with the car not moving).
3. Fill fuel tank and run for 5min with fuel stabilizer.
4. Park car on blocks of wood (tires, never let suspension hang), place bounty sheets in and around wires, engine bay, under the car, inside the car, etc to prevent critters from having a snack.
5. Put battery tender on car or remove the terminals from the battery (remove entirely from car if you wish and place on block of wood).
6. Cover exhaust tips to avoid risk of having cooked critter in Spring.
7. Inflate tires to max PSI recommended on the tires.
8. Cover car.

I parked mine on a tarp this year to keep moisture transfer down while in the garage. I also sprayed lithium grease on various bolts in the engine bay to prevent rust/condensation.

This seems to work well for me. To avoid issues with my summer wheels/tires, I just put the stock back on this year.

WOW!

Just ....WOW!

A bit of overkill. Now you make me feel guilty for leaving my lawnmower out in the snow....

And as for changing the oil but NOT the filter.... WOW again.
$50 worth of oil, runined/degraded by not changing a $5 filter?

[Thorpedo]

Originally Posted by that_guy

Bingo.

Only way to prevent rust forming inside the engine is to fog the cylinders with a fogging oil. The only easy way to do this on a flat 4 (rather than pull the plugs) is to just feed a vac line while it's running. This will pull it in past the valves and through the intake and into the cylinders. But it will stall the car out, so make sure it's in the final resting place when you do it.

Again, I didn't bother with this step.

I would disagree with this point. Cylinders don't typically rust over the period of a winter when an engine isn't open to the elements (removed intake for example). Also the fogging oil does nothing to prevent engine components that aren't exposed to to the intake tract from rusting, although these don't typically rust either. If the engine is going to be stored for a very extended period there are measures I would take, but having been an engine builder for years I can tell you that no form of fogging oil that I have seen will get near an engine that I own.

Shut the engine down with the proper amount of relative fresh oil, keep air in the tires (or store them if they are a soft compound), full the fuel tank and add the proper amount of stabilizer. Keep your local pests out with common sense measures. I also run a small wattage solar battery tender to keep it topped off. I don't even unhook the terminals and mine starts fine in the spring. I normally change the oil in the spring but given the high oil temps our engines see I cannot imagine any small amount of condensation build up in the oil would last long.

[that_guy]

Originally Posted by stugray

WOW!

Just ....WOW!

A bit of overkill. Now you make me feel guilty for leaving my lawnmower out in the snow....

And as for changing the oil but NOT the filter.... WOW again.
$50 worth of oil, runined/degraded by not changing a $5 filter?

To each their own. I plan to protect my car from the harshness of changing temps and winter storage. If this is overkill, I'd be scared what others do.

And who said anything about $50 in oil? It's not running, so who cares what the oil brand or cost is. Point is, you just want to drain the contaminants out of the car and put fresh stuff in. In the spring you put in new, better oil for your planned usage. My last car would get Castrol Syntec in spring and GTX in winter. The FRS, well, it doesn't get used much so I just left the Amsoil in it that was fairly fresh before I put it away. I'll change it out in the spring before I get it out.

Now I've done the above for many years and never had an issue with any of the cars I've stored. They always fire right up and never gave me issues throughout the season.

Originally Posted by Thorpedo

I would disagree with this point. Cylinders don't typically rust over the period of a winter when an engine isn't open to the elements (removed intake for example). Also the fogging oil does nothing to prevent engine components that aren't exposed to to the intake tract from rusting, although these don't typically rust either. If the engine is going to be stored for a very extended period there are measures I would take, but having been an engine builder for years I can tell you that no form of fogging oil that I have seen will get near an engine that I own.

Shut the engine down with the proper amount of relative fresh oil, keep air in the tires (or store them if they are a soft compound), full the fuel tank and add the proper amount of stabilizer. Keep your local pests out with common sense measures. I also run a small wattage solar battery tender to keep it topped off. I don't even unhook the terminals and mine starts fine in the spring. I normally change the oil in the spring but given the high oil temps our engines see I cannot imagine any small amount of condensation build up in the oil would last long.

Your right, the short winter wont have any detrimental impact on cylinder rust due to the various metal compositions. It would be for extended storage purposes.

To the OP, the thing to remember is everyone is going to have a different method of storing a car. Some will think one method is extreme while others will simply throw a tarp over it and call it done. It's your car, so do with it as you wish. My perspective is that spending the time to do it right (or overkill as some say) will pay off in the end. And if it doesn't change anything, well, it was worth not taking the risk anyways.

[1Cor10:23]

Originally Posted by that_guy

To the OP, the thing to remember is everyone is going to have a different method of storing a car. Some will think one method is extreme while others will simply throw a tarp over it and call it done. It's your car, so do with it as you wish. My perspective is that spending the time to do it right (or overkill as some say) will pay off in the end. And if it doesn't change anything, well, it was worth not taking the risk anyways.

Bingo - exactly what I have taken away from reading all these posts. Everyone seems to have their own method. What has been extremely useful is to see the entire gambit of potential "checklist" items as a community and then to consider which are worth pursuing on a personal level.

[wbradley]

I'd like someone to explain the point of putting cheap oil in just before storage then immediately changing again in spring. Its bad for the wallet and environment. What's wrong with new oil just before storage then running that oil in spring?

[that_guy]

Originally Posted by wbradley

I'd like someone to explain the point of putting cheap oil in just before storage then immediately changing again in spring. Its bad for the wallet and environment. What's wrong with new oil just before storage then running that oil in spring?

Seems like mixed reviews on the subject over at Bobistheoilguy.com. I always practiced this method after reading many years ago over at the Miata forums. Maybe it's not needed?

Like I said, I didn't do it to mine this year. Maybe I should have? Open to the discussion. I'm definitely no expert on the matter.

[OmarYasin]

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[1Cor10:23]

Is there any danger in storing with ultra 94 given the ethanol content? I put my car away this winter with a full tank of 94 and stabil.