winter storage... what are you doing?

[MuseChaser]

Originally Posted by etherdude

Let's see....Winter prep: Jack up car, put it on jack stands. Take off summer OEM wheels and tires. Pull 205/50-16 Bridgestone Blizzak WS-70's out of basement and put on the car. Lower car to ground. Voila!@

Prepared for winter.

Doug

I caught this post a little late for the following comment to really be timely, but hey, I've never been accused of being relevant....

I'm a firm believer in jack stands for any work underneath a car. Having said that, I'll admit I don't bother with them when swapping tires. Jack the front (floor jack placed at recommended jacking point on front crossmember, rear tire(s) chocked) just high enough so the tires are off the ground 1/2", keep your hands at 8 and 4 o'clock when removing and replacing the tires, keep your feet and everything else out from underneath the car, and you'll be safe. Repeat for the back two tires, remembering to chock the fronts.

This is the one case where I don't really see the need for jack stands.

[billwot]

Originally Posted by i heart ricers

another winter storage thread?

buy a carport

put battery on charger

start once a month

done

Do NOT periodically start a "stored" car.

1) Its a cold start-minimum clearances and minimum lubrication.
2) It will create condensate in the crankcase, which can create corrosive compounds.
3) There is absolutely no good reason to start a stored car.

[Spartarus]

Originally Posted by billwot

Do NOT periodically start a "stored" car.

1) Its a cold start-minimum clearances and minimum lubrication.
2) It will create condensate in the crankcase, which can create corrosive compounds.
3) There is absolutely no good reason to start a stored car.

Daily temperature cycles will create the same condensate. The point of starting it is to evaporate any condensate before you get internal corrosion.

That's why sitting is terrible for engines.

The caveat is you need to reach operating temperature for a reasonable period of time. This means driving it, not just starting it up for 10 minutes. That will do more harm than good, as you pointed out.

What I did for my Alaska winters:

1: Buy OEM engine preheater

2: Install

3: Start whenever

4: Drift everywhere.

5: Who the f*ck stores a sports car?!?

The OE Subaru preheater is great. It preheats the coolant, which radiates to the rest of the block, the oil, and the engine bay. Every morning is a 80 degree F morning, yay! Even at -40F, in a carport, the fluids and block start at 80. It fits both models, and threads into the coolant gallery in the upper oil pan with a proper gasket. Don't leave it plugged in permanently. It is only meant to preheat the engine for a few hours max. I had mine on a Christmas light timer

That's my useful contribution.

Oh, and if you floor the clutch and gas before start, you can dry crank the engine without fuel. The procedure's in the owners manual. It's for clearing a flooded engine (not that that would ever happen) but it has another super-useful purpose... If you are forced to start the car bone cold (-20 or so), and you don't want the sound of screeching metal on metal and terrible engine wear, dry crank the engine until oil pressure builds up, then start.

[sqd]

Originally Posted by ToyotaFan84

I'm driving, at worst Mother Nature will wash my car for me.

Excuse my CA ignorance, but why would you store your car during winter?

Days with -25C (-13F) degrees, snowy roads, ice, road salt that corrodes metal/brings on rust.. not very good conditions for a car, hence why I'd rather drive a different and also more comfortable car during the winter months.

Wear & tear is clearly worse during winter over here

[nextcar]

Winter prep:

Vacuum out sand from the beach...

Why do people live where it snows???

[i heart ricers]

another winter storage thread?

buy a carport

put battery on charger

start once a month

done

[billwot]

Originally Posted by Spartarus

Daily temperature cycles will create the same condensate.

There is no way daily temp cycles could replicate starting a cold engine. The A/F will be extremely rich, and "daily temp cycles" are not going to send combustion byproducts into the crankcase.

The point of starting it is to evaporate any condensate before you get internal corrosion.

If you don't start it there will not be any condensate. And evaporation will only happen if you run it long enough to bring the crankcase oil to full temp and run it long enough to allow the condensate to boil off.

" A lot of people think starting a car every few weeks during storage is a good idea. Unless you intend on taking the car for a good drive, simply letting it idle is actually detrimental because condensation will build through the various systems and not properly burn-off. And don’t be tempted to take it for a drive on a “nice winter day.” After all, you don’t want to go through the entire process again. Best policy is let sleeping bears lay to rest. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and you will appreciate your beloved ride more when you finally get to bring it out of storage in the spring."

http://www.wheels.ca/top-ten/top-ten...er-car-storage

[Spartarus]

Originally Posted by billwot

[I]"Unless you intend on taking the car for a good drive, simply letting it idle is actually detrimental because condensation will build through the various systems and not properly burn-off

Thats exactly what I said. In my post, I did point out that you were right that simply starting the car will do more harm than good, and that operating temp needs to be reached for an extended period of time, which means driving.

About condensate; the crankcase is open to the atmosphere via the front crankcase vent hose.

Every single time the outside air temperature drops below the dewpoint, some water condensate will form on any bare internal surface.

This has been well documented in aircraft reciprocating engines.

The same is true of your transmission and diff breathers.

The only way to do long term storage of reciprocating engines "right" is to use fogging oil, which coats internal surfaces and prevents condensation.

About combustion byproducts. That is a valid point, again why just starting it will do more harm than good. If you don't mean to properly drive it, and you're too lazy to winterize the motor, then yes, it's healthiest just to park it and leave it.

Everything else is second-rate 'winging it, which you can get away with for a long time, but not forever.

I worked with engines that required annual and 100 operating hour compression and leakdown testing, UOA's, and specific overhaul intervals. Everything I'm talking about has been well documented.

There are many ways to skin that cat, and engines are very tolerant of mistreatment over a short period of time... Years even...

...But my 18 year old 3RZ I4 still makes factory compression, and doesnt make metal, and that's not by accident.

Lots of that article is good, but there's some BS in there, like cracking the window. The car is already ventilated plenty well by the mandated vent flap inside the rear bumper... Then they recommend fuel stabilizer but not fogging... Those go in opposite order by storage duration... But I'm nuts, I store gears sealed in cosmoline...

[Shinigami301]

Originally Posted by nextcar

Winter prep:

Vacuum out sand from the beach...

Why do people live where it snows???

Well, for one thing, a lot fewer uninsured hit and run motorists from south of the border (happened to me twice when I lived in SD)

[new2subaru]

Originally Posted by nextcar

Why do people live where it snows???

Why not? I'd be bored to death if it was warm all the time!

I like 4 seasons and not only dress for the seasons but eat seasonally too.

[Curtski96]

I'm going to park mine under snow most likely!

[sledheadguy]

tried to store in garage.....to store car.....no deal,,,,,,fuck it ..buying blizzacks 80s drive all winter lol

[Leonardo]

Last winter... I stored mine outside... (the snow pile by the ford)

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Leonardo

Last winter... I stored mine outside... (the snow pile by the ford)

I store mine outside in the winter as well. I just move it between 40 and 120 miles twice a day five days a week.