Best Practices for Vehicle Winter Storage

[Josie]

Hi ETCG!

Sorry for so many posts. This one is a little more general and would love some input. I am guessing this could go for any car. In short, I am parking my Acura for the winter and wanted to know what things will help her sleep well, and start fresh in the spring. So far I have:

1) Washed and waxed the exterior and placed a car cover over her. (not a poly tarp, a breathable outdoor car cover)

2)Filled the gas tank, drove it till about 3/4 full before I parked her. (thought this will help if there are any deposits in the tank)

3)Parked it on a level surface with the E-brake off (don’t want it to seize on) and left her in 1st gear (manual transmission)

4)Parked it on a brick driveway and placed all 4 tires up off the bricks on squares of wood (tires do not hang over the sides of the wood).

5)Have left the new battery in since temperatures rarely drop below freezing here on the west coast of Canada by the water. And set the car alarm on.

So today, (its a nice dry fall day, sunshine, 50 F or 10 C ) I went out to the car to give her a start up, and it was awfully rough going. Chugged a bit at first, almost didn’t start. Had to pump the gas a few times then the idle leveled out and ran it just fine. But this is a car that has only sat for 2 weeks :unsure: What can I expect to do in 4 or 5 months? Maybe I need to do something else?

So that said folks of ETCG whats your routine for parking a fuel injected vehicle and can you add anything to my list? I heard that Gas Stabilizer is only good for Carburetor type engines but would add it if it could help. Thanks in advance for your tips.

Topic

[college man]

Your doing pretty good. The only suggestions I can make is.
Oh you wanted me to say something. 😉 Just kidding. You may
want the car up on jack stands so the tires don’t get flat spots.
A fuel stabilizer is good in any gasoline vehicle. Add the recommended
stabilizer run the car to distribute.top off the tank full. She is all
tucked in. :)There is a product called sea foam out there. It will stabilize
your fuel I believe for two years.Which is way more time than you need. Its also
a system cleaner.

[Jay]

One thing that quickly came to mind is the oil. Did you change it? Also make sure all other fluids are in good shape and topped, especially the coolant!. Make sure the air in your tires are to spec also. You may need to check that a couple of times over the coarse of the winter as the air may seep out. I use to spray my brake rotors with a moisture resistant spray so they wouldn’t rust and I would wash off in the spring. I would recommend removing the battery.

I agree with college man with the fuel but not so much with the tires. You may get some mild flat spots but they will true after driving. Its not like older tires or bias ply that got bad flat spots. Its not a good idea to leave your suspension hanging for a long period of time. I guess if you were to jack the car up and put on jack stands in a manner where the suspension is not hanging that would work.

I’m no expert but I have stored numerous car many winters. Good luck!

[Patrick]

Your battery cells can still go bad. You might want to spend a few bucks on a smart charger (Ctek or other) if you have the option to plug it in somewhere. It will keep the battery in shape.

I’d run one of those all year long if I had the amenities…which I don’t :pinch:

[Rereonehundred]

I’d take the battery out or at least disconnect it. Then hit it for an hour or two per week with a low amp charge to help it live.

[Rudy Wilmoth]

🙂 Everyone has given you good advice, and you do not have to worry about flat spots if the car is sitting for only the winter months. Having clean oil and good antifreeze is good advice, and putting a trickle charger on the battery would be good. If you leaving the car outside and in the cold, then I would put the battery in a warm place for the winter with the charger on it. A trickle charger or even better, a smart charger will keep the battery safe and not make a lot of hydrogen gas, but I would check on it every so often.
Is your home in the country ? You may want to consider than wild animals, or rodents will try to make a nest under your car. You may want to see what kind of traps or repellent you can put around the underside of the car especially under the front end where animals like to make nest and eat wires. If you can put the car inside a garage it will be safer and there will be less invitation for animals, but be aware of those kind of things. Good Luck.

[Bill]

Most of the answers given are accurate in my opinion. Fuel stabilizer and fresh oil and coolant are important as well as keeping the battery charged. Having the brake fluid flushed is another good idea.

I would have the car oil sprayed as the dampness is a brake and fuel line killer. The worst part to take care of is brake rotors/drums. I have never found a good way to protect them. They are certain to rust badly.

Maybe someone has a suggestion for that.

[Paul]

In the past, I’ve covered wheels with large garbage bags and tied/taped the ends closed to keep the moisture away from the rims and brakes. It’s far from eloquent, but it works.

Also, I connected the trickle charger/battery saver to a timer in order to prevent overcharging and memory effects from constant charging – I would frequently forget to plug or unplug the charger. However, I don’t know if you need to do this with the newer batteries and chargers anymore.

[EricTheCarGuy]

I think you’ve done pretty well so far. The only thing I would recommend is to remove the negative battery cable. If not, your battery could run down. In fact, with that level of cold you might consider removing it altogether and putting in in the garage until spring. It will suffer less stress that way.

If you really want to save your tires you’d put the car up on jack stands. It won’t really make a difference if they’re on bricks or wood. When you put all 4 wheels off the ground, there is no risk of creating flat spots on the tires. GSR’s use a special sized tire, if you have those on there you want to protect them as they are expensive and hard to find. Those are the Michelin tires BTW.

As for the hard starting it’s hard to say. Honda’s just do that sometimes, especially when you drive them a short distance and shut them off. We call it, ‘short tripping’. When you go to restart them they actually flood a little bit. In fact, I’ve had more than one come in on a tow truck and all it needed was to be cranked in ‘clear flood’ mode. Hold your foot to the floor on the task while you crank and it will shut off the fuel injectors to help clear out the extra fuel in the cylinder.

[Josie]

Thanks you everyone! Great tips! Sorry I didn’t reply sooner. I usually get e-mail prompts that I got replies but didn’t this time.

I did end up using the stabilizer already so great advice guys! My dear old dad said the same thing you did:) he also told me to mix the stabilizer in a jerry can of gas first. This way it will mix easier when introduced to the tank. I did this and then ran the car for 10 minutes to “mix it” into the rest of the feul system.

Couple of things;

1) Can I do the coolant and oil changes in the spring? Is there a reason to do them now?

2) The car is indeed parked outside but I am in the city (Vancouver, Canada). I haven’t seen any mice(or rats) inside the house but there are raccoons and squirrels, and the odd skunk that come around on occasion. Any other critters I should watch for in the urban areas?

3) Gonna bring the battery in as you suggested. I agree there is no need for the alarm to be on maybe. City folks right hahaha! Good news is my Daily Driver is a 98 CRV and takes the same battery type and size as my Acura here. Since (in another post) I put a new battery in the Acura, I ended up swapping batteries with the CRV for the winter (So New one in CRV now). Have jumper cables if needed in the spring but I will keep my eyes open for a trickle charger on sale (maybe on a boxing day sale 😉

4) The garbage bags on the tires. I might try this. I noticed light rust already starting on the rotors. 🙁 Do you need to jack the car up to get them over the entire tire?

Below here is sleeping beauty. Look OK to you?

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[Kevin Criswell]

Some thing I like to do is pull the plugs and shoot a bit of Deep Creep (made by PB blaster in almost all parts stores) in each hole, bump it over a few times, put the plugs back in and that will help keep surface rust off the cylinder walls.

[Paul]

[quote=”gsr-chick” post=79715]
2) The car is indeed parked outside but I am in the city (Vancouver, Canada). I haven’t seen any mice(or rats) inside the house but there are raccoons and squirrels, and the odd skunk that come around on occasion. Any other critters I should watch for in the urban areas? [/quote]

One of my coworkers found that a squirrel or chipmunk had stockpiled food in the airbox, which prevented the car from starting. I wouldn’t worry about it, but check for any evidence of their presence in spring.

[quote=”gsr-chick” post=79715]
4) The garbage bags on the tires. I might try this. I noticed light rust already starting on the rotors. 🙁 Do you need to jack the car up to get them over the entire tire? [/quote]

It’s probably surface rust. If I don’t drive my car for a week, the rotors will have a light orange coating. The brakes will squeak for ~10 ft, and the noise will disappear quickly.

I would raise the car and wrap the wheels as best as I could to create a barrier air and moisture. If I remember correctly, I think that I used two bags per wheel to create a good seal. Also, thinking that sealing the bag ends with a lot of tape would be a PITA to remove in spring, I wrapped the ends closed with shrink wrap – I worked in a warehouse at the time and it’s like a stretchable and clingy Saran Wrap for holding boxes on pallets for transport. Alternatively, you might be able twist and tie the end into a knot with a large bag. Sorry, I don’t remember the exact details.

[Lorrin Barth]

My car has some crazy tires on it that only like dry pavement. So, when winter comes, and I am in Nebraska which can have harsh winters, it stays parked. Still, even here there are nice days in winter when the pavement is dry and I can drive it. So, my preparation for winter consists of waiting for a nice day. Cars stay in better shape if they are driven.

[Author]

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