[Tastyone]

I found a cheap beater so I will be parking my GT this winter. My car will be parked for 6-7 months and I am wondering how to best prep the motor for long term storage. To prep the fuel sytem I will use a can of Sta-Bil to prevent varnishing and gumming on the injectors. All of my previous rides which I have winter stored were carberated and I simply used to spray a can of "engine storage spray" (basically it was just a light weight oil) down the carb until it flooded out the motor. That stuff would coat the whole upper end and cylinder walls and thus there was no need to start the car up during an extended period of storage. I have never stored a fuel injected car before, I assume you cannot spray anything through the air intake or it would gum everything up? Is that correct? I do not feel like pulling all the plugs and squirting in oil that way. So my question is what would be easiest on the motor, let it sit for 6-7 months and not start it up till spring or should I be firing it up on a regular basis, or is there any sort of spray I can use with the fuel injection. I would like to pull the battery out for the winter and keep it in my warm basement as opposed to leaving it in the car where my garage can get as cold as -30, I have no doubt that would shorten the life of the battery. With the battery pulled it will be kind of pain to start the car up regularly but if that is whats best for the motor I will go through the hassle of taking it in and out. Thanks in advance for any advice:wavey

 

[pcfrisch]

I found a cheap beater so I will be parking my GT this winter. My car will be parked for 6-7 months and I am wondering how to best prep the motor for long term storage. To prep the fuel sytem I will use a can of Sta-Bil to prevent varnishing and gumming on the injectors. All of my previous rides which I have winter stored were carberated and I simply used to spray a can of "engine storage spray" (basically it was just a light weight oil) down the carb until it flooded out the motor. That stuff would coat the whole upper end and cylinder walls and thus there was no need to start the car up during an extended period of storage. I have never stored a fuel injected car before, I assume you cannot spray anything through the air intake or it would gum everything up? Is that correct? I do not feel like pulling all the plugs and squirting in oil that way. So my question is what would be easiest on the motor, let it sit for 6-7 months and not start it up till spring or should I be firing it up on a regular basis, or is there any sort of spray I can use with the fuel injection. I would like to pull the battery out for the winter and keep it in my warm basement as opposed to leaving it in the car where my garage can get as cold as -30, I have no doubt that would shorten the life of the battery. With the battery pulled it will be kind of pain to start the car up regularly but if that is whats best for the motor I will go through the hassle of taking it in and out. Thanks in advance for any advice:wavey

6-7 months, wow, I don't know about your questions, but I do believe you are going to have to keep the wheels off the ground.

 

[Guest]

6-7 months is a bad idea.

I had a show car and did same thing. The brakes get spongy, the seals dry out, the gas tank gets bad (over time), the battery dies ( a trickle charger is a must), the tires get out of round, the engine oil runs down off the internals, just bad for the car. You need to start/ drive your car every couple of weeks to keep the cobwebs out.
I will lower my miles too this winter but, not total neglect.

 

[dcranford]

Hmmmm

Interesting, I live in MN, I planned on storing mine for the entire winter as well. I was going to use some sort of fuel stabilizer, and disconnect the battery as well as putting on a good car cover with locks on it as this will be stored in a "warm" garage over the winter. Normally snow starts to fly in MN in November, and lets up mid-late april. thats about 6 months. So are you telling me its not a good idea to do that?

 

[Guest]

Hmmmm

Interesting, I live in MN, I planned on storing mine for the entire winter as well. I was going to use some sort of fuel stabilizer, and disconnect the battery as well as putting on a good car cover with locks on it as this will be stored in a "warm" garage over the winter. Normally snow starts to fly in MN in November, and lets up mid-late april. thats about 6 months. So are you telling me its not a good idea to do that?

Same here in AK... I'd planned on pretty much doing the same thing. Easy enough to run the motor every few weeks, but driving it is a whole nother story... I might be able to get away with it a little bit here & there, but for a solid 2-3 months, it just aint gunna happen.

 

[Gig4Fun]

As minor as this might be... When I store my cars for winter I start them up every one to two weeks and let them idle up to warm and then shut them off with the crank indexed in a different spot. Now the cam turns at 1/2 engine speed but my attempt is to keep the same valve springs from being compressed until my next "visit". Since I am a "builder" little things like this are part of being anal. Anal is a good thing for some things.... and that is pretty much whatever I decide it is... (Ask my wife!) hahaha, Rustang.

 

[MGPony]

Storage tips

When I first got my '05 last November, I immediately looked into what I needed to do in properly storing the car. After some research, I came up with a storage plan. In the upper midwest, the typical winter driving season is Nov thru April; so, that's about 7 months or it's considered 'short-term'. If the car is going to be stored any longer, it would be considered 'long term'. So, for short term, this is what I'm planning to do:

1. Spread a vapor barrier on your gargage floor (like 1 mil. plastic sheeting). Tape it down. This provides some protection from excess moisture underneath the car.
2. Get a quality car cover; one that 'breathes'. You shouldn't have to spend more than $100 for a quality cover if you shop around. Of course if you want to buy a cover that fits your car like a racing glove ($200 - $300), have at it.
3. Suspend your full insurance coverage and advise your agent that the vehicle is in storage.
4. Fill the gas tank up and put a bottle of Sta-bil in it. I've also been told to put a bottle of gas anti-freeze into the tank as well to keep the water away.
5. Every (2) weeks, start the car up. Let it run until operating temperature (about 10 - 15 min.). Run the heater and the A/C. Verify operation. When you shut the A/C off, run the blower a few more minutes to dry the plenum and clear the coolant from the lines.
6. With car still running, turn the wheels from side to side. This keeps the power steering pump and gearbox in shape.
7. Now move the car forward or reverse (depending where you have the room) to get one full tire rotation. This prevents 'flattening' of the tires or from getting 'out of round'.
8. Since you'll be starting the car every two weeks, there's no reason to disconnect the battery. 10 minutes of running time is sufficient to charge the battery every two weeks.

That's it!

Now I know some may be scratching your heads or thinking I may be full of crap; but, cars made today are alot different than the 60's muscle cars we stored years ago. I only say this because of what I read when researching how to properly store the '05 Mustang. It's a pretty durable car and with a little bit of attention as described above, she'll get through the winter just fine.

 

[kj_cinci]

Good thread for you guys putting the car in your iglo over winter!

It was mentioned above about taking the battery into room temp, good idea! Also, of course, have the freezing point for your cooland checked and if needed corrected.

I used to road race in Europe, the first winter we did all of that (Finland, cOOld!) and kept the garage at about 40-45 F. Firsta day of practice, after countless hours of parts swapping our sponsor (VEHO, importer of BMW, Mercedes and Honda) had sent us. Trailer all three cars to the track... start, run checks, check lap (felt weird), in more checks, adjustments... out, a bit faster lap, have been in smoother muddin trucks! All 12 tires were outa round! Just to pack up and go home, no fun that day, new tires (luckily sponsored otherwise close to 10K!) and all went fine. Sorry, rambling on... Don't forget to move the car a foot fwd or back every week to keep wheels round. We put tape on the first 'down' spot and moved it a foot fwd a week next year, and when we were running outa space, moved the tape to thel last spot, pushed it back to the position of the next spot down, moved the tape and started again. Worked like a charm!

Sorry... looong... typing with tears in my eyes... sucked to not be able to take those 360 HP 2400 lb beasts out on the track after that long winter!

 

[Guest]

When I first got my '05 last November, I immediately looked into what I needed to do in properly storing the car. After some research, I came up with a storage plan. In the upper midwest, the typical winter driving season is Nov thru April; so, that's about 7 months or it's considered 'short-term'. If the car is going to be stored any longer, it would be considered 'long term'. So, for short term, this is what I'm planning to do:

1. Spread a vapor barrier on your gargage floor (like 1 mil. plastic sheeting). Tape it down. This provides some protection from excess moisture underneath the car.
2. Get a quality car cover; one that 'breathes'. You shouldn't have to spend more than $100 for a quality cover if you shop around. Of course if you want to buy a cover that fits your car like a racing glove ($200 - $300), have at it.
3. Suspend your full insurance coverage and advise your agent that the vehicle is in storage.
4. Fill the gas tank up and put a bottle of Sta-bil in it. I've also been told to put a bottle of gas anti-freeze into the tank as well to keep the water away.
5. Every (2) weeks, start the car up. Let it run until operating temperature (about 10 - 15 min.). Run the heater and the A/C. Verify operation. When you shut the A/C off, run the blower a few more minutes to dry the plenum and clear the coolant from the lines.
6. With car still running, turn the wheels from side to side. This keeps the power steering pump and gearbox in shape.
7. Now move the car forward or reverse (depending where you have the room) to get one full tire rotation. This prevents 'flattening' of the tires or from getting 'out of round'.
8. Since you'll be starting the car every two weeks, there's no reason to disconnect the battery. 10 minutes of running time is sufficient to charge the battery every two weeks.

That's it!

Now I know some may be scratching your heads or thinking I may be full of crap; but, cars made today are alot different than the 60's muscle cars we stored years ago. I only say this because of what I read when researching how to properly store the '05 Mustang. It's a pretty durable car and with a little bit of attention as described above, she'll get through the winter just fine.

Good advice, I did everything but 1 and 2 after awhile. It helps. A trickle charger is a good idea. Cold hurts batteries as much as idle useage does.
Don't forget to pump your brakes even if you ain't going far. A full gas tank precludes condensation in tank.
If you live in the arctic regions of USA I guess there ain't no gettin around it.

I had to go every other weekend and run a SeaRay I kept moored year round in winter as well. It is worth the time to do this.

 

[Tastyone]

Thanks for all the good advice people. It would seem the majority vote for starting it up every few weeks as opposed to letting it sit, oh well that will give me a chance to hear that tasty motor from time to time as opposed to just sitting behind the wheel dreaming of spring and going "Vroom-vroom":kooky:

 

[Moses]

I live in New England, and our winters aren't that long (freezing from Nov to early April; snow from mid-dec to late Feb). The state DOTs salt the roads around here, so as soon as they start salting, I'm taking it off the road.

BUT I did plan on driving occasionally-on nice, dry days. You guys think this is bad?

 

[4511.21]

By suspending "full coverage"...I hope that means suspending everything except the Comprehensive coverage. It can still catch fire, get stolen, have a tree fall on it, etc.

 

[MGPony]

Dropping Full Insurance Coverage

When you suspend your full insurance coverage, you essentially drop all the liability coverage; the comp remains in effect, but at a much reduced rate since it's not being driven. My insurance guy told me that with the suspended insurance, you're not even supposed to move it out of the garage; but, it would be covered completely against fire or the garage collapsing on it or whatever.

I had forgot to advise pumping the brakes which is equally important. I had originally made a checklist of what I needed to do when you start 'er up every 2 weeks; that helps.

On using a trickle charger, that's OK, but is not necessary since you're starting the car every 2 weeks. If the battery is prone to fail, it will fail whether you trickle charge it or not. Otherwise, it will be just fine if you keep it hooked up (unless you fear you have a small drain happening for those who've loaded their ponies with aftermarket electronic stuff; i.e., alarms).

Yeh, I like to drive mine as long as I possibly can too until the salt comes out; then it's time to park.

 

[4511.21]

What insurance company are you with? I have not known of a company reducing the comp premium when it is stored. Just because you have it parked does not mean the comp "perils" are reduced by very much. Basically the most common comp perils are Fire & Theft which are still present when stored. You save the most money with deleting Collision and Liability.

 

[MGPony]

I'm not an insurance agent nor can I banter any coverage details. I might have been wrong in explaining what exactly happens when you suspend full coverage by putting the vehicke in storage. In essence, you're still getting full coverage but not allowed to drive the vehicle. Call your insurance agent, maybe he can explain it better.

 

[4511.21]

I was an agent...

 

[Crazy001]

Would be nice to have the option of storing it in the winter. However, the Stang being my only car, that ain't gonna happen! :wavey

 

[Tastyone]

Would be nice to have the option of storing it in the winter. However, the Stang being my only car, that ain't gonna happen! :wavey

I did'nt think I could swing buying a beater either Crazy001 but then I started adding up the cost of buying a set of winter rims and tires, what I would save by just having basic insurance coverage on the beater vs full coverage on the GT for six months of the year, and given that I bought a little POS 4 banger that almost runs on fumes the cost of gas saved over the winter months vs the GT. I figure that the beater will have paid for itself if I can get two years out of it with no major repairs, after that it's all money in my pocket:laughlitt . My beater cost less than 5% the cost of my new GT so I figure it's a worthwhile investment to keep my new toy of the slippery, salty roads. Plus having a beater is just plain old fun, we have a winter ice racing series here on a frozen lake. Every Saturday for $20.00 I can rally drive around the lake for 2 hours competing against other little POS car's. Because it's so slippery no one gets up that much speed even with studded tires so rubbing fenders (aslong as the doors still open and close properly afterwards who cares ) and sailing into snow piles is to be expected:kooky:.

 

[GiddyupGo]

Storage

:happyhapp Brainiacs in this thread! Well done; good advice.


My insurance company in Canada (Ontario) has advised me that if I remove liability/collision but keep "fire/theft" the premiums drop from around $140/mth to $25/mth over the winter. That still protects it against damage while parked, and in the spring, all I have to do is call them and 24 hrs later, it's back on full coverage to drive (RBC Insurance).

Storage recommendations are mixed as to "start/don't start" and as to "battery in/battery out". I can see the insurance company finding a reason to invalidate it if it has the alarm upgrade, but then you disconnect this via the battery removal. I opt for the trickle charger (in-car) that you apparently can buy.

I'm also putting four sheets of plywood down underneath it, on top of the paving stone floor, and putting mothballs on the board to deter mice. But I'm also looking at the "tire flatspot" issue and wondering:

WHAT ABOUT PUTTING IT UP ON JACKSTANDS (Canadian Tire type)? That would certainly eliminate the flatspot issue, but then: where do you place the stands on the frame? ANY IDEAS?

 

[nonsensez9]

WHAT ABOUT PUTTING IT UP ON JACKSTANDS (Canadian Tire type)? That would certainly eliminate the flatspot issue, but then: where do you place the stands on the frame? ANY IDEAS?

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=11478