Winter Storage

[locplayer1]

Well this is the first year that I will be storing my Stealth over the winter. I was wondering what steps I should do to the car and how is best to store it? Should I disconnect the battery or should I just start the car every now and then and let it run? I live in Iowa where it gets cold and the car is just going to be in my unheated garage any other things I need to do because of this? Also is there anything I need to do to the wheels?

[Polygon]

Being that it's in a garage there's not much you have to do. Some people worry about the tires flat spotting. You can lift the car off the ground a leave it on jack stands. However, you'll find that if you have a decent set of tires it doesn't take long after driving for the flat spot to go away. I'm talking less than a mile.

As for the battery you can leave it in the car. If you don't go out and start it and let it run periodically the battery will eventually go flat. So I would either start it every now and then or get a trickle charger like the Deltran Battery Tender. That way you just connect it and you don't have to worry about it until you pull it out for spring.

[OhioSpyderman]

Sta-bil keeps your gas fresh over the winter months!!!

http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/default.aspx

Bob.

[J_Parker]

I've stored all of my un-winterable cars outside over the winter months and all I do is throw some car covers tarps and maybe hoard them in. For you though, just put some fuel stabilizer in or drain the fuel. The battery, you can either diconnect and take it out to prevent it from freezing (I'm not sure what tempratures you get there, I get -30C regualrly, so I take mine out and put them inside) Or put a trickle charge on it. The tyres, unless you have good ones theres really nothing you'll have to do with them. Here for my -30 though, I jack my cars up and drain the air out a bit, or just take them off alltogether :p

[EthanS]

Just thought I'd say hey! I used to own your car before Eric :) and that hood and bumper are off my TT (front end conversion)

Change oil before AND after storage. Take battery out and put it inside somewhere, or keep it on a trinkle charger. If you keep the car on the cement, put something under it so the tires aren't in contact with the cement otherwise the tires will dry rot. Then throw some stabil in the tank. Should be good to go for winter!

I usually never started my cars while in storage, just a few times when it starts to warm up outside and theres still sand on the ground. I like to keep potential "dry starts" to a minimum.

Have a good one,


-Ethan

[mcshooter]

we store both the vr4 and stealth for winter, which is usually dec thru feb . we change the oil, put stalbil in gas and keep batteries on deltron tenders, try to start them at least once a month and back out of garage and run them till up to temp. might be overkill on the gas but this is what we do. i have friends who store their show cars all winter and do nothing

[Maximal]

I give it a good wash and wax then throw the cover on it. To help with the batteries (that always seem to drain, freeze, then die) pick up a battery tender. I have a die hard one I got for Christmas one year and it works great. I always change my oil in the spring before doing any actual driving. Also, if you get the occasional warm day it doesn't hurt to start it occasionally just to get everything moving around.

Another note, if you run a high water ratio in your coolant like I do then make sure you add some more coolant to the mix to prevent freezing.

[Steve '92ES]

Take battery out and put it inside somewhere
Just a quick note on this, do NOT store your battery directly on a cement floor, like in your basement.
If you need to put it on the floor put a piece of wood under it. Storing batteries on cement will wreck them. Also, dead batteries freeze easier than charged ones. If you leave the battery in the car start it up once in a while to keep the battery charged, or put it on a charger/tender. If you're not going to charge it then your better off storing the battery inside..

[TonyM]

Storing batteries on cement will wreck them.

Urban myth. :) It's typically the fine amount of dust particles that settle on an UNCOVERED battery over time, regardless of what it's sitting on. The dust acts as a conductor, albeit a very small one, and will permit a small contact between the terminals, thus slowly draining the bat. I sat an Optima red top on concrete for about 7 months with the terminals covered. Dropped it back in the car and started it up.


As for winter storage:
-Stabil
-Car cover
-Battery tender
-Reduce insurance coverage to fire & theft only :)

Done.

[J_Parker]

Urban myth. :) It's typically the fine amount of dust particles that settle on an UNCOVERED battery over time, regardless of what it's sitting on. The dust acts as a conductor, albeit a very small one, and will permit a small contact between the terminals, thus slowly draining the bat. I sat an Optima red top on concrete for about 7 months with the terminals covered. Dropped it back in the car and started it up.

I'm with Tony on this one, I left my red top that is now sitting in my Soarer on the floor for two years, all I did was throw a peice of old rag over the top of it after about six weeks to keep paint overspray off. When I bought my Soarer, (August I think it was) I threw into the car and tried to fire it up, it was obviously very sluggish I maybe got about 1/2 a crank out of it, but threw the charger on it and voila it still lives to this day.

Then again, it may just be the badassness of the Gel batteries that keeps them going. I've seen a couple of standard Wal-Mart batteries survive on the floor too sometimes, but I suppose if you like to keep all aspects of storeage worry and risk free I don's see why throwing a piece of plywood or cadboard under them much of a big deal :)

[Steve '92ES]

Urban Myth? But but but... I was taught that in school many many years ago!
Hmmm. Let's see what the interwebs say....
Google turned up a bunch of links, including Myth Busters, that agree with you.
There does seem to be a kernel of truth to it though, at least in the olden days.
Here's one of the best explanations, supposedly from Interstate Batteries:

QUESTION: Will storing my battery on concrete drain the charge?
No. Regarding today's batteries, this is a myth. A battery placed on concrete will not discharge any faster, but a battery will discharge over a period of time wherever it is placed. If the battery has a surface layer of acid or grime which is conductive, the battery will self-discharge more rapidly than if it were clean and dry.
This myth does have some historical basis. Many years ago, wooden battery cases encased a glass jar with the battery in it. Any moisture on the floor could cause the wood to swell and possibly fracture the glass, causing it to leak. Later came the introduction of the "hard rubber" cases, which were somewhat porous. A current could be conducted through this container, which had a high carbon content, if the moist concrete floor permitted the current to find an electrical ground. The wise advise of the old days to "not store batteries on concrete" has apparently been passed down to us today, but it no longer applies.

One thing to remember though is why this used to be true. A poured concrete floor is, literally and electrically, ground. Since an electric charge will discharge into a larger mass, ie ground, any conductive path from the charged parts of the battery to the grounded floor will, over time, discharge the battery. That means its not just between the terminals you need to think about, but any path down the side of the case to the floor as well. In other words clean the whole battery, not just the top, Keep it dry, and when cleaning be sure to use something that does NOT leave a soapy, conductive residue behind.

Thanks for you comment, it inspired me to look that up and any day I learn something is a good day!

Meanwhile, call me an old dog if you will, but I'll continue to slip a board under my batteries.. ;)

[3KVT]

I've been storing mine over winter months since I bought it 8 years ago. All I do is car cover, then tarp it (cause it's stored under a balcony on my garage with a ghetto fold-a-shed over top of it). Leave the battery in, and just start it up every month or so and let it run for a few minutes after the coolant gets up to temp. I also try to put it in at least first and reverse and drive a few feet to keep all the fluids moving. It doesn't get extremely cold where I was storing it though, maybe down to 20 on a really cold night. I'm not sure of the effects of colder weather than that. I've been able to hop in and start her up every spring since then, first try.

[Polygon]

Personally, I've never used fuel stabilizer and I've never had a problem starting the car in the spring.