Winterizing Tips
11-08-2004, 01:34 AM
#31
Racer
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$10? Not a bad insurance policy! I'll have to do some searching. No problems with overcharging or reverse current?
Size: yup, if too large, would have to mount it on the room (and pretend it's the first Porsche Hybrid Vehicle). ha
Size: yup, if too large, would have to mount it on the room (and pretend it's the first Porsche Hybrid Vehicle). ha
11-08-2004, 03:41 AM
#33
Three Wheelin'
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Originally Posted by Peckster
It's what normal people get instead of hurricanes.
Actually it's pretty nice, but we just say it's bad to keep the southerners off our roads.
Actually it's pretty nice, but we just say it's bad to keep the southerners off our roads.
)
11-08-2004, 12:46 PM
#35
Burning Brakes
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Okay, I have a few 944 winters in northern Ohio behind me, so here's my .02
Chase72 - first, for silicone, just make sure you buy the "dry type" of silicone spray, not silicone "oil". I've used dry silicone from Napa, 3m, Zep, and I think CRC. If you are not sure whether the silicone is the dry type or not, read the fine print and look for something about being approved by the FDA (that's the one you want).
Spray all of your grounds with a corrosion inhibitor or battery terminal grease.
Pull all of the lamps out of the sockets (signals, sidemarkers, etc.) and grease the terminals
Inspect the rubber boots around the connections for the front signals, side markers, etc. If they are rotting, either replace them or at least wrap them in electrical tape.
REMOVE THE SCREWS FROM THE FOG LIGHTS (one on either side of the lens), COAT THEM IN ANTI-SEIZE, and reinstall. One winter's worth of salt can be enough to have that fine-pitch screw rust in place. bye bye fog light housing.
Take out your battery and look at the area it sits in. If there are cracks in the seam sealer, seal them up. The best thing to do is dig them up a little and apply fresh seam sealer, but in a pinch you could just use silicone. I'm not sure how silicone willhold up to battery acid, though. If you have cracks in the seam sealer around the battery, then some of the water in the battery area will end up in your passenger side footwell. Your carpet may appear dry, but you may still have it soaking wet under the padding.
Reseal your rear hatch if it has any leaks at all. Once your carpet gets wet in the winter, it takes a long time to dry out.
A word about headlights - if you have headlight washers, you're lucky. For those of us who don't, I'd recommend H4 lights with convex lenses (like Cibie) instead of flat ones (like Bosch or Hella). When driving in a snow storm, the wind against the dome shape of the lense helps the snow buildup slide to the perimeter and keep the lense clear. I have flat lense Hellas on my car right now, and in a snow storm the lights get covered with snow (faster than it can melt it away). I never used to have that problem with the convex sealed beams. So I will be switching to the Cibies before January.
Here is something a little wacky I did with my 85.5 that I am pretty happy about:
I went to a boat supply store and bought about five cans of "CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor". This is the stuff that is intended for you to spray on your boat's engine and other metal parts to protect it from salt water. It sprays on thin and dries to a waxy, self-healing coating. Probably similar to Waxoyl. I tried several different brands in the past, and I like the CRC the best because it has the right consistency at the range of temperatures we have in Ohio. Also, it has an amber color to it so you can know what you have already sprayed. It can take some pretty high temperatures, and can be applied to the engine and muffler.
Anyway, I cleaned my car thoroughly and hit every single piece of exposed metal on the car with this spray. This includes all of the screws for the lenses and headlights in the front, the hatch pins, the door striker, the brake lines, the engine, all the nuts and bolts on the suspension, etc. I even took the wheelwells out and did the metal brake lines, etc. back there. I even cleaned the brake calipers and rotor hats and sprayed them. The muffler is covered. The tailpipe tip. The metal "arms" that extend downward from the headlight pods. The A/C metal lines. Everything. I mean, I coated every single piece of exposed metal on the car.
What prompted this was that when I bought the 85.5 from Pete, much of the (cadmium? the gold-colored) plated parts under the hood were still shiny and gold. It was obvious the car had seen very little salt. From experience, I learned that it takes just one good salty Ohio winter to turn the headlight rod from a nice gold color to crusty white. I decided that since this car was still nice, I would try to keep it that way. It worked.
Keep in mind that this car is a daily driver for me. The engine compartment won't win any shows with the gold tinge all over it from the corrosion spray, but they are still shiny and will remain that way under the corrosion inhibitor. At some point I plan to "retire" the car from daily service, and then I will clean all of the CRC stuff off of it. It will be a lot of work to remove it, but the protection it gives in the mean time is worth it to me, and I feel it is a good act of "preservation" while I subject the car to the rigors of rust belt winters.
Cheers,
Chase72 - first, for silicone, just make sure you buy the "dry type" of silicone spray, not silicone "oil". I've used dry silicone from Napa, 3m, Zep, and I think CRC. If you are not sure whether the silicone is the dry type or not, read the fine print and look for something about being approved by the FDA (that's the one you want).
Spray all of your grounds with a corrosion inhibitor or battery terminal grease.
Pull all of the lamps out of the sockets (signals, sidemarkers, etc.) and grease the terminals
Inspect the rubber boots around the connections for the front signals, side markers, etc. If they are rotting, either replace them or at least wrap them in electrical tape.
REMOVE THE SCREWS FROM THE FOG LIGHTS (one on either side of the lens), COAT THEM IN ANTI-SEIZE, and reinstall. One winter's worth of salt can be enough to have that fine-pitch screw rust in place. bye bye fog light housing.
Take out your battery and look at the area it sits in. If there are cracks in the seam sealer, seal them up. The best thing to do is dig them up a little and apply fresh seam sealer, but in a pinch you could just use silicone. I'm not sure how silicone willhold up to battery acid, though. If you have cracks in the seam sealer around the battery, then some of the water in the battery area will end up in your passenger side footwell. Your carpet may appear dry, but you may still have it soaking wet under the padding.
Reseal your rear hatch if it has any leaks at all. Once your carpet gets wet in the winter, it takes a long time to dry out.
A word about headlights - if you have headlight washers, you're lucky. For those of us who don't, I'd recommend H4 lights with convex lenses (like Cibie) instead of flat ones (like Bosch or Hella). When driving in a snow storm, the wind against the dome shape of the lense helps the snow buildup slide to the perimeter and keep the lense clear. I have flat lense Hellas on my car right now, and in a snow storm the lights get covered with snow (faster than it can melt it away). I never used to have that problem with the convex sealed beams. So I will be switching to the Cibies before January.
Here is something a little wacky I did with my 85.5 that I am pretty happy about:
I went to a boat supply store and bought about five cans of "CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor". This is the stuff that is intended for you to spray on your boat's engine and other metal parts to protect it from salt water. It sprays on thin and dries to a waxy, self-healing coating. Probably similar to Waxoyl. I tried several different brands in the past, and I like the CRC the best because it has the right consistency at the range of temperatures we have in Ohio. Also, it has an amber color to it so you can know what you have already sprayed. It can take some pretty high temperatures, and can be applied to the engine and muffler.
Anyway, I cleaned my car thoroughly and hit every single piece of exposed metal on the car with this spray. This includes all of the screws for the lenses and headlights in the front, the hatch pins, the door striker, the brake lines, the engine, all the nuts and bolts on the suspension, etc. I even took the wheelwells out and did the metal brake lines, etc. back there. I even cleaned the brake calipers and rotor hats and sprayed them. The muffler is covered. The tailpipe tip. The metal "arms" that extend downward from the headlight pods. The A/C metal lines. Everything. I mean, I coated every single piece of exposed metal on the car.
What prompted this was that when I bought the 85.5 from Pete, much of the (cadmium? the gold-colored) plated parts under the hood were still shiny and gold. It was obvious the car had seen very little salt. From experience, I learned that it takes just one good salty Ohio winter to turn the headlight rod from a nice gold color to crusty white. I decided that since this car was still nice, I would try to keep it that way. It worked.
Keep in mind that this car is a daily driver for me. The engine compartment won't win any shows with the gold tinge all over it from the corrosion spray, but they are still shiny and will remain that way under the corrosion inhibitor. At some point I plan to "retire" the car from daily service, and then I will clean all of the CRC stuff off of it. It will be a lot of work to remove it, but the protection it gives in the mean time is worth it to me, and I feel it is a good act of "preservation" while I subject the car to the rigors of rust belt winters.
Cheers,
11-08-2004, 01:14 PM
#36
Racer
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Tony: Awesome advice. I just purchased my 944 in October, and it was a Florida Resident; hence, it has never been exposed to any harsh elements. The car is in fantastic shape--would love to keep it that way. It's also my daily driver. Will look into the corrosion inhibitor for the exposed metal.
How does your battery do in the winter? Do you hook up a trickle charger? Any problems starting in the cold?
We don't see as much snow as Ohio (well not the last few winters), but they salt everything!
Also, what tires do you use in the Ohio winters?
Thanks a bunch -- Chase
How does your battery do in the winter? Do you hook up a trickle charger? Any problems starting in the cold?
We don't see as much snow as Ohio (well not the last few winters), but they salt everything!
Also, what tires do you use in the Ohio winters?
Thanks a bunch -- Chase
11-08-2004, 01:44 PM
#37
Originally Posted by shmucklebuckle
what is this "winter" you speak of?
11-08-2004, 04:24 PM
#38
Racer
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I'll add to Ryan's comments that it's also oh-so-much-fun to play hide and go seek with your car after a dumping of the white stuff... digging it out, suffering a near heart attack from the strain on your body this early in the morning (while sweating to death under your parka), then trying to crank-start a car that has been outside in below freezing temps... sometimes you'd rather go stick your tongue on a telephone pole and call in sick for the day... ha
11-17-2004, 12:49 PM
#43
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SM: Can I ask where you got the M3's (in Boston)? A buddy of mine who drives a BMW M3 highly recommend those same tires... I was looking at the Pirelli Snow Sport 210s... but have no experience with either of those tires... Blizzak LM-22's were also mentioned. Can you shed some light? Thanks!
11-17-2004, 12:59 PM
#45
Burning Brakes
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Originally Posted by Chase72
Tony: Awesome advice. I just purchased my 944 in October, and it was a Florida Resident; hence, it has never been exposed to any harsh elements. The car is in fantastic shape--would love to keep it that way. It's also my daily driver. Will look into the corrosion inhibitor for the exposed metal.
How does your battery do in the winter? Do you hook up a trickle charger? Any problems starting in the cold?
We don't see as much snow as Ohio (well not the last few winters), but they salt everything!
Also, what tires do you use in the Ohio winters?
Thanks a bunch -- Chase
How does your battery do in the winter? Do you hook up a trickle charger? Any problems starting in the cold?
We don't see as much snow as Ohio (well not the last few winters), but they salt everything!
Also, what tires do you use in the Ohio winters?
Thanks a bunch -- Chase
Thanks. I have a budget battery in mine from Advance or Autozone - something like that. I never had battery problems with any 944; hasn't been an issue. I know people like the Optima and Odyssey batteries, but since my car starts every time, even after sitting, and the battery tray isn't rusting... I don't see the need. But there is plenty of battery to start the car in the cold. Your biggest cold starting concern will be treating the transaxle gingerly until the gear oil warms up a bit. I go slowy in 1st gear as long as I possibly can, sometimes skip 2nd if it is really really cold, but either way I am very careful putting it into 2nd gear in the cold.
For Ohio winters, I went with the Q-rated standard Blizzaks on 15" wheels (my car is an N/A 2.5). I went for the best snow/ice capability, and am glad. Very competent on snow-covered roads, and I don't mind taking it easy the rest of the time. If they have the roads salted most of the time and you find yourself more on cold wet roads and only occasionally on snow-covered roads, then a snow tire that behaves better on wet/dry roads might be a better choice, perhaps...(?)
Cheers,