peter_964rs

My RS is in the garage with the bonnet lid up and an Optimate connected to the battery to keep it conditioned.

Due to a house move and huge workload I haven't driven it for a month and won't really have much of an opportunity to drive it, or much desire given the winter weather and recent hideous traffic, over the next four months.

So, how often should I start the engine; how do I keep the best in tip top condition without driving it twenty miles or so every weekend?

thanks

John Boggiano

Make sure that, when you do start it, you let it get really hot before you turn off and that you don't just leave it idling, which is bad for the camshaft oil-supply.

Bill Gregory

There have been some recent threads on winter storage, some of which may be useful. When I put mine to sleep, basically, I'll put stabilizer in the fuel, change the oil, air up the tires, plug the exhaust, crack the windows, cover it, pull the battery out (charging it monthly) and leave it be until Spring. I've been doing this for years, don't start the engine during the winter at all, and it fires up just fine each February. If you are going to start the engine, as John mentioned, you need to get it up to operating temperature.

peter_964rs

Thanks Bill

how much do you pump up the tires?
why plug the exhaust (and what happens if you forget to unplug it !)
by crack the windows I presume you mean wind them down a bit...?

I have my battery isolated already - there's a big red switch to do this under the bonnet - and connected to an Optimate which is a "battery conditioner" that keeps it in tip top shape without overcharging. In theory.

Bill Gregory

Peter,

I stuff a rag in the exhaust pipe to ensure some critter doesn't crawl up there and set up house! I pump the tires towards the max on the sidewall, memory says around 45 lbs. And yes, I wind the windows down just a bit. I posted this article by David Kalokitis below earlier, but in case you missed it (on keeping your garage clean of combustibles):

It’s getting colder outside. I was looking around the garage and I recalled an experience I had last winter. Let me start my saying I think I'm a pretty smart guy.

I pulled the battery out of my pickup truck and replaced it because it cranked a little slow one cold morning. Hey, why get stuck somewhere with a six year old battery. I'm a pretty smart guy. So the dopey checkout girl at the warehouse store doesn’t charge me a deposit on the core when I buy the new battery (no offense to any dopey checkout girls who may be reading this.) Might as well hold on to it until I can recycle it or trade it in when one of the other cars needs a battery. I'm a pretty smart guy. Buy hey, you can't leave it just sitting in the garage. It will go stone dead. Dead batteries can freeze in the winter and crack the case. Don't want acid leaking on the floor. I'm a pretty smart guy. I hook it up to the trickle charger. I don't use just any trickle charger, I have an expensive microprocessor controlled battery maintainer type. Now it will stay charged until I deal with it. I'm a pretty smart guy.

I’m driving home from a ski trip about a month later and my cell phone rings. Wife is calling to say that old battery in the garage EXPLODED! You know, the one sitting next to the C2 turbo! Now maybe I'm not such a smart guy.

There was a cover on the car. By some miracle, there was absolutely no damage to the car. She uncovered the car and pulled it out of the garage. The noise from the explosion alerted a neighbor who helped her wash down the garage floor etc. Apparently it was LOUD. When I got home I found pieces of battery case all over the garage. The top came off the battery and broke into many pieces. There were marks on the 10 foot high ceiling over the battery. I still can't believe the car was untouched. This battery was 2 feet from the rear bumper. Looking at the debris, I figure the blast was directed away from the car. I found 3 small acid spots on the cover, so I hit them with baking soda and washed the cover. I'm a pretty lucky guy.

Why did I title this look around in your garage? Well, 2 feet from the battery sat a kerosene heater and a 5 gallon can of kerosene. Not too bad, but with the recent snow, the snow blower and gas can are right next to this mess. I'm a pretty lucky guy.

Go out in your garage and look around. Where are those oily rags? How about that coffee can of gasoline you washed some parts in? Any battery chargers plugged in the wall outlet with the battery clips laying around to make a spark? Where are your oxygen and acetylene tanks?
Why did this happen? I think the battery had a shorted cell. The smart charger (2 amps max) sees a low battery voltage and overcharges the battery. Excess hydrogen is produced, the battery gets hot, the cells in the battery warp, short out, and the hydrogen ignites. So do yourself a favor and look around. You may not be as lucky as I was. I'm a pretty lucky guy. But maybe now I'm a little smarter too.

peter_964rs

Sounds like a bit of a dig at the Optimate...

Bill Gregory

[quote]<strong>Sounds like a bit of a dig at the Optimate... </strong><hr></blockquote>

Peter,

Remember the battery he had on the charger was an old one to start with, so collapsed plates might be more expected. The message I get from David's experience is look carefully at what you have stored around in your garage.

Me, I take the battery out, put it in the (warmer) basement on some 2x4's (to keep if off the cement), and put a charger on it at the beginning of each month.

Riccardo

Thanks for the info guys, I'm also considering storing my 964 for a couple of months over the worse of the winter (plus I've no time to drive it recently), so this is great advice.

Bill, ever had problems with brakes or clutch seizing?

Also, does the car usually start first time (or so) when you come to restart it in the Spring?

Finally, do you leave a full, mid or empty tank of fuel?

Bill Gregory

[quote]<strong>Bill, ever had problems with brakes or clutch seizing?

Also, does the car usually start first time (or so) when you come to restart it in the Spring?

Finally, do you leave a full, mid or empty tank of fuel?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Riccardo,

Never had a problem with the brakes (I don't apply the parking brake while in storage) or clutch seizing. Can't think of a time it didn't start right up in the spring (give it a little slack for the fuel system to repressurize). I use a product called "Stabil" which helps prevent the gas from breaking down. Run the fuel to near empty, add Stabil, then fill with gas, drive around a few miles to get it through the system. Done. I do know some people who pull their cars off the road for a month or two and don't use any gas stabilizer, and have no problems. In the spring, after I drive the tank with the Stabil out, I use a bottle of Techron to clean the system out, which is important here as we have the gas additive MBTE, which can leave deposits on the injectors over time.

Tom

I am about ready to put my 944S to bed until March (although I may be lucky like last year and be able to drive it into January, depends on the snow. All I have done through the years is to disconnect the battery (haven't nad a problem with frozen batteries in these cars, just make sure it's been significantly driven e.g. more than around the block in the last day or two). Fill the tank with gas so less moisture condenses. Then don't worry about starting unless you are really going to use it. running the motor puts lots of water and other corrosives into the oil which need to be brought to operating temp for a while to remove. I hav never had tire flat spot problems and it starts OK in the spring. Where I live the winters get pretty cold (like below 0 F) and the temperatures fluctuate which encourages condensation.

Ragin' Bajan

I'd second John's comment about letting the engine oil heat up before shutting down. Last winter I drove my car (mostly to work and back) and come time for Spring's oil change, there was over a cup of water in the oil! Apparently atmospheric moisture (it's v. wet in winter here) was absorbed into the oil, which is normally vapourized and expelled through normal summer driving. I'm not sure if water absorbtion happens whether or not the car is driven.

Flying Finn

Well, like others have said, if you start it, you should drive it, not just run, but you drive it.

If you can't, do not start!

Starting (especially after long sit) is the most wear that you can do to the engine (I remember 1 cold winter start equals 500 km of driving) so I'd say it's better to do it only once/year than every month.

Museum people (in museum cars that just sit in the museum) start the engine in every six month and I'd think they know what they're doing.