Mikey B

Anything special I should do for my Turbo this winter? This is my first winter as a 993 owner and I live in Massachusetts. The garage is detached and not heated unfortunately. I will be able to start it every week or two no problem but would prefer not to drive it even in the dry as the roads are covered in sand and salt. When I start it up should I wait for it to reach operating temp? The manual says not to leave the car running while stationary for long periods presumably because the car is air cooled? How long should it run to adequately keep the battery charged? Your tips are most appreciated.

tar6day

Make sure you have lots of mouse/rat traps. Rodents can do much damage to a car that sits in one spot for long periods of time.

WHB Porsche

You can use a trickle charger for the battery. Some people throw some silica gel packs on a tupperware lid on the floor to stop moisture buildup in the car. The plastic lid is to prevent the silica gel from leaving a mark on the carpets. Do something to prevent flat-spotting the tires, such as these: http://www.tirecradle.com/

dbf73

Better not to start every week unless you can let it run for a long time to clear out all the moisture. Mine sits all winter w/o starting. Make sure you change the oil right before you put it away. Add some Stabil to the tank. Dryer sheets do a good job at rodent control - strew them liberally about the interior and engine compartment. An alternative to the tire cradles is to pump the tires up to 50-60 psi for storage - remember to bleed them down in the spring. As mentioned above - use a battery tender. Porsche makes a nice one that plugs into the lighter socket but there are any number of ones that connect to the battery including those that have a part that stays attached so the charger can be quickly connected and disconnected.

911/Q45

Move to CA=Drive every day.

Acropora

Winter is too darn long for me. This season I'll avoid driving when it's slushy but otherwise the snow tires are on.

Turbodan

make sure battery is vented (open hood) when charging. start car once month let idle for 20 min or so till normal operating temp.

ScottMellor

If you open the hood the interior lights will come on so be careful of that draining your battery.

Turbodan

if you have charger on it won't drain but best to unscrew bulb to not burn that.
I have heard good idea to put charger on timer 1 hour a day.

md11plt

Actually, if you lock the hood latch with your thumb while the hood is open and then close the hood and let it rest on the closed latch, you accomplish all of the above. The hood will close to the point of catching on the safety catch. The compartment is vented (you can still put the cover on the car [it's cotton, it breathes]) and the lights will go out (the light switch is on the latch, not the hook on the hood). If you want to close the hood all the way, you need to unlatch the lock from inside the car.

Tom

WHB Porsche

Tom, good to see you! You haven't posted in a while, I was about to PM to make sure you hadn't dropped off the face of the earth.

Mikey B

Thanks for all the tips guys... good advice, especially regarding rodents! I had the car parked only 1 week this summer and one got into the engine compartment. When I got home from a drive the engine was smoking.... couldn't understand why until I opened the lid and found the poor bugger dry roasted on some very hot engine hoses... no damage done luckily except for the mouse - he was Rodent Jerky!

rome

Some excellent adviceon this subject here https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=34752 from the 993 forum