Winter storage or keep it going?
#31
Rennlist Member
I used to start every 4 weeks or so and bring to operating temps. now I do not. Adrian Strather suggests not starting, as do most experts nowadays. plus if you start then your gas tank is not full and moisture can accumulate. Be sure to use sunoco 94 with no ethanol before storing!
#32
Yea, I change mine in the Spring when the car comes out of hibernation. Porsche London actually has locations for Winter which includes an oil change after storage, before pick up.
#33
Captain Obvious
Super User
Super User
Other than dissconnecting the positive on the batter, I don'g do ANYTHING to my 928 for the winter and the inside of the engine is as clean as when it came off the assembly line. I do try to remember to charge the battery every couple months. For the last 12 years, it never gave me a single problem when firing it up in the spring.
#34
Race Car
Add fuel stabalizer
Wash car
Drive to fill up with gas (cleans off brakes etc)
Pump tires to max psi.
Let sit for a couple of days and then cover.
Roll it a foot or two every couple of weeks to keep the tires from flat spotting
Do not start it unless you can take it out for a hard drive
I don't worry about the battery and it has started every spring. But I don't have the electronic gizmos running like the newer cars.
Change oil before or after. No biggie.
Wash car
Drive to fill up with gas (cleans off brakes etc)
Pump tires to max psi.
Let sit for a couple of days and then cover.
Roll it a foot or two every couple of weeks to keep the tires from flat spotting
Do not start it unless you can take it out for a hard drive
I don't worry about the battery and it has started every spring. But I don't have the electronic gizmos running like the newer cars.
Change oil before or after. No biggie.
#35
Race Car
I think Danny meant don't fill it up with PC 94 because it has hygroscopic ethanol in it?? Use no ethanol Shell 91. I take my 993 Turbo out when it is dry in the winter and my Conti Sport Contact N2's are fine for a conservative (0.4 bar boost max.) drive. I always go at least 20 miles to really warm the oil up.....and have fun! Don't worry about salt dust. I've been taking my "more rust prone than any car" Datsun 260Z out for winter drives for 36 years and there is no rust on it's original paint. Avoid wet salt like the plague. Parking on CT foam tiles is way easier than pumping up your tires to 50 lbs. or rolling the car. Add Stabil in case it's a real snowy winter and the car sits for months on end. My main concern is cold starting since I use thick M1 20W 50 oil so I only go out when it's above freezing. I have found mice - which every garage has - love it under nice dark car covers so I set lots of traps and never use a cover. The 993 needs a trickle charger while the 260Z doesn't but I plug 'em both in via their cigarette lighters 'cause I can.
Last edited by ronnie993tt; 09-27-2012 at 03:24 PM.
#37
Team Owner
Rod has it right. "Contaminated" oil will NOT eat away your engine. Thats allmost laughable.
In fact let the old oil absorb as much moisture as you want ( btw that is practically zero as oil is not hygroscopic to any major degree ). Then you just change it in the spring.
I just park it on a chunk of blue styrofoam and no rolling needed and no flat spots.
Like imre my car is 35 years old and never had a problem and burns no oil
In fact let the old oil absorb as much moisture as you want ( btw that is practically zero as oil is not hygroscopic to any major degree ). Then you just change it in the spring.
I just park it on a chunk of blue styrofoam and no rolling needed and no flat spots.
Like imre my car is 35 years old and never had a problem and burns no oil
#38
Instructor
Maybe an over exaggeration but I wouldn't call it laughable. The by products of combustion that oil absorbs can be corrosive and after a season of driving the oil has turned kinda nasty. Leaving it in the engine for 4-5 months doesn't sound great to me compared to fresh oil, particularly for the first start of the year.
I'm sure the original owners of these older cars didn't follow as much a rigorous routine as some of us now during the first few years of ownership, and whether the engines are in good shape now probably has had much more to do with factors other than whether they changed the oil before or after winter storage! However, it's cheap and easy to do, so its done as part of my pre-storage routine.
I'm sure the original owners of these older cars didn't follow as much a rigorous routine as some of us now during the first few years of ownership, and whether the engines are in good shape now probably has had much more to do with factors other than whether they changed the oil before or after winter storage! However, it's cheap and easy to do, so its done as part of my pre-storage routine.
#39
Race Car
imnsho no. Cold does not cause rust. Wet does. Dry is what's important. I have a dehumidifier in my garage now but said potential 260Z rust bucket has been in my pretty rudimentary garage for decades with no ill effects. Check your brakes occasionally. They're pure iron and way more susceptible to rust than the rest of your car even if it isn't galvanized. No rust there, no sweat. If there is, get a dehumidifier. Also, how can you go out and derive satisfaction looking at your baby when something else in life pisses you off if your car is way off at some dealer?
#40
Race Car
This is not the Mona Lisa we are storing.
Other than storing it on the grass with a tarp on top of it ......
It will survive the winter if you do any or none of our suggestions
Other than storing it on the grass with a tarp on top of it ......
It will survive the winter if you do any or none of our suggestions
#41
I put a tarp on the ground ( concrete floor ) put four rubber mats one on each corner,park, do my usual stuff to the car, car cover on, tarp over car cover incase storage rental roof leaks, give my usual blessing, lock er up.