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( Northern Folks ) How to Winterize your Car !!!!

11K views 77 replies 29 participants last post by  BRKLYN 
#1 ·
A few of you on here may have purchased your 5thgen and drive a beater during the winter months since the Salt yall use up north on the roads is not car friendly. I found steps on the internet that 5thgen owners are taking and figured if yall do store your car and dont do some/one of these it may help you in the long run :thumbsup:

Steps:

1) Make sure the gas tank is at about 1/2 and put seafoam in it, drive the car for 5 miles, than put Sta-Bil in the in the tank, drive to gas station, fill it up and take it home (or to storage location).

2) If the car is close to an oil change make sure you do it before storing the car, if you have more than a couple thousand miles left there is no need for it.

3) Clean the car and put a fit car cover on it (for garage storage) unless you are using a heated garage in which case you wouldn't need this. If you are storing it outside make sure you have a weatherproof car cover.

4) Either (a) hook up a battery tender or (b) disconnect the battery.

5) Not required but is good if you remove the wheels and leave the car on 4 jack stands (for indoor storage).

6) If using a battery tender start the car once every month for 10-15 minutes.

Recommendations:

1) If your going to be storing your car either somewhere outside, or in a garage that isn't sealed well/is opened up during the winter months, than it's recommended that you use a clean rag in each tailpipe in case of rodents or something else climbing into it and stuffing it. Also if your going to do this put a sticky on the steering wheel to remind you to not start the vehicle without removing the rags.

2) Do not set the parking brake, if it's a manual leave it in neutral.
 
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#4 ·
That reminds me after my dad and I got done rebuilding the Oldsmobile's engine many years ago..the first time we started it up I was expecting a furry fireball to come shooting out of the tailpipe. :lol:



 
#5 ·
Not sure if i'd do this, but apparently moth balls on the ground around, and under the car will prevent mice from nesting inside under the hood or elsewhere in the car, say your car is in an outside garage or barn etc.
 
#6 ·
Ethanol in Gas

If your state mandates 10% ethanol in the fuel... Get the Stabil for marine equipment. It takes care of the ethanol.
 
#8 ·
the fuel is the only one that i'm questioning

i've heard that it is better to have a full tank of fuel when going away for storage as to not leave room for condensation

but on the flip side i'm sure i've let my bronco sit for months with less then a 1/4 of fuel in it and never had a problem with it firing afterwards.

the ebrake thing is new to me as well. is this to prevent strain on the cable for being on for so long??

has anyone ran quick disconnects to their batteries yet? i was debating putting on a similar set up that the truck has to not have to keep taking the cable on and off when i want to fire the car up and let it run every month or so

the only other thing that i think should be mentioned is that if you're in a colder climate you should plug the car in for 24 hours before firing it up
 
#9 ·
I used to go through all that crap but I'd rather have them sit in a well ventilated building so that I can fire them up from time to time and move them around. I don't like gears and seals not getting lubricated/pressurized for long periods of time. I do put fuel stabilizer in all of them.

Sitting in a "big cammed" camaro that's running is a great winter past time when it's -10!
 
#11 ·
what would you reccomend for those of us that don't quite have the space to drive the car around hylton?

the little garage that i'm putting my girl in i can maybe go back and forth a couple feet, but there's no way i'll be able to take her in and out even with a little bit of snow on the ground
 
#12 ·
those are friggin awsome!!!!! i might have to seriously look into a set of them

thanks for the link RJ
 
#18 ·
ya i'm watching closely as to how many more days i get to drive my car too
 
#19 ·
i guess i can be grateful... if it snows where i am now located, it is completely melted by the next day!

last winter was the worst for me up in Tulsa... 2 solid months of snow on the ground, and 3 good months of sand and salt on the roads!
 
#21 ·
I dont agree with removing the wheels it takes longer than a few months to get flat spots on tires,instead fill tires with nitrogen and over fill the tires to like 40 psi dont put on jackstands you dont want your suspension to remain unsprung.also park car on top of a large vinyl tarp, oh and id fill the tank all the way up and add sta-bil i never heard of using seafoam.
 
#23 ·
Cardboard will absorb moisture to a point and then it will actually retain and attract moisture. Consider buying rubber liner available in rolls at HD - it will prevent anything from coming through the floor.
 
#26 ·
i used it to clear out bypassed oil inside my intake manifold prior to installing my catch can.

but for cleaning injectors and such, i prefer Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant every 10,000 miles... for about $10 every other oil changed, along with Lucas oil stabilizer every oil change, it helped my old truck to survive as long as it has. cheap insurance IMHO
 
#28 ·
Non-oxy gas

Some of the research we did last fall before putting our baby away for the winter resulted in us using non-oxygenated gas. From what I understand there is not as much condensation when there is no oxygen (maybe none at all?). Anyway, that worked very well for us. We just ran the tank as close to empty as we could and then used the non-oxy gas. I know it is sometimes hard to find but appeared to be worth it.

As you all know the best part of leaving the car set up to start in the winter (I have an extra garage stall) is looking forward to going out and starting it once a month. Boy it sure did seem like the winter went by much fast as we watched the days tick off until the next time we could start it.

I like the idea of the tire holders posted here because last year we did nothing of the sort.

I have a concrete floor that appears to stay dry in my garage. Can someone expand on why I would need to put anything down on the floor under the car? I just can;t see a good reason to do that.

Thanks for a great thread everyone. It sucks living in the great white North.......
 
#31 ·
you know the main reason people used to put stuff in their gas tank was to keep condensation getting in there. the condensation made the metal tanks rust. we have plastic tanks now. i understand it has other parts it protects,but honestly its not really needed to put anything in your tank for storage. maybe it depends on exactly where you live and where the car is stored and how cold it will get. but where i store my car, its in a attatched garage,no heat,cement floor. never put stabilizer in it. i use a trickle charger,put carpet under the tires,cardboard under the car and i cover it up.
hopefully next year ill have my new warehouse/garage up and it will be heated for the car. oooooh i cant wait!
 
#32 ·
ooooooooooh never thought of the plastic tank aspect. thanks for the reminder 20105thgen

so out of curiousity has anyone had experience with storing their cars when the weather gets ridiculously cold? we have had -40 for a month straight and have seen -50 and colder for weeks at a time

is there anything "special" that those of us that see those extreme temps should be preparing for? i do know that during those times i doubt i'll be firing the car up as it will be just too hard on it after it sat
 
#34 ·
converted to synthetic on my first oil change and have been synthetic ever since and we just so happen to have a trickle charger in the big shop :D
 
#36 ·
building isn't connected to the house. it's actually at best what we figure was the original house on the property. it's a garage with cement floor but old construction so not completely sealed. there's a hole towads the top of one of the walls where the wires run out of it. from what i remember of last winter though not alot of snow actually got into the garage. just a few whisps here and there. it has power but no heat
 
#37 ·
so its not completely sealed and wont hold any heat. pretty much same tempurature as it will be outside, just no wind chil factor.... you may want to take more steps to be sure that the car will be winterized correctly. if it were connected to the house, it would maintain somewhat of a warm temperature.have you thought of insulating the garage where you keep the car at? if it were me, it would make me feel so much better to throw up some insulation. it will keep and warmth in and in the summer time, help keep it cool. house insulation is my specialty, so if you have any questions, let me know. but if it gets that cold, i would definately do something to protect it more.
 
#38 ·
ya that's why i was asking what should be done when it's gets to the "no exposed skin warnings" cold

i doubt i will have time this year to get the insulation up. i'll take a look through the garage again this weekend when i'm finishing cleaning it up and see if there are any other concerns that i need to worry about

thanks for help/responses 2010 :)
 
#39 ·
ooooooooooooh just had another thought given to me bout winter storage

wondering if anyone can confirm/deny this

i was told that if i put a bar of irish spring soap inside the car it will help keep the mice out cuz they don't like the smell

i'm not too overly worried about the rodents as my dogs look after any that they see pretty fast, but just be nice to have an extra deterant in place ya know
 
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