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Just a quickie question about parking it for 4 months.

921 views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  pUtInExIm 
#1 ·
hey guys Im parking my Talon for the bitter cold winters here in canada. It will be in a heated Garage from Mid November till about early March. Im just wondering if I should change the oil tonight or leave it for after, like is it bad for synthetic oil to sit in the car being started up say once or twice a week? Or leave the old oil in and save the synthetic for when its out, thanks :)
 
#2 ·
White91TalonTsi said:
hey guys Im parking my Talon for the bitter cold winters here in canada. It will be in a heated Garage from Mid November till about early March. Im just wondering if I should change the oil tonight or leave it for after, like is it bad for synthetic oil to sit in the car being started up say once or twice a week? Or leave the old oil in and save the synthetic for when its out, thanks :)
Change the all the fluids that you can, at the least the engine oil. Changing the oil and putting in fresh oil gets rid of all the contaminents in the oil that can damage your engine while it sits there for four months. Wash and wax the car. I would recommend starting the car and letting it get up to temperature at least once a month if not more. Try to move the car around a bit as well to avoid flatspotting the tires, and to get the transmission moving a bit. Flatspotting is fairly rare with todays tires, but it can happen. Either take out the battery, or buy a trickle charger that maintains the battery charge. Clean the interior. There are lots of little things to do. Do a search on google on winter storage, and you'll find lots of usefull information.
 
#3 ·
dedlewamp said:
Change the all the fluids that you can, at the least the engine oil. Changing the oil and putting in fresh oil gets rid of all the contaminents in the oil that can damage your engine while it sits there for four months. Wash and wax the car. I would recommend starting the car and letting it get up to temperature at least once a month if not more. Try to move the car around a bit as well to avoid flatspotting the tires, and to get the transmission moving a bit. Flatspotting is fairly rare with todays tires, but it can happen. Either take out the battery, or buy a trickle charger that maintains the battery charge. Clean the interior. There are lots of little things to do. Do a search on google on winter storage, and you'll find lots of usefull information.
Hmm so it wouldnt harm the fact that its synthetic? sweet :) . I was planning on starting the car and letting it idle about twice a week. Also plan on turtle wax on the interior and waxing it once a month and putting a car cover over top of my baby :) . I would liek to get some syncro tranny fluid (grinds bad sometimes) but its so damn expensif!
 
#6 ·
dedlewamp said:
Change the all the fluids that you can, at the least the engine oil. Changing the oil and putting in fresh oil gets rid of all the contaminents in the oil that can damage your engine while it sits there for four months. Wash and wax the car. I would recommend starting the car and letting it get up to temperature at least once a month if not more. Try to move the car around a bit as well to avoid flatspotting the tires, and to get the transmission moving a bit. Flatspotting is fairly rare with todays tires, but it can happen. Either take out the battery, or buy a trickle charger that maintains the battery charge. Clean the interior. There are lots of little things to do. Do a search on google on winter storage, and you'll find lots of usefull information.
Some great advice, change oil before storage, wash and wax, and definetely a Battery Tender. They are about $50 but worth every penny. A regular trickle chager (even those that say "automatic") can fry a battery. I've stored my Talon every winter since 1991. My Talon gets about 5 months of sleep. I also store another Talon( since 2003) and the Vette (since 2002).
I have some extra info. Fill up the gas tank completely full and put some Gas Stabil in. Over inflate the tires to prevent flat spotting. In other words, if the regular tire pressure is say 32 psi go to 42 psi, just do not go over the "max" psi that is stated on the sidewall of the tire. I recommend not starting the car at all until spring unless you can actually take the car out for a 1/2 hour drive. They are agruements on both sides of this issue and thoughout the years I went with not starting the car. Getting the car out for a drive on Iowa's winter salt and sandy roads is not an option for my baby.
And yes, leave the e-brake off, it will seize, I know cause it happened to me :(
 
#7 ·
knewblewkorvett said:
Some great advice, change oil before storage, wash and wax, and definetely a Battery Tender. They are about $50 but worth every penny. A regular trickle chager (even those that say "automatic") can fry a battery. I've stored my Talon every winter since 1991. My Talon gets about 5 months of sleep. I also store another Talon( since 2003) and the Vette (since 2002).
I have some extra info. Fill up the gas tank completely full and put some Gas Stabil in. Over inflate the tires to prevent flat spotting. In other words, if the regular tire pressure is say 32 psi go to 42 psi, just do not go over the "max" psi that is stated on the sidewall of the tire. I recommend not starting the car at all until spring unless you can actually take the car out for a 1/2 hour drive. They are agruements on both sides of this issue and thoughout the years I went with not starting the car. Getting the car out for a drive on Iowa's winter salt and sandy roads is not an option for my baby.
And yes, leave the e-brake off, it will seize, I know cause it happened to me :(
Thanks guys!. So I shouldnt even start it at all? :confused: . Hmm I havnt heard that one before but Ill wait for comfirmation. Im Changing the oil later today then probly has a week left of driving then bye bye :(

BTW Is that Bettery tender thing a must have? What happens if I would just leave it in the car?
 
#8 ·
White91TalonTsi said:
Thanks guys!. So I shouldnt even start it at all? :confused: . Hmm I havnt heard that one before but Ill wait for comfirmation. Im Changing the oil later today then probly has a week left of driving then bye bye :(

BTW Is that Bettery tender thing a must have? What happens if I would just leave it in the car?
The reason why some people prefer to not start their car at all is because the engine never really gets up to operating temperatures as if you would take it out for a spirited drive for 30 minutes. Moisture and other things will accumulate in the engine, and possibly cause wear and tear on the internals.

If you are NOT going to start it for three months, you can take out the spark plugs, and spray a little WD-40 or other cylinder lubricant through the holes to help prevent any rust from forming on the cylinder walls.

If you don't do anything to your battery, it will eventually discharge, and possibly freeze. Batteries do not like cold temperatures. You'll end up having to recharge it at the least, or replace it at the most, when spring comes around.
 
#9 ·
Another wise thing to do is to remove your wiper blades. Its such a pain in the ass to remove stuck rubber from the windows. I know you said that it will be in a heated garage but it would not hurt to check the coolant, it would suck for the heater to go out and then freeze everything and crack your block.
 
#10 ·
Thanks alot guys. I think im going to start it once a month and let it idle up to running temp and give it some revs. Probly idle it for 20 mins or so once a month should keep it good I think :)

Would the tranny fluid be an issue? My syncro keeps getting worse and worse it seems like :( , I wanna get some syncro tranny fluid and get it changed but can that wait?
 
#11 ·
White91TalonTsi said:
Thanks guys!. So I shouldnt even start it at all? :confused: . Hmm I havnt heard that one before but Ill wait for comfirmation. Im Changing the oil later today then probly has a week left of driving then bye bye :(

BTW Is that Bettery tender thing a must have? What happens if I would just leave it in the car?
The Battery Tender is not a must have, unhooking the battery prevents discharge too. I think it is a PITA to remove a battery cable (you only need to do one cable), you loose radio memory, settings, etc., and once again you risk spark and explosion (hydrogen gases) when messing with battery connections. If you ever need a jump start, this is why you should always make the last connection the ground on the dead car and that conection should not be at the dead car's negitive terminal, use the block instead.

Every place I know that professionally stores cars for the winter do not start the cars. They tell me starting a engine cold is one of the high wear times. I have no idea, I take their word for it (the cars in the one place was clearly over 1 million dollars worth) and the word of the research of that I've found on the net and the Corvette Forum.
I've never heard of the wiper problem but it sounds reasonable
 
#12 ·
Hmm maybe i wont be starting it...

Well i filled it up with Mobil 1 :) and coolant. And some engine restore blue stuff. Doubt it works but I thought I would try adding it.
 
#13 ·
add some lucas oil stabilizer when you change your oil, it will help the oil to stick to all of the parts and will prevent dry starting.make sure you do somethign to prevent mice and other critters from getting into the car or engine compartment, they can make a hell of a mess. i stored my car the last 2 winters and didn't start it. as already said, check to make sure your coolant is of the right concentration
 
#14 ·
I bought this pre-mixed coolant. Does it really matter which coolant is in a Talon?
 
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