Winterizing my vehicle

Either inflate tires to 50 LBS or remove them from the vehicle to prevent flat spotting. Place plastic bags over the rotors & tie tightly to minimize rusting, Use fuel stabilizer in the tank (run till it's throughout the system). Remove the battery & bring indoors, place on wood surface (not on bare concrete). remove spark plugs and squirt oil in each cylinder. Tie plastic bags around throttle body (Carburetor) and inside exhaust to prevent moisture getting in. Put vaseline onto chrome surfaces, put a good coat of carnauba wax onto the paint. Clean and moisturize any leather or vinyl & ideally place the full vehicle in a plastic bag full of 100% nitrogen gas to prevent any oxidization.

Or.....

Start it up every couple weeks and drive it down to the store, rinse it off on it's return to remove salt residue.

I'd do the latter, but I'm lazy & I believe that cars were meant to be driven.

' Course there's always the option of storing it down in Miami & flying down to "visit it" every couple weeks when the weather gets too cold in Canada......

Hi...

Add to that - change the oil before storing it; get the old acid'y stuff out.

Make sure the antifreeze is good to whatever cold you expect.

Put a plastic bag around the air intake or carb; with a couple elastic bands to hold it tightly sealed.

Put a strip or few of wide duct tape over the cabin air intakes. Another few pieces to cover the floor air outlets and dash vents. (for the next unpleasant reason)

Make darn sure there are no body openings, if there are seal 'em up real tight! Also, park it over a solid surface if you can (not grass or dirt) Had an aquaintance park his summer car in his backyard. Mice found an opening, built nests; used his beautiful upholstery for material :( And somehow found their way into the heater/vent system. Turning on the fan the next summer just awful.

Hey, I'm in Winnipeg - so if it goes to Miami I volunteer to visit it every couple of weeks :)

Ken

JRL wrote: > snip One of the few threads where I agree with everybody !

I'd like to add two pointers, one change brake fluid, old fluid sits, and percipates out dirt particles, which could cause trouble next year. Converting to Silicone fluid is an ordeal, but it does not corrode. I " always " have a car in storage [ summer car, winter car ] and had too many brake bummers, Silicone solved the problems.

Two ! Clean the glass, I'm not kidding, cars put away with dirty glass often have " etched " glass when revived later. Clean the inside glass too. Do it more than once, to be sure all dirt is gone.

I favor jacking and blocking to take " some " weight off suspension, I put on bald tires, and jack to remove about 1/2 the weight, letting suspension dangle causes exposed shock rods to rust

Make sure car can breathe, to let out water vapor, spray oil on parking brake cables, and shift linkage. Spray oil electrical " snap " connectors too, loosening fan belts is smart too.

Add stabilizer before a short drive to distribute, and burn off unstabilized gas, I put on a new fuel filter, that I squirt with stabilizer first, this way carb gets extra stabilizer where it's needed most, fill tank later with cans.

Occasionally turning engine with breaker bar spreads added oil in cylinders, and keeps oil seals from sticking. Turn rear wheels to lube rear end, and keep those seals safe.

I am opposed to the start it up, and drive it up and down driveway, as that builds up too much moisture in exhaust.

Change oil and filter Buy bottle of Stabil Go to gas station and add appropriate amount of stabil Fill tank Drive vehicle at highway speeds for 10-15 minutes. Park vehicle in garage Hook up maintainer to keep battery charged

Make sure there is no dog food, bird seed, hay, straw or other food that varmints of any kind would find attractive, in your garage. Place mouse bait in several locations around your garage.

Optionally, you could bleed the brakes to get out any water that is hiding in your calipers/wheel cyls. (worthwhile, in my opinion)

I don't know what you could do with the rotors other than removing the calipers, hanging them with wire, and lightly coating them(the rotors) with cosmolene. You'd have to be sure to get them squeaky clean with brake clean in the spring. In my area (SE Iowa), only a little surface rust would form over a winter and that would quickly be worn off with the first use.

For longer than just over-wintering, there are other steps that should be taken. H

Thanks everybody

Chuck

for winterizing, no need to bag the rotors (minor surface rust is acceptable)

Use fuel stabilizer in the tank (run

old wive's tale... batteries last longer in cold than in warmth. place on wood? why? just leave the battery disconnected in the car

remove spark plugs and

depends on the vehicle (not as easy on minivans)

Tie plastic bags around throttle body

what's a carburetor?

and inside exhaust to prevent moisture getting in. Put

fill up the fuel tank disconnect the battery park it inside your garage

or...

sell it and buy a new car every year

-a|ex

Hi...

You may be right in cool weather; but not in Canadian kinda cold... :)

What will happen is that the battery will slowly but surely self discharge; then freeze, warping the plates and cracking the case.

I second the first suggestion - remove it and bring it indoors. Store it on wood. And give it a trickle charge for a few hours once in a while.

Ken

I use maintainers on the vehicles I store over the winter. The batteries remain fully charged at all times, so there is almost zero sulphation, and no chance of freezing. If you do remove the battery, be sure to note the radio unlock codes and the presets, if applicable. As far as the advice about storing on wood is concerned, though not an old wive's tale, it hasn't been valid for about 50 years (since they started using plastic non porous cases). H