View Full Version : Leaving car question
iliketacos
03-14-2007, 00:31
Any suggestions for leaving a car for 6-months. I'm not having anyone start it or drive it while I'm gone. It will be in a secure parking place but my question is: Is there anything I should do to the vehicle before I leave? Any additives for the fuel? Disconnect the battery cables? The vehicle is in pretty good shape, can I just leave it and hope there aren't any issues after 6-months? Thanks.
Any suggestions for leaving a car for 6-months. I'm not having anyone start it or drive it while I'm gone. It will be in a secure parking place but my question is: Is there anything I should do to the vehicle before I leave? Any additives for the fuel? Disconnect the battery cables? The vehicle is in pretty good shape, can I just leave it and hope there aren't any issues after 6-months? Thanks.
I'd probably run it until it's nearly empty of gas, and fill it with fresh when I get home. I'm not too car savvy, though.
if you are starting in georgia, leave the car at amicalola sp, $3 fee for the whole 6months.
and put steelwool in the tailpipe and any other places rodent will make a home out of it. make sure you change the oil prior to leaving the car and don't leave it with too much gas. i would disconnet the battery just in case.
ShakeyLeggs
03-14-2007, 01:13
Here is a list of things you need to do to store a car;
If you must store, store indoors where the wind can't get to your car.
It is better to let a car sit for months than to run it once a week for a few minutes. The reason is that you can't get the engine and other drivetrain parts warmed up enough to do any good and you will create condensation in the crankcase and exhaust that will help kill your car.
Give your car a bath and good coat of wax including chrome trim before storage. Use a product like Wurth Rubber care on the seals/rubber trim, and Vinylex on tires.
Clean the interior, use Lexol on the leather and Vinylex on the vinyl before storage. No need to go overboard and leave it dripping, just a normal treatment.
A pan of charcoal bricks (not the type with fuel in them though!) in a pie tin on newspaper inside the car will help soak up odors. Leave windows cracked just a little to let some air circulate and let window seals relax so they seal better.
Remove important papers from the car/glove box. Try to leave the AC system in OFF mode to help keep critters out.
Give the car a good run and get it fully warmed up right before storage.
Fresh fluids at this point are a good idea. Oil and filter, anti-freeze, power steering fluid, tranny fluid and brake fluid should all be changed right before storage. A week or two before storage is OK except the oil, make that as fresh as possible.
Once the car is parked where it will sit, remove the battery, store in a cool dry place and trickle charge it once a month. Be sure to check the water level and fill if necessary.
Fill the gas tank before storing with fresh quality fuel. If you drive your car so little that last years gas is still mostly in the tank, then siphon it off and use it in the lawn mower or dispose of properly! Fresh gas will last a full year if kept at a fairly stable temperature below 80 degrees. Filling the tank helps prevent condensation which helps prevent rust in tanks and fuel systems. Fuel additives for storage are not needed if storing for less than a year.
With carburetor equipped cars, it sometimes helps to disconnect the fuel pump (plug the line so it doesn't drain) and run the car till the carb is dry. BUT, I have stored cars for many years without draining the carbs, and taken the carbs apart and found no deposits or "varnish" in the fuel bowls. Fuel will evaporate out of the carbs within a week anyway. On fuel injected cars, there is no bowl as such so don't worry about it.
Do NOT put your car on jack stands or blocks under the frame. This lets the suspension droop and puts the springs and bushings in an unnatural state. If you want to prevent flat spots on tires (not a problem with modern radials anyway) support the car at the outermost points of the suspension so the springs and shocks/struts are in a natural state. Be sure to keep tires (remember the spare) at the correct air pressure and try to keep them away from electric motors or high heat.
It's a good idea to put mouse bait/traps out in any garage. If you don't they will get under your car cover or sheets and make nests (usually near the base of the windshield), you will see their little pee spots on your hood! Left to run amok, mice can build nests in air intakes (seal them off with bags if you can get to them, and check airboxes/air cleaners before first starting), and even in the glove box or inside the seats.
When starting the vehicle back up after storage, remove all your covers, bags over pipes, intakes, pans of charcoal, put the freshly charged battery back in and check all fluid levels. If possible disable the ignition (or just don't set the choke on carb equipped cars) and let the engine crank to build oil pressure. I like the idea of a few cranks at slow speed with no oil pressure rather than the first few cranks at 3000 rpm with no oil pressure! Try to get the engine to a slow idle as soon as possible till things warm up. Of course on modern computer cars, you have no control over this. Make the first mile or so at slow speed and keep the rev's low till things warm up. Test the brakes before you get on the highway. Drums and disks WILL rust some unless you store your car in one of those sealed bags (not a bad idea, but I have found it unnecessary if you have a good garage) but that will go away after the first few stops.
wow thank you for the info!!!!
Good stuff by ShakeyLeggs.
I spent 30 years of my life on ships, never less than 6 months a year, so I've left cars many, many times. The most important thing I learned was never, ever allow someone else to drive or even start your vehicle while you're away. Of course if you're married, you may not get away with that, but try anyway. I've even gone so far as to store my car and not tell the wife where. She had her own car to drive!
iliketacos
03-14-2007, 10:44
Wow, good info shakeyleggs. I would leave it at Amicolola but me thinks I will want to fly home and take a nap once I hit ME. Thanks.
yes, I own two antique cars. If you start it, then drive it a minimum of 10 miles. This gets all fluids up to temp, boiling off condensation.
I also use Sta-Bil fuel stabalizer. Buy it at Home Depot or Lowes, in the garden/mower area.
all the rest of that information is right on the money
1. That Sta-Bil fuel stabalizer works well and is well worth the little investment.
2. six months is enough time to affect some tires. Even with a re-balance they can become a bit "lumpy" at highway speed.
3. Some cars just don't do well sitting still for months but most of ShakeyLeggs suggestions address the usual problem areas.
4. Ponder, perhaps, selling the beast and remove all doubt & worry?
t
Good stuff by ShakeyLeggs.
I spent 30 years of my life on ships, never less than 6 months a year, so I've left cars many, many times. The most important thing I learned was never, ever allow someone else to drive or even start your vehicle while you're away.
Why's that Chief?
Footslogger
03-14-2007, 12:07
Consider a locking gas cap if the vehicle is going to be in plain sight.
'Slogger
mweinstone
03-14-2007, 16:17
leave keys in ignition, full tank, and a sign that says " use and return". that way when you return it will be full of gifts from the happy users. and the enviroment will be all the better for your having shared a vehical.and you will have a good feeling. oh,.. wait,.. i forgot this is earth 2007. i thaught it was new earth 2025. my bad. yeah, burn the car or someone else will.
iliketacos
03-14-2007, 18:12
mweinstone, by my calender this is new new redux earth year of 100,000,000,000,001. Only good things can happen this year, as such I will leave the doors ajar with hot-wiring instructions and a full tank of gas, just as I found it.
I wonder, just how SAFE would one's vehicle be at Amicalola parking lot, or, wherever their version of 'long term' parking would be for the $3.00/6 months? My 'ole Jeep has a cloth top. Is the lot watched occasionally? Is it lighted?
When I was at Amicalola on New Year's, there was a pickup truck in the lot that had been there since 7/15/07. It had a broken window, with plastic over it...but the truck was old and in very rough shape, so the window may have been broken before the owner parked it. I've been wondering what the odds of being able to start that truck are...
There are quite a few official State Park people in that area a lot of the time. There's a residence for Rangers kitty corner from the parking lot, and visible from it.
yes, I own two antique cars. If you start it, then drive it a minimum of 10 miles. This gets all fluids up to temp, boiling off condensation.
I also use Sta-Bil fuel stabalizer. Buy it at Home Depot or Lowes, in the garden/mower area.
all the rest of that information is right on the money
Or Walmart. Ask a mechanic about battery disconnect.
Consider a locking gas cap if the vehicle is going to be in plain sight.
'Slogger
With the price of gas, !!!
Good one is $15.
I get mice/DCon/seeds in the air filter when used daily. Course this is the twillies.
FWIW,,,,
I thru-hiked last year. Left my '86 Trans Am with over 286000 miles on it at Amicalola.
Did absolutley nothing to prepare it.
Upon my return the four year old battery had enough for a few cranks but needed a jump to start the car.
Still going strong several thousand miles later.
Radar GA -> ME 07
olyroller
01-25-2008, 17:14
If you are from the Northeast or anywhere raods are salted in the winter give it a bath. My brake lines rotted out on my ride this summer as I was hiking.