I'm in MN with a stock 50 Mercury. Last fall I checked my antifreeze at 50/50 coolant/water, added Sta-Bil to the gas tank and then topped it off, Parked in on 6 mil poly in a concrete floored dry building, removed the battery and took that home for storage in the basement on 2x8s. Had closed the vents on the car and distributed some dryer sheets here and there on the carpet. She fired right up the following spring. Would anyone care to describe how they prep their cars for winter? I'm most interested in prep methods pertaining to truly cold winters. Thanks.
To whatever procedures that others will describe, I want to add this one- If you know you won't be starting the engine for a while, make sure it is good and hot before shutting it off. Hot, as in just rolled into the neighborhood after a good 12-15 miles on the highway. Once you shut the engine off for more than just a couple minutes, do NOT start it again. Do NOT start it to move it across the yard, or to roll it into the garage unless you thoroughly warm it up again before shutting it off. Remember what the experts tell you about making sure you drive your car 12 miles and more in order to evaporate and boil off the acid-producing moisture so the engine and the oil will last longer? The combustion in a car engine produces huge amounts of water vapor and acid-carrying steam that wets down everything, mixes contaminated water in the oil, and produces very corrosive compounds that can etch and corrode parts from inside the engine. When you heat up an engine with a 12 mile highway run, you are boiling out the moisture from the hot oil, and removing most of the bad stuff. If you let the engine cool a little, and then start it for a short trip across the yard, or across the driveway, you are once again adding lots of water, crap, and condensed steam that will stay inside the engine for the whole length of the storage time unless you once again heat up the engine all over again, and then shut it off HOT. In my view, that is the biggest influence on whether the engine can sieze up in storage or stay well preserved- whether it was shut down when wet, or shut down when it was still hot enough to keep the steam from condensing inside. Don't start it back up again unless you are prepared to do another thorough warmup to get rid of the steam+moisture all over again. I believe that starting it up to move it across the shop and then shutting it off again is the biggest engine killer for stored engines. Shut if off HOT, then you can follow the other advice on how to store it.
I take the key outta the ignition and put it in the back pocket of my dirtiest jeans....ofcourse, a scintillating pic of the aforementioned Merc may have spared you from this smart alec response
Storage? Only thing we store down here in West Texas is all the rust free project cars, and we can store them right outside. Even get a free sandblasting job after a while.
I have parked my car in the garage every winter and put a car cover on it. Didnt top off fluids, disconnect the battery or anything. Its been 5+ years of this (same battery, interstate batterys are the best) and it always fires right up in the spring. 4-5 months of sitting isnt really enough time to screw anything up in my opinion. The garage isnt heated either, it does have a concrete floor. -Nick
I do the same as Nick, except I don't cover it. I'm afraid the mice might like it under the cover. I've been going this for 17 years with the same car with no ill effects.
I drive mine all year long,,,we don't get much snow but it does get cold,,,,I even drive the roadster if the temps get above 40,,,HRP
To get my car ready for winter I slap on a set of the stickiest tires I can find, make sure my heater is working and put on a new set of wiper blades.....
Hey dare-to-be-different, Thanks for your response; I like the notion of keeping the engine hot up to the moment of parking it. I'll do that. Forgot to mention I'll use a car cover. I wonder what other good ideas are out there. One of these days I'll figure out how to post photos. I took some decent shots at this summer's Back to the 50s with the new digital camera. But really, it's just a bone stock 1950 navy blue Merc 2 door sedan.
the one thing i will add is get rid of the Sta-bil, and use Sea-Foam instead it is by far better that anything out there. I put it in a tank and two years later it fired right up, and the gas smelled just a fresh in the tank as the new i had just bought.
I add some moth balls in a paper cup. Don't cover the cars but one year I did and the stink of the balls and sheets was overwhelming. This will be the 1st year with stabil or something for the gas. Usually just unhook the battery and leave it in the cold. Not too many probs so far. By the way, the moth balls and the sheets are accompanied by the meanest mouse trap I can find. I hate them little rodents. j
Speaking of sand storms we got one going right now.I better go turn the 52 chevy I bought last month around so the other side will get blasted!
Does Oregon use rock salt to melt snow so it's safe to drive? Have you seen what rock salt does to cars after a few years? There is a reason the average car in NY does not make it to 15 years in service at any level. It's called rust and it's because of our salt. Every other day or so washes help, but don't stop what will happen.
This topic comes up every fall. Do a search for alot more tips. My out of the ordinary tip is to put aluminum foil over your tailpipes to keep the mice out. I usually use a long twisty tie or cable (wire) tie to help hold it on. Learned to do this after seeing corn shoot out of a friend's Dad's Model A tailpipe when starting up.
Corn Fed, thanks, good idea. I tried searching using, 'winterize', and 'storage' and found precious little. But will keep looking. Meanwhile if anyone else has an idea, please chime in. Someone recommended Sea Foam instead of Sta-Bil. I've used Sta-Bil successfully to keep any water suspended. I'm concerned that using Sea-Foam in the gas might free up sediment in the tank that I'd rather not disturb.
If you're really serious about preserving the engine, use Aeroshell Fluid 2F or any other oil meeting MIL-C-6529 Type II for preservation & storage... Dare has it right... Moisture is the killer! http://www.skygeek.com/421-035.html
Best thing I've found to ward off moisture, corrosion, mildew, and critters for cars in long term storage is one of these- www.carcapsule.com Say what you will, but they work and they can end up saving much more money than they cost.
I do what a lot of others said they do - I park the car in the garage, turn off the engine and go into the house. Sometimes I disconnect the battery. I do make sure the tank is full or almost full of gas. If I don't use the car for a while, I go out, start it up and let it run for up to a half hour or if the weather is good take a drive. My son just had a problem with Sta-Bil which screwed up his carb. I never used the stuff and never had a stale gas problem - some 25 years or so. Never had a carb problem either. I think Sta-Bil is a rip off and heard of others having a problem with it.
When does winter start? I must've missed this whole storing thing. When I store it overnight out on the street, I just make sure the ice scraper is handy and the vent window is unlocked for when the door freezes shut.
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