Car going into storage - What to do?

[Dug]

G'day all,

I've decided that now that rego is due again, and I drove the car all of about 300km in the last year, that my Senator will be going into Storage.

Whilst I'll have regular and easy access to the car, I won't be intending on driving the car any time soon.

My question, and request for advise from those who know: What sorts of things should I be doing to the car in preparation for it's storage? I do intend on driving the car again at some stage in the future, so would like to make the recommissioning of it as easy as possible.

Cheers,

Krystian.

[limmo]

Mate put a maintenance charger on your battery so that you can start the car when you need to and it may also save you from having to buy a new battery. I have one on my ute as i don't drive her that often either.

Cheers limmo.

[Nutter]

If it's going to sit for extended periods it would be best on stands with the fuel tank drained, when fuel goes stale good and proper it will mess up the pump and injectors too, also I wouldn't trickle charge it if you know you won't be driving it I'd just take of the negative terminal.

[whitels1ss]

If it's going to sit for extended periods it would be best on stands with the fuel tank drained, when fuel goes stale good and proper it will mess up the pump and injectors too, also I wouldn't trickle charge it if you know you won't be driving it I'd just take of the negative terminal.

^^^ Agreed 100% :goodjob:

I would also put a decent car cover over it, even if it being stored in a shed.

[VNV8]

If u dont want to drain the tank put some 'sta-bil' in it, apparently makes fuel last up to a year or more. also if it were me I'd be spraying some bug spray around it (careful which type and dont go anywhere near the paint).

[adr8]

I read in a motorbike magazine, best way to store a motor for an extended period of time, is to fill it with fresh oil all the way up till the filler cap (way past full on the dipstick) DO NOT START THE CAR!, then when you take it out of storage, drain oil and refill with fresh oil and filter.

Hopefully, someone on here with some mechanical knowledge might know if this method has any merit or not? As it was the first I had heard of it.

[whitels1ss]

I read in a motorbike magazine, best way to store a motor for an extended period of time, is to fill it with fresh oil all the way up till the filler cap (way past full on the dipstick) DO NOT START THE CAR!, then when you take it out of storage, drain oil and refill with fresh oil and filter.

Hopefully, someone on here with some mechanical knowledge might know if this method has any merit or not? As it was the first I had heard of it.

If you did that on most cars it would leak out through the dip stick hole and perhaps even some other seals, I would not be doing it.

[VNV8]

interesting, it would prevent any rust or seizing, keen to see a pro's opinion?

[Hi Octane]

^^ What whitels1s said.

[whitels1ss]

interesting, it would prevent any rust or seizing, keen to see a pro's opinion?
Unless you were to remove all the spark plugs during the process and fill up the intake manifold
and upper cylinders with the oil, then replace the spark plugs at the same time there would still be air in the upper cylinders, valves and combustion chambers.

[whitels1ss]

After all the above you would end up spending heaps of money on oil, make a massive mess, likely gum up the rings, destroy many oil seals
and create a massive amount of work before you could ever run the engine again.:cheers:

EDIT...You might also even loosen carbon and other build up inside the combustion chambers and intake
and you would fill up the exhaust and cats with oil as well.

[XLR8 V8]

I've just got my car back on the road after sitting for 7 years. Some people drain all fuel before storing, but I stored it up with fuel in it to stop the pump etc from drying out. Fuel stabilisers do nothing after this long, so I knew the fuel would be bad. When I was due to get it going again I poured 1L of metho into the tank to absorb any moisture that had gathered, then I drained all the fuel out and put fresh fuel in just before starting.
Before starting again for the first time I poured some fresh cheap oil into the engine and squirted some into the spark plug holes as well. I put the plugs back in without the leads attached, and pulled the fuel pump fuse, then turned the engine over to cycle the oil around inside. I then plugged the leads back on, put the fuel pump fuse back in and started it up. Once the white smoke stopped coming out the exhaust I stopped it and drained the oil again and replaced with some good oil. The car has been running great ever since, passed the roadworthy and is back on the road.
When I stored it up I removed the battery altogether, but you'd just need to disconnect the terminals. You can put it up on vehicle stands to prevent flat spots forming on the tyres, or just leave it on the ground and regularly move the car back and forth. I chose to leave mine on the ground as the tyres were bald so I needed new ones before driving it anyway.
Your brake discs will rust like crazy when they're not being used, but I just gave mine a spray with brake cleaner and after a few applications of the brakes the rust was gone.
I also recommend leave an open container of bicarb soda inside the car. This will absorb any moisture in the air while the car is closed up and stop mould and musty smells from forming in the interior.

[Dug]

Thanks Guy's,

The Battery will be removed from the car, and I'll use them in another car - it's already flat anyway.

I'll fill the fuel tank and drain it afterwards, for just the reasons that XLR8V8 said, and also because it is the petrol gas that expands, not the petrol itself, so it will put less pressure on the seals etc... if it is full of liquid.

I've also heard about filling the motor with oil, but don't want to do that as i've also seen old oil in engines that I've been tearing down, and it can be not pretty.

Tyres are four years old now, and have been through a few heat cycles around a few race tracks, so they're pretty much stale anyway. They can stay on, and it'll keep the shocks etc... under pressure. They'll need changing from age before the car is going to get driven again anyway.

Nutter - when did you get back?

Bicarb soda - great idea, as is a bit of bug spray around the car.

Thanks for your input guy's. I appreciate it.

[zorro]

Also I would suggest buying some plastic tubs and sitting the tires in them. Fill with an inch or so of water, this makes it hard for ants to invade and set up a nest. Also arm the garage/shed with ratsac.

And give all the window/door seals a spray with lanolin, cable tie some fly screen mesh over the exhaust tips and lastly leave a note on the steering wheel with a reminder to check all fluids before starting/driving.

[XUV]

I read in a motorbike magazine, best way to store a motor for an extended period of time, is to fill it with fresh oil all the way up till the filler cap (way past full on the dipstick) DO NOT START THE CAR!, then when you take it out of storage, drain oil and refill with fresh oil and filter.

Hopefully, someone on here with some mechanical knowledge might know if this method has any merit or not? As it was the first I had heard of it.

that's for small motors and it was drain oil out and fill them right up with diesel .

It's spose to keep a film of oil on the whole engine .

as with a motor that hasn't been started in a while , a dry piston/sleeve is the biggest danger for damage on start up .

Hence the disconnection of coil/spark plugs and allowing oil to be pumped up thru the motor , like XLR8 V8 said .

You could also do that b4 storing it , so the oil lubes the piston and bore , without petrol drying it out .

[zorro]

You could also do that b4 storing it , so the oil lubes the piston and bore , without petrol drying it out .

Squirt of rp7 or the like in the plug holes will do for some time in storage, and as noted turning it over a couple of times for 5-10sec with cool packs disconnected will bring some oil up before firing it with spark

[Nutter]

Cranking a car with coil packs disconnected is not good for them due to ridiculous resistance.

I had 3 customer cars years ago all e series falcons on dual fuel where the petrol had been unused for over 2 years and from memory close to 5 in the the 3rd car... results? Seized fuel pump, wrecked injectors, every single steel fitting corroded to almost powder inside the tank on the 5 year old fuel and dead fuel pumps plus blocked injectors on the other 2. My hands after 5 minutes turned to white powder and over the following days cracked like crazy now I have no how the materials differ on the commies fuel system but I wouldn't risk leaving juice in it.

I'd be careful of spraying anything in to bores, first the more goo in there the more dust and shit to stick to it remember the motor is not totally sealed, problem 2 if you have to much liquid in there you'll bend all the rods on restart.

Tires in water may not be ideal, any lacerations unnoticed can allow water to rust the steel belts causing a blow out after.

Dug I've been poking around the last few months, unfortunately I've ended up with a lot of time on my hands recently so after something like 5 years MIA I'm back, it's good to see so many of the old guys around.

[Ausmartin1]

Rather than use normal oil in the spark plug holes, The boat people use Yamaha Store rite ? off memory protects better and less carbon better burn off on restart later,
For the fuel I'd go with Stabil on a strong mix. would then expect to get three years but it depends on the fuel / moisture etc. in normal Australian climate.

For those that store a really long time don't forget the engine coolant goes off - looses it anti corrosive properties.
Yeah love the insect advice ! ..... even brand new cars parked in grass can get an invasion of ants that would drive new owners crazy.