Proper Winter Storage
 

I will be storing my car inside a unheated garage over the winter. I was wondering who else has experience in storing there P-Car indoors over the winter cold months

My Questions are (based upon a 4 month storage)

Should I jack up under the suspension to get the tires off the ground?

Should I use dryer sheets / moth balls, to keep the mice out of my engine bay / car?

Should I change the oil before storing, or change it after it comes out of storing

Should I start the car every week, month, twice, never?

All the help I can get will be much sppreciated

Thanks Guys

No help?

*dont need to jack the car, put an extra 7-8 lbs of air and let it be, you can even move it a foot or so
*fill the car up with gas and put fuel stablizer.
*changing the oil would be nice, also having it washed is a plus.
*starting the car once a week/2 weeks...keep it running till it reaches normal operating temps, this will burn condensation in engine. Just starting it for 5 min is bad since it will develope condensation in the engine.
*put a battery tender
*about the mouse thing...put traps in a couple of spots

This is all I could think of...hope it helps

Thanks, Yea I just washed and waxed it, vacuumed out the inside and took the mats out to clean them better, will be covering it, plan to move it about 2 ft every month or so
. But good idea on the over inflating to prevent the flat spots. and thanks for the info on how to run it never even thought about how long I had to wait

Proper way to do it, from a canuck's point of view (read, car doesn't budge from november to april)

- Don't lift car off the ground, leave it "normal"
- Empty the gas tank as much as possible, you may want to add some fuel stabilizer
- trickle charger
- make sure you have access to engine/battery even when there is no power. I put some foam/wood blocks in the trunk and doors sills
- I don't overinflate the tires, but I put 2 2x2 carpet pieces (double layer) to avoid flat-spotting
- Depending on your area, watch out mice nests and stuff like that.
- Last year I found quite a bit of condensation/humidity inside (even though the door was ajar), this time I'm putting de-humifidiers inside

How I end up doing it?
Park it. And spending 10x more time and money fixing what would have been find had I done it properly ... hilarious

edit - just noticed the garage is un-heated ... make sure you have the proper anti-freeze. It gets down to -5 in our garage, when it's usually -30C outside ...

My 2 cents...

Don't lift the car
Overinflate tires by approx 8-10 psi
As ZORRO stated, I also have put carpet pieces under tires in addition to more psi
Full tank of gas with stabilizer (less air = less condensation)
Hook up to a battery tender
I think it is best to not start it at all until it's ready to come out of storage
Change oil
Clean in and out
Cover
If floor is anything but very dry it's not a bad idea to have a tarp under it as a vapor barrier.
If possible leave it in neutral (manual trans) with parking brake off
If rodents won't be an issue leave windows open a crack to release moisture
Use steel wool in the tailpipe and air intake to prevent rodents from making a new home.
I have put moth balls around the perimeter to deter rodents (I wouldn't put them inside because it will take a long time for the smell to go away).

Hope this helps.

I don't store mine, just drive it whenever it's dry and above freezing.

One question I have, I am buying a trickle charger, but should I pop the hood before storage just in case the charger doesn't work. That would make it easier to get to the battery in case it dies. Anyone do this? Does it trigger any sort of light if the hood is popped?

Yes, hood open or ajar ... getting a electric released hood or trunk open with a completely dead battery is a PITA.

MN911 is right regarding the full tank ... I just had a bad experience with a full tank of gas turning bad (and having to empty that suck!). So now I empty it as much as possible, put de-humidifiers and fill it up to th brim with fresh gas prior to starting it in the spring.

When looking for a battery tender, be sure to buy one that can also act as a battery charger. Porsche dealerships up here sell both types. With a battery charger, if you plug it in with a dead battery it'll still give you enough power to pop the hood, etc.

Also, make sure that whatever battery tender you use is actually supplying power to the car while it is stored. Pay attention to the cigarette lighter fuse... I've had that fuse blow once during storage and leave me with a dead battery come spring.

Heres what I do. check the tire pressure, oil, coolant, wash and Wax, clean the interior and treat the leather. Then put the key in the ignition, back it out of the garage and drive the hell out of it.

Seriously, its a car (a great car) and is meant to be driven, to hell with the weather, my C4 is great in all conditions. And I have never had my gas go bad, my battery go dead or any mice in my engine comopartment.

I have been storing my car in Minnesota since 1999. Here is what I do.
I change oil.
Drive the car and get it fully up to temp. 1/2 hour drive should do it.
Put in Sta-Bil in the tank before drive.
I use Tire Cradles http://www.tirecradle.com/. I understand that 4 layers of carpet will also work. Tire Cradles do work and never wear out. Read his web site to understand why not to overinflate your tires or jack up your car.
Put on a battery maintainer not a trickle charger.
Never start you car again untill spring and your ready to drive it.
If you want you can call me and I'll give you all the boring technical details behind this.
Steve From MN

winter storage
 

where would you recommend buying battery tender? and what will it do?:confused:

Battery Maintainer Explained
 

Where to get one?
Porsche makes one. Griots Garage has a couple. Probably auto zone sells them. I got one at Mills Fleet Farm here in MN.
A battery maintainer takes the battery up to a specific voltage and then reduces the current into the battery to near zero.
This keeps the battery maintained but will not boil away the battery acid. A trickle charger is ok for a day or two but then it keeps putting out current that will eventually ruin the battery. A battery maintainer is used on a fully charged battery it is not used to charge a battery although it will eventually.
I hope this helps.

winter storage
 

Thanks for the info. Off to Autozone!:p