Winter Storage or Starting/Driving

[SkyNV]

I know there are some other threads out there about winterizing the SKY, but I didn't see very much talk about what is better in terms of...

-Starting the SKY every so often and taking it out around the block when the roads are clear

OR

-Putting the SKY up for complete 4-5 month storage.

Can you top notch car folks share your thoughts please.

[coopcj7]

OK several things that are good for the car.

Yes you want to start the car very so often.Moisture builds up in the engine as well as some is absorbed in the oil. You want to heat up the engine to full operating temperature to ensure that this condensation has been burned off. It can rust your cylinder walls and over time in storage it can do more damage when you go to start it back up.
A simple drive to the store or sunday drive is sufficient but dont do short trips as this will not enable to heat it up sufficiently.

For the gas in the tank. Just add the coreect amount of STA-BIL fuel stabilizer this will allow your fuel to stay fresh for up to 1 year and it wont hurt your injectors or fuel filter

[Rick Tinley Park]

There are many threads on this subject -- Here is one link:
Winterization??

[Gerry]

Originally Posted by coopcj7

....For the gas in the tank. Just add the coreect amount of STA-BIL fuel stabilizer this will allow your fuel to stay fresh for up to 1 year and it wont hurt your injectors or fuel filter

Or, if you are thrifty (my wife uses the term “cheap”) like me, you can buy a 300g bottle of Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) powder. 3mg treats 10 gallons of gas so this bottle will last you a very long time. Costs under $10.00 a bottle.

BHT is the active ingredient in fuel stabilizers, like Sta-Bil. It’s used in the food and petrochemical industries as a powerful antioxidant. You can buy it from www.beyond-a-century.com (a health products company). What additional you get for your money from the over the counter fuel stabilizers, like Sta-Bil, is marketing, and a pretty colored liquid.

[coopcj7]

Originally Posted by Gerry

Or, if you are thrifty (my wife uses the term “cheap”) like me, you can buy a 300g bottle of Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) powder. 3mg treats 10 gallons of gas so this bottle will last you a very long time. Costs under $10.00 a bottle.

BHT is the active ingredient in fuel stabilizers, like Sta-Bil. It’s used in the food and petrochemical industries as a powerful antioxidant. You can buy it from www.beyond-a-century.com (a health products company). What additional you get for your money from the over the counter fuel stabilizers, like Sta-Bil, is marketing, and a pretty colored liquid.

have heard of this myself. my only problem with it is that some people run the risk of adding too much and that woul not be good for the car

[rich71]

I am in central new york, and I just put my sky to sleep. I plan on starting it every week up to op temp, backing it in and out of the garage (if there is snow) and yes, if a cold "dry and clear" day, take her for a spin. I did add the stay-bil to the tank and drover her a couple mile to work it in. I just think it is better to run it than to let it sit. If I was to let it sit, I would run it until it ran out of gas, squirt oil in the cylinders, remove the battery and mothball it.......Like a lawn mower................sounds stupid????? that is why I chose to start her up once a week and drive it when I can. :-)

[Leather]

Mine is parked for the winter and I wont be touching it until April. I got 6 months of waiting. I have it parked at my parents garage 3 1/2 hrs away(They have gone south for the Winter) So I will not be starting or running it all winter.

[SkyNV]

If I store it, I was going to:

-put protector on rubber(wanted to do this either way anyways)
-trickle charge the battery
-change oil and filter
-check all fluids
-fill gas all thw way full
-stab-li fuel
-clean inside and out
-inflate tires +10 psi
-cover (would do this in either case also)
-park on plastic and on rubber mats
-sprinkle moth balls and fabric sheets around teh outdies

I just don't want anythign to go wrong. Maybe driving it all winter is the better route? In that case, I would want to make 100% sure the antifreeze is good, and also that there is no water in the gas (stab-li) and just watch out for the salt/snow/sand. Still inflate the tires +10 also is probably a good idea.

[Bogie]

Originally Posted by SkyNV

I just don't want anythign to go wrong. Maybe driving it all winter is the better route?

When it comes to storage, you really got to do it right. I'm not an expert, but when I think about all the moving parts, and fluids, and materials involved....I just can't see having those things sitting idle for so long a time is good for the longevity of the car. This is doubly true outside a temp/humidity controlled environment, as temp cycles, humidity, and different materials mean all sorts of condensation stuff going on. So unless you are able to get it stored in a manner that mitigates what happens when all that sits idle, I would suggest the drive route.

Think in qualitative terms about the fluids. They ALL have impurities. And some involve interactions with surroundings that create minute amounts of other particles. As long as you keep 'em stirred up, so to speak, these impurities are dilulted homegenously throughout the fluids, and never gang up in damaging quanties. Let 'em sit long enough and those impurities, will follow gravity until they reach somethign solid to rest. Over time, they collect together, and can possibly get enough together to do some damage.

As for the condensation and water particles, a good drive to vaporize or exhaust them before they gang up is probably a good thing.

And the tires. They gotta come off. 750 pounds (per tire) on the same spot for four months just ain't good, no matter what they're sitting on.

And if you don't have an element controlled environment (a cover does not count), forget it. You gotta drive it.

My suggestion: If you have climate control. Keep it there. If you have element control keep it there. If you are able to give it a good exercise about once a week. Drive it. Exercise it.

[SkyNV]

Is it not the facts that cars sit on DEALER lots for months on end with out being moved? Is there damage to all those cars? I know they tune them up to get ready for pickup, but nothing "terrible" really goes wrong really does it? My thoughts are this, where I live there may be 2-3 weeks that I won't be able to move the car out of the garage. Starting is no big deal. But that's what I am faced with. We get a lot of snow here!

[Rick Tinley Park]

Originally Posted by SkyNV

Is it not the facts that cars sit on DEALER lots for months on end with out being moved? Is there damage to all those cars? I know they tune them up to get ready for pickup, but nothing "terrible" really goes wrong really does it? My thoughts are this, where I live there may be 2-3 weeks that I won't be able to move the car out of the garage. Starting is no big deal. But that's what I am faced with. We get a lot of snow here!

Living in Chicagoland presents simular challenges. Last winter I would take teh car out at least once every two weeks - I never drove when the roads had salt. When it was very very bad (December) All I could do was run it and take a short drive -- I always warmed the car to running temps then took it out. My mileage according to OnStar was Nov = 40 mi. Dec = 1 mi. Jan = 14 mi.
Feb = 22 mi. Mar = 80 mi. So you see it still got driven!