Winter Car Storage Tips
 

Hey guys
The snow fell here today for the first time, so the miata is going to storage and my 02 VW GTi 1.8T will become my primary driver again. I went and setup a indoor storage unit at a place today, but it is isn't climate controlled of course. I need to know what to do to prepare my car so that when I pull it out in the summer again it is as good as when I left it. I plan on using STABIL or some other sort of fuel stabilizer, but what else should I do?
Thanks

all i do for all my stored vehicles is fill up with premium and add a fuel stabilizer, run the motor a little to get it circulated. get the tires off the gound, i used jackstands on the car and motorcycle stands for my bike. I also use a battery tender on both

+1 on what mach929 said.

1) Fuel stabilizer
2) Car on jackstands or pump tires up to 40psi+ to avoid flatspotting
3) Battery tender
4) Stuff steel wool in the exhaust/cover the HVAC intake just to make sure no varmints get in there. I've never had this happen, but I've read some stories and considering that it's pretty simple to do, why not?
5) Probably should leave the top up to avoid creases and such as well.
6) Wait until spring...:sadwavey:

There was a recent thread somewhere.... I think it was on m.net...

Basically, I say over inflate the tires, since "hanging" suspension isn't always the best. <G>

Leave the top up, but un-latched... so you don't stretch it, but that it's better for the plastic...

Wash and cover the car... but if you can, make sure that it gets all the water out of it before you store it....

I'll try to get the thread. <G>

Found the thread: http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=202069

Dave,

this is sad. I plan on driving this car throughout the winter here, and the drive jetta when its ugly out. It will be in the 50 atleast once every other week during the Dallas winter...one of the few good things about dallas.

Full tank with fuel stabilizer, run car to circulate.
Wash and wax exterior.
If garaged, unlatch top, if outside get a cover
Overinflating the tires is a nice idea if you can't jack the car up a little
One other thing is to pull the spark plugs and squirt some light oil in the cylinders and crank engine without starting to coat the walls. Fuel stabilizer is not going to rust proof the cylinder walls.
Steel wool in the tailpipe is going to rust. How about a tennis ball or a bag of dessicant or damp rid.

if you have the oportunity, go start and run the car once a month. let it idle until upto temperature, then hold the throttle at about 3k for 5 min.

keep the tank full.

ditto what everyone else said.

should i reiterate i'm moving to california this week? :gay:

The only way I would recommend starting the car once a month is if it is on jackstands and you can run the drivetrain with the engine. Starting and idling an engine, or even revving it in place, is going to cause fuel to wash down the cylinder walls. But you still have to get the oil to operating temp to burn off the condensation, so running the engine and jacking the rear tires to get those fluids moving is a good idea.