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Originally Posted by eslai
Forgive my ignorance (don't have much of an issue with winter storage down here in SoCal) but couldn't a lot of that list be alleviated if one were to just start the car every week or so and let it run for a little bit?
I'd think it'd be easier to do this (stick some dryer hose or other such pipe on the exhaust and route it out of the garage--that's what we do when running cars in the shop) than to let the car sit that long without any exercise at all. Again, I've never parked a car for the cold cold winter before though, so maybe my perspective is wrong.
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Hi,
The short answer to your question is NO. Starting and running a Cold Car below 30° (the avg. Temp in an unheated garage in the NE and MW) adds significant Wear and Stress to the Car.
I've read reports which attribute 85% of a Car's Engine Wear to cold starts - that period between starting the Car and the time it takes for the Oil Pressure and Flow to rise sufficiently to
Float the Crank and Flow to the Valvetrain. This is only exacerbated on a Car which has sat for a period of time in the Cold - it takes that much more time to get the Oil going.
In addition, everything contracts so much more at lower Temps. This means that Seals may not be tight and again, when you start the Car with Cold Oil, the Oil Pressure can spike well above normal until the Oil reaches operating Temp. This can cause some Oil to work past Gaskets and Seals creating leaks which would otherwise not have occurred.
Another issue is by running the Car, your create moisture which is absorbed by the Oil. Later, this can evaporate and condense on Engine Internals causing corrosion and pitting. And the same can be said for the Exhaust System as well.
You also can run down the Battery because you won't run the Car long enough to replace the draw from the Starter, and you will also run down the Fuel level drawing moist Air into the Tank which will later condense creating corrosion issues there as well.
Considering that you stored the Car rather than run it during the Winter, it is unwise to cause this much wear and tear when you're not even driving and enjoying the Car. This will only shorten the miles you can actually put on it in nice weather without having to make repairs which in many cases could have been avoided. Hope this helps...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99