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Originally Posted by Brucelee
I should have been more explicit. When I say run it to full operating temp, I meant to take the car out and drive it such that it burns off all moisture etc. That way all parts get lubricated, tires don't flatten, etc. This assumes that scenario is doable. This might take 30 minutes or so.
I believe that is preferrable to having a car sit all winter. But that may be just an old wives tale.
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Hi,
The funny thing about old wives tales is their propensity to be true, or at least to
have been true.
Such is the case here. In the old days, what you say about burning off the moisture was much more true. This was because engines had direct-to-atmosphere Oil venting. Today, these vapors are routed to the intake plenum and burned along with the AF mix, to save Mother Earth.
Remember, as you are burning off this moisture, you're also producing
more moisture in the process (and with Fresh Oil, it isn't moisture laden to begin with). Once the engine is shutdown, in the old vented engines, the moisture would remain a vapor for some time and natural convection would work it to the vent and out. But, in today's engines, once stopped, there is no place for this moisture to go. Eventually, it cools and condenses on the internals.
So far as lubricating parts, Fresh Oil (which you include prior to storage) has the greatest ability to cling to the metal parts (because it's additive pkg. hasn't flashed-off). So there's no need to periodically circulate the Oil - You don't need to lubricate parts which are idle. The only thing you want here is a thin layer of Oil on the parts to act as a buffer between the metal and the atmoshere to prohibit corrosion and pitting, and you get this when you circulate the fresh Oil just after the Oil change.
Since you over-inflated the Tires at storage time, there's no need to run them to prevent flat-spotting. In fact, if you do, you can actually increase their potential to do so. This is because they will come back in hot, on a now cool garage floor, this temp difference (which was not so pronounced at storage time) will cool the tires faster and cause them to retain their final state instead of cooling together with the floor slowly.
Of course, this isn't the only way to store a car. People can (and do) simply park it and switch it off, and any and all degrees in-between. It's just that a lot of research and experience (mine and countless others I know personally, and through reading) seems to agree that this is the
best way. Hope this helps...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99