Winter Storage

[JFP in PA]

The suspension issue is a simple one: Leaving it hanging exposes the shafts on the struts, which can and will develop a slight level of rust/corrosion. When put back into service, this corrosion will chew up the end seals, causing the strut to leak, requiring premature replacement. Porsche actually had a dealer bulletin on this one.

[Flavor 987S]

Peterbrown, you're right. I'm sorry.

Drain that oil. Jack 'er up nice and high. Get that coolant out too. Put a BIG note on it. Bleed the brakes dry. Empty the gas. Put a BIG note on it. You don't want to forget in the Spring.

How many Post-It notes do you have, anyways??

If you want some great Winter Hibernation tips, search some old threads from 2005/2006 from MNBoxster. Use key words 'winter' 'hibernation' 'storage' under him screen name. I've been following that for over 5 years. MNBoxster does not post here anymore under that screen. He now goes by Lil Basterd, aka Jim, aka Andy.

[Paul]

My opinion is drive it 20 miles once a month on nice days and forget all this BS. Been doing this for decades with no issues.

[Flavor 987S]

After you jack it up, let about 1/2 the air out of the tires too. This will help remove the moisture and stuff. Make sure you leave yourself a BIG note again.

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by Paul

My opinion is drive it 20 miles once a month on nice days and forget all this BS. Been doing this for decades with no issues.

Really, Paul? No issues. Why the engine replacement at 89K??

20 miles is not much in cold weather.

[Overdrive]

I think part of why people are telling you to leave the oil in the vehicle and that they haven't experienced problems over the winter in doing so (myself included, ungaraged and simply car-covered) is because they're trying to say that it's not really necessary to go to the lengths you're intending to store the car over the winter. It's your car and your decision, but while people may not have an answer for your exact question of problems that could arise from what you want to do, they're giving you an alternative that will not be problematic, contrary to what you have read, and will save you time, money, and worry: leaving the car stored as is with a fresh oil change (if you choose), some fuel stabilizer, a battery maintainer, and pat on the head. If I can be a bit blunt without meaning to offend, I think you're really going overboard with that storage unless you really intend to have the car sit for more than a season or two.

Even then, my car sat on a dealer's lot right here in CT for 5 years with whatever oil was in it and 1/4 tank of gas before I became the owner. I used to see the car a lot, and I think it may have moved twice to a different space in the same row on the lot, but still, it just sat. 5 years of both weather extremes, nevermind dive-bombing birds (an entirely separate issue), and when I came along and asked to take it for a test drive, the car started up and drove just fine. The oil that was put in it the day before I took it home stayed in it from June 2010 to June 2011.

If you happen to live anywhere near me, you may remember that this past winter in between those two Junes served us with 3-4 feet of snow in one good storm, followed by another that threw another foot on top of that, and to top it off both storms' snowfalls proceeded to freeze over and start collpasing roofs of homes. Temperatures were freezing or lower for weeks at times. My car suffered through that just fine (that isn't to say I wasn't worried, though). I just hooked it up to the battery maintainer overnight once every week or 2 (I only cleared a path to the driver's door, the rest surrounding the car had to melt), and she started up just fine once the thaw came, and drove fine for a few more months until it came time to get some maintenance done right about the same time the year limit I set for myself on oil changes came around.

Like I said before, I figure a good quality synthetic oil that's going to cost you nearly $10 a quart or sometimes more is not going to be unable to handle temperature extremes. That's why we're paying so much for it, among other reasons, but that's certainly one of them. I want my oil to work whether it's 10 below or 140 outside. I'm sure some degradation is going to occur, as is bound to happen just from the substance existing, but the majority of us don't really question how long a quart or 5 quart container has been sitting on a store's shelves before we go tossing it into the car, do we? Nor do we know the conditions the oil has been stored and transported in prior to landing on the shelf where we buy it. How can we gauge just how much life the oil has lost in those cases prior to our use in a vehicle? If it were really that serious, then some supplier, somewhere, with a poorly or non-temp controlled warehouse up north full of motor oil is sitting on a huge lawsuit.

Germany sees nice extreme winters too, and that's where these cars were expected to be driven. I'm sure there's a decent number of folks in Germany who drive their Boxsters year-round and don't worry about oil degrading due to the cold.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Flavor 987S

Really, Paul? No issues. Why the engine replacement at 89K??

20 miles is not much in cold weather.

First one in my long history of Porsche ownership and it was most likely a slipped sprocket on the crankshaft. Since the oil is warmed by the oil "cooler" it quickly matches the coolant temp even in sub zero weather.

[dpaisley325]

I have stored an Infiniti I 35 every winter for several years without doing anything and it was never a problem. I plan to do much the same wth my 2003 Boxster S. My question is, Is it ok to disconnect the battery for the 6 weeks in the winter when I go away? It is stored inside a garage.

[WhipE350]

Peter - It sounds like synthetics are good in a large temp range for extended cold temps so no issue there. Seems putting $70 worth of new oil in and if you want replacing in the spring is a not an expensive investment. If you do need to drive it for any reason at least it won't be empty of oil.

When I lived in the Lake Placid NY area I would see both used and new cars sit for 6 months on dealer lots and they would only get driven from one end of the lot to the other. Doesn't mean it is OK, but it has been this way for years.

I have extra room in my garage in NC if you want to store it here ...I'll treat it like one of the family

[Paul]

Originally Posted by dpaisley325

I have stored an Infiniti I 35 every winter for several years without doing anything and it was never a problem. I plan to do much the same with my 2003 Boxster S. My question is, Is it OJ to disconnect the battery for the 6 weeks in the winter when I go away? It is stored inside a garage.

Once you hook your battery up again, you will need to:

enter your radio code

roll the windows up, release the switches, then hold down in the up position for a few seconds to reprogram the up position.

Turn the key on without touching the gas, wait 1 minute, turn it off for 10 seconds, then start and enjoy.

[Dave S.]

Originally Posted by Paul

Once you hook your battery up again, you will need to:

enter your radio code

roll the windows up, release the switches, then hold down in the up position for a few seconds to reprogram the up position.

Turn the key on without touching the gas, wait 1 minute, turn it off for 10 seconds, then start and enjoy.

No radio code required in 2003.

[Flavor 987S]

Originally Posted by dpaisley325

My question is, Is it ok to disconnect the battery for the 6 weeks in the winter when I go away? It is stored inside a garage.

Buy a quality batter maintainer, like Porsche's, for about $47 from places like Sunset, and keep the car pluged in whenever not being driven. Don't disconnect the battery.

[peterbrown77]

Overdrive, Whip, Paul, JFP - thanks for the advice. Makes sense about exposing the piston rods on the struts leading to corrosion. It's going to have to suffer that indignity for a while until I get the rims back from the shop because, short of buying "storage wheels" or trying to rest it on the disks, there is no way around it. I will try to keep it to a minimum duration. If I can eyeball them I'll spray some Starrett on the exposed parts once the suspension is unloaded.

Still deciding about the oil situation. While there is obvious advantage in leaving a car with a full fuel tank to prevent condensation (especially with ethanol in the fuel) I'm still not certain about it's benefit with the motor oil. Look at it this way: you would have to actually fill the entire crankcase with oil to achieve the same effect. Whether there's an 8 quart puddle of oil below the cylinders/crankshaft/bearing/seals/camshafts seems kind of irrelevant. Like Flavor's posts, but on a mechanical scale. It's just sitting there, lubricating nothing. In fact, I had an oil pan rust through on the diesel on my boat for leaving the oil in through the winter Condensation puddles at the bottom of the oil pan, under the oil, and it has nowhere to go. I now leave it empty and the plug out so it has an exit.

Overdrive - where in CT? I live near Essex but work in Middletown.

Thanks to all, with obvious exception of one among us.

[Brucelee]

Just a reminder to keep it all civil, please. Oil and related topics always seem to generate some heat.

So, let's all be cool about this.

Thanks

[Overdrive]

Like Brucelee said, don't take anything personally, just take what's useful to you.

I live in the Hartford area. Considering the two places you frequent, you know exactly what happened to that central band of the state last winter.

I'd say as far as your corrosion concerns with the oil pan, it's not an unfounded concern, but the fresher your oil, the less contamination you'll have coming into Spring, right?

As for the suspension, why not try taking four more jack stands with some cushion on the resting points (rags, thick towels, etc.) and crank them up under the rotors so that they keep the suspension compressed without hurting anything.

Could find some cheap black steelies with crap tires, too. Matter of fact, I have 3 black steelies and my doughnut from the Corolla sitting at home (used one stocker for a full size spare). No idea if they'll fit the Boxster since they're 15s (I think the doughnut is a 16 or 17) and I know the Boxster's smallest OEMs were 16s, but I'll have to see if it's possible. If they do you're welcome to borrow them so the car can sit off of jack stands.

[Ghostrider 310]

Regarding the float charger, just buy a good one, if it doesn't have to say Porsche on it you can save money and get one that works for years.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider 310

Regarding the float charger, just buy a good one, if it doesn't have to say Porsche on it you can save money and get one that works for years.

Deltran Battery Tender, Jr. You can probably find one for as little as $40, and it works great, though you may need to buy a cigarette lighter adapter connection for it separetly if it doesn't come with it. Found mine for $8 on Amazon. And in case you didn't know, dpaisley325, there's a small cutout in the weather stripping on the bottom of the door that allows you to run an extension cable through the car so your battery maintainer's connector can be run into the car and you don't need to leave your hood open to be directly connected to the battery.

[Dave S.]

Put my Boxster away for the winter today. Up to 18 inches of snow forecast starting tomorrow night. I'll miss it until spring... Looking forward to ski season though.