Dealer says: Change oil in spring?

[Brucelee]

I would change it before winter and drive the car at least once week during the winter if possible. Drive it to full operating temp.

Short of that, change oil before winter and follow dry storage recs.

Dealer is wrong.

Or, change both before and after. If you do this, throw in some cheap ass oil for winter.

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

I would change it before winter and drive the car at least once week during the winter if possible. Drive it to full operating temp.

Short of that, change oil before winter and follow dry storage recs.

Dealer is wrong.

Or, change both before and after. If you do this, throw in some cheap ass oil for winter.

Hi,

Sorry Rich, I have to disagree. The primary reason for changing the Oil prior to storage in the first place is to get rid of the moisture laden Oil. If you run the car over the storage season, you defeat this purpose by introducing moisture back into the system.

Also, everytime you start the car in a cold condition, you're putting a lot more wear on it than if you run it in temperate weather. A daily driver experiences this as well, and while it may not grenade on you, I suspect that if you check tolerances, compression, etc. you'll find that the car stored and left will post better numbers down the road (which translates into lower repair costs/longer life).

It would be very bad to idle the car until warm because you're not running the RPMs sufficiently to assure full Oil pressure. Also, since you've overinflated the tires to prevent flat-spotting, you'd have to lower their pressure to have good traction and be safe on the street. Not to mention that if your battery is pulled, you'd have to reinstall and connect it as well, and you'd be using fuel, dropping the level in the tank, creating a void which would allow moist air to migrate into the tank and condense later.

The best thing is to set it and forget it. It's hard to do, but it's the best thing for the car. If you're not going to follow this, then all the work you put into storing it is just a waste of time...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[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.

[MNBoxster]

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.

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

[z12358]

I spoke with a guy who stores all his Corvettes up on jack stands and takes the wheels off for the winter. I told him that that's bad for the suspension to be left hanging like that. He said that he's well aware of that. He apparently uses points on the suspension itself (very close to the wheels?) to carry the load of the car, so the suspension is sprung exactly the same as it would be if the wheels were on -- nothing is hanging on the springs. How is this possible? Are you familiar with such jack stand points?

Thx,
Z.

[pecivil]

thank god I dont live where you need to do "winter storage"

it sounds like a real ********************!!

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by z12358

I spoke with a guy who stores all his Corvettes up on jack stands and takes the wheels off for the winter. I told him that that's bad for the suspension to be left hanging like that. He said that he's well aware of that. He apparently uses points on the suspension itself (very close to the wheels?) to carry the load of the car, so the suspension is sprung exactly the same as it would be if the wheels were on -- nothing is hanging on the springs. How is this possible? Are you familiar with such jack stand points?

Thx,
Z.

Hi,

Yes, it's called loading the suspension. Older cars without a Chapman Strut (think leaf springs and shocks) benefitted from being raised to prevent spring sag. But, this isn't true of cars with independent, strut mounted suspensions. It is not recommended to raise an IS car.

The springs aren't the only reason not to have the car up on blocks unloaded. The rubber bushings have a memory and won't repond well to proplonged periods in a different position, causing them to loosen or wear prematurely.

Another reason is that you don't want to hyper-extend the Piston Rods in the shocks as these can then either corrode or accumulate dirt on parts of the Rod which isn't normally protruding from the Strut Body. If this happens, this part of the Rod can tear or otherwise interfere with the Sealing Ring on top of the strut when it reinserts itself, increasing the seal's potential to leak and fail prematurely.

You could install adjustable stands or wood blocks under the bottom of the struts at ride height (raise the axle higher, install blocks, and lower) to keep everything in it's nominal state. But, the only benefit is that you reduce the potential for flat-spotting the tires which you have already done by over-inflating them. Won't hurt to do it, but won't help either and it's a lot more work (both at hibernation and reawakening times), + it makes it very difficult to move the car in the event this is needed. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[z12358]

MNBoxster:
"You could install adjustable stands or wood blocks under the bottom of the struts at ride height (raise the axle higher, install blocks, and lower) to keep everything in it's nominal state. But, the only benefit is that you reduce the potential for flat-spotting the tires which you have already done by over-inflating them. Won't hurt to do it, but won't help either and it's a lot more work (both at hybernation and reawakening times), + it makes it very difficult to move the car in the event this is needed. Hope this helps..."

So he does eliminate the potential for flat-spotting without any negative effects, apart from the hassle involved. I didn't know those points existed. As you say, it's a good day whenever you learn something.
Thx.
Z.