Working during winter in the northeast
 

I put my car away for the winter due to salt. What do people do when they work on their cars in the winter? I was told multiple times not to start car and just let idle. Am I being a bit paranoid?
Suggestions?
Thanks,
David

You are probably correct.
There are many posts on this in different forums but I think the most relevant is a post by an engine builder saying this could lead to bore scoring. Now it seems that's more a problem with the direct injection cars in cold weather, the car is running rich during warmup so there's more fuel hitting cold cylinder walls and perhaps not burning, and diluting the oil.
There's a lot of good info on our cars at this site, even if they want to sell you something! Some is even free!
https://lnengineering.com/education/technical-library/m96.html
Look for the "bore scoring " free download.

I need to move. 🙂

Letting the engine idle to warm up is nonsense. Firstly, it takes a long time for the oil to reach operating temperature, which increases engine wear during that period. Furthermore, this leads to a dilution of the oil, which in turn causes a loss of viscosity and higher wear. Regardless of whether it is manifold injected or direct injected, both enrich the mixture.

I live in the north-northeast. I put my Boxsters away in November or December, remove the batteries that I put in the garage (where I put the charger on them), cover them and let them hibernate till mid-March when they can return to service if the roads are snowless and saltless.

Grant, do you suspend insurance on the cars in your fleet when you're not driving them, as I've done with my 986 while I'm working on it?

I used to do that.
You might consider getting specialist insurance, like Hagerty or, hmm, can't remember the name of the other I used to have, but they have advantages.
They will do an "agreed value" unlike the big insurers, who consider your Boxster totaled if you get a door ding. The difference is your use is limited by mileage typically. Since I rarely do more than a few thousand miles per year, it works well for me, and is far cheaper.

I too move my 98' Boxster to a friends home garage for winter storage from December 1st until April 1st. I've been doing that for the last 12 yrs. All I do is make sure it's clean and polished, plugged into my battery maintainer and cover it with a breathable form fitted car cover....and call my insurance agent to reduce the coverage for 4 months (a nice reduction of cost)

On April 1st it gets, uncovered, unplugged and driven back home to my garage....all ready for more summer driving fun.

I never "warm it up" once it goes to storage.

Yes, my insurance company allows me to store the cars with only fire/theft active. I call them to tell them when the status changes. Also, here in Quebec, we can go online to put the car in storage for the winter, which gives a refund on the licence plate fee. Since there is no-fault insurance included with the plate it saves about $20 a month over the winter and only takes about 5 minutes to store or unstore the car.

Sounds like winter engine related work is a no no.

Why not? Best time to do prolonged service items as you cannot use the car anyway, so waiting for parts is not a concern.........

I used to store mine under a Noah fabric car cover after a polish (Cal Car Cover, had a soft lining against the cars finish), connect my cTek/Porsche battery maintainer to the cigarette lighter via a extension cord and parked it outside. Sometimes pushed 6-8" of snow off the cover with a push broom and pulled it out to drive when the weather allowed with summer tires.

Oh, I hope not.

I also have a garage... this year the 2 Boxsters are outside and the 928 is in the garage. Last year the green Boxster base was in the garage for an engine swap. That car is for sale so hopefully next year only one car will be outside.

I have American Collectors Insurance on my fire truck. It's very cheap, but IIRC, they do require you keep your vehicle in a garage. It's probably time to move my Boxster from regular insurance to them, as well, but I'm not sure if I'll need to get antique or classic plates first.

(Skip the first 3 paragraphs if you don't want to hear about my "alternative" method of Winter "storage")

I personally throw some snow tires on and drive through the Winter. Our cars have thick paint (even thicker on the Finland cars) and galvanized bodies, both of which were huge selling points for me. Driving the car through the Winter has downsides, of course. It means I have to go to a self-serve car wash in very unpleasant weather and operate a pressure washer with freezing fingers, it exposes my car to a heightened risk of seized exhaust header studs in the future, and it does also submit all rubber/plastic components to a trial by fire (trial by ice, actually), and usually breaks any plastic/rubber bits that were on their way out. I consider that a plus, as it pretty much writes the year's maintenance list for me, I do all my major service in the Spring and have no issues the rest of the year. Right now I'm looking at an SAI delete soon, as the negative-20 weather seems to have claimed the plastic hoses connected to it and caused a vacuum leak when the pump is on.

But it has tangible benefits, too. It keeps fresh fuel flowing through my injectors, works all the bushings, ball joints, shocks, cables, brakes, power steering and engine mounts, keeps it all pliable, and most of all, I get to drive my Boxster every day, which is a joy because this platform handles amazing in the snow.

The Boxster is impressively tractable. The rear is super predictable and controllable, and with the engine over the driven wheels, there's plenty of grip off the line. Sliding a mid-engined car around the snow makes me feel like Sandro Munari, and I get some pretty funny looks from people in 4x4's.

But if, unlike me, you have some degree of sanity, decency and civility, and store your roadster during the Winter like a reasonable person, the best thing you can do is have a warm garage so all your plastics/leathers/rubbers don't get dry and brittle, and put something under the tires so they're not on concrete/asphalt. The second best thing you can do is fill the tank with the purest gasoline you can find, add some fuel stabilizer and start it a couple times a month just to clear the fuel lines and injectors. A minute or two of gently revving (1-2k rpm) is plenty.

Idling until the engine is warm takes too long and provides no benefits, the only time you need the engine to be up to temperature is when you're driving. Getting up to temperature doesn't undo the 10-20 minutes of wear caused by cold idling, so it's better to just minimize cold run time.

The oil and coolant aren't going anywhere, they'll circulate just fine when Spring comes and you go for a drive, but gasoline (especially when mixed with ethanol) expires and can foul up your injectors if you let it sit. While you do that, it's not a bad idea to roll it a couple feet in any direction to avoid flat spots on your tires. Of course, a battery tender is a good idea the rest of the time.

As JFP and others have said, if not driving, just don't start--at all. You are just diluting the oil.

I put snows on my Cayman and drive her during the winter. I put the Box away around Thanksgiving and get her out in late Mar. No battery tender. Somewhere in between those dates I'll take the Box out for a 30 min drive when the roads are dry.

I start either one and drive right away, keeping revs below 3K until they warm up.

What he said.

Thanks for the help.