Engine Rust During Storage
 

Has anyone ever had a problem with rust on your internal engine parts when you store or drive your Boxster very little in the Winter? I have a friend that has a couple of cars he drag races and he said if he does not idle his cars a couple of times a week the internal springs and other small iron/steel parts start to rust. He runs Royal Purple 0w-20 oil and that may be part of the problem. (too thin)

All I know is I have not driven my car in 3 weeks and the rotors look horrible (rust)

Thanks

I have never seen the inside of my engine. And never will. Heck, I have never seen the outside of it!

I am 2 months into a 5-month winter storage right now. This is my 3rd Winter Hibernation. My car runs great. I park it in mid October, and don't touch it until March/April.

There have been many threads on this Forum about Winter Storage.

As for the rusty rotors, next time you wash the wheels, blow dry the rotors (and wheels and car) with your leaf blower. They stay pretty rust-free with this approach. Regardless, it is no big deal to have rust on the rotors. Rusty hats are a bigger issue.

Your friend is wrong and is likely damaging his engine rather than protecting it.

Letting your car idle does little except create negative conditons internally. Now, if he wanted to take it out for a half hour run every couple of weeks, that would be good.

Personally, I have never seen any internal rust on an engine that was functioning properly. On the other hand, it it were stored outside at the beach, I guess it is possible.

WD40 works well on rotors in storage.

Spray it on and forget it.

:)

There's many different opinions on this subject. I agree idling the car isn't ideal. it will move the pistons/springs and circulate oil, but you really need to get the oil hot enough to drive out any condensed moisture. Many seasonal engines, race cars, jet skis, get "fogged" before winter storage. It's an oil sprayed into the intake of a running engine just before shutdown, but I wouldn't do that on a street car with a MAF sensor! I've never done this one my Formula Ford, which sits for about 7 months a year, and never had a problem. (though I probably should!).