Putting the Z to bed for the winter :(

mishuko

you can search the forum but because you're also from the glorious motherland of canadia i'll make it for you.

1) oil change (debatable but most do it before storage) - some do it before and after, some do it before then drive, others wait until new season. i'm in the middle. i do it, drive it a bit out of storage and when convenient (before 5000km) oil change

2) fuel stabilzer - drive your tank to 1/4 tank. add in the small bottle of STABIL (treats 70L), top up your tank and drive a few clicks to make sure it's nice and mixed into the lines

3) wash and detail your car - varying degree. if you're going to have a car cover take it out for a rip to make sure the water gets wooshed away

4) plug your tailpipes with some wire gauze (inside or outside storage for varying reasons)

5) over inflate your tires to prevent 'squaring' - or use wheel savers or whatever. i just over inflated mine with no issue. 45psi at that.

6) open a box of baking soda and place it somewhere visible so you don't knock it over and deal with that mess after

7) hook up your battery tender - the one i have i connected to the prongs. make sure you unook the negative terminal before even playing with it. ymmv but if you shock yourself luwl too bad so sad. hope you have a policy

8) wheel cholk the car, leave in neutral, no hand brake

9) make a sticky note -> cholked wheels, tire pressure, baking soda, battery tender, plugged tail pipes for ease of remembering what you do.



some people start/stop teh car. i didn't bother. once a month i checked the tire pressures and pushed the car forward and let it roll back against the cholks to rotate the wheels a little.

uhh i think that's it

Nixin

Mishuko, you are the BOMB! Thanks for the list. It is appreciated. Cheers.

MacCool

• fill gas tank
• put in some kind of fuel stabilizer (if I think of it...probably not important)
• change oil and filter
• wash and wax
• fill tires 40 psi
• put battery tender on
• cover

POS VETT

Chock, not "cholk". Tires won't "square", they may form a temporary flat spot.

I put away a few of my cars every year; usually about 6-7 months out of a year. Two things are the most important for me, fuel tanks must be topped off and a float charger is hooked up to each. Park the car with parking brake disengaged; chock it or put it in gear. Wash, wax, oil change, fuel stabilizer, raising tire pressures, blocking tailpipes, etc. are optional.

Tires will flat spot even when pressure is increased; my Z06 sits on these expensive soft rubber pads and its tires will still form a flat spot, but, don't worry the flat spot is temporary and it will go away. Fuel stabilizer is not needed if it's only for several months; fuel nowadays doesn't degrade like 30 years ago. It's a different story if the storage period is in decades.

mishuko

chock, cholk, clock, **** all teh same. just make sure you have something to stop the car in place for when you come back next time.

nixin is this in your garage or private lot? also may want to consider other things depending on where you store it.

Nixin

The Z is staying at home in the garage right next to my ready to go 13.5 hp snowblower.

LAVA

Putting the Z away just means it's time to take the winter toys out.

__________________

90 ST

Got mine READY for winter. lol Got the winter tires, on battery booster charged and in the car, snow brush is in the back. first road trip since snow fall Thursday. Will also be the last winter with the car.

Munts

Wait I just read something that I'm confused about. This might be a dumb question.. But you're not supposed to leave the parking brake engaged when it is in storage?

kenchan

Mine is engaged but my car is completely dry

mishuko

i leave mine disengaged because it's an outdoor unheated garage. i read about the parking brake 'freezing' to the rotors or getting stuck and seizing up and other problems. the garage my car is being stored in has in-out traffic and coincidental splashes occur. so depends on the circumstances/situation you chose what you deem best.

it all depends on what you're comfortable with and how you've handled it in the past. i've also read differing opinions on different aspects of my post. that is what i do, others will do different, and i'm sure you will probably find a niched version that's suitable for you.

i think one thing everyone will agree with is topping up the tank.

kenchan

Today marks one month in storage.

I had ankle problems earlier so no biggie was too painful to drive enjoyably anyway.

mishuko

i liked it for the fact you've driven your z throughout many winters and many km's. unliked for you leaving us for a truck

i mean it's more suitable for your current situation but still... would have been awesome to see you keep the car and drive it to 500k :


i ignored that post of yours last month when you mentioned storage... although my deep sea searching in this forum found a few posts by you in regards to winter storage i referred to last year when i put into storage

kenchan

yah, ive been storing cars in the winter for decades so i just post wat i do.
as you already know, i too have other hobbies i do in the winter time so it's not a big deal for me to begin with.

not really sure wat caused my ankle to click and pop all of a sudden though.. i think maybe it's from getting older and joint fatigue.

mishuko

unfortunately that's one thing that people don't realize is there is a emporium of information here and general car information here that has been provided by this community... just gotta look hard and ask the right questions.

lol i think your ankle is probably messed up from all the sitting when you do the RC'ing. or maybe it's when you're tinkering with them somehow the pain that should have been in the wrist migrates to the ankle.

now only if our csc problems could migrate to uhh... failing ac line. yea...