Long-term storage. Need advice...
 

I was hoping this dreaded moment would never come. But just after taking the Z out of winter storage, I have to put her back. For an entire year.

This time around I'll be getting jackstands and removing the wheels. The car is at the mechanics right now, gonna get new oil again, then top up the tank after adding fuel stabilizer. It will be stored in my garage, so no need for a car cover. I'll also be stuffing the exhaust pipes with steel wool and removing the battery (needs replacement anyway). Wipers also going in the trash.

What else should I do? She will be stored for a full 12 months. I plan on keeping the car forever, so it's very important to me that she will be in good mechanical condition!

Long term storage or classic car winter storage
DATE STORED:

CLEAN CAR: No matter where you store the car for the winter, before you put it away it should be cleaned, waxed, and most definitely thoroughly dry. Any form of moisture is an automobile's worst enemy. Even fiberglass cars hate moisture. Just as it will rust metal, moisture can come through fiberglass to bubble the paint, ruin the fabric, carpet and leather. So before putting it away, dry the car and allow ample time for sensitive areas to air dry naturally.

TREAT SEALS: After cleaning, treat all rubber seals around windows, doors and tops with silicone or a similar agent to prevent cracking and aging.

LUBRICATE: Lubricate all hinges on doors, hoods, etc.

FILL GAS TANK: Before storing the car, fill up the tank completely with fuel. If you leave only a little in, rust can form on the exposed surfaces inside the tank.

FUEL ADDITIVE: You can also prevent fuel from breaking down causing damage and varnishing by adding some fuel stabilizer to the full tank and letting it run a little while to circulate in the gas.

CHANGE OIL: After running the car, drain the oil and refill it with fresh oil. Despite having gotten rid of moisture, your oil still has other contaminants in it. Better that those contaminants live at the recycling center than in your main bearings. (filter change not required for storage)

CIRCULATE OIL: With the new oil in, run the car briefly to let the new lubricant circulate.

WARM ENGINE: Before storing the car, drive it 20 -25 miles-no less. This should take a sufficient amount of time for any condensation to be worked off the crankcase surfaces and the oil.

INJECT OIL: This can be done for rare cars and for long term storage needs. If you really want to go to great lengths and are truly obsessed, take a lesson from motorcyclists: Remove the spark plugs and inject a little oil into the cylinders. Reinstall the spark plugs (or an old set of used plugs for storage) without torquing them completely, and crank the motor briefly with the plugs in and the positive lead to the distributor or the coil wire removed. (Don't
let the engine fire.) This will coat the combustion chamber and cylinder walls with a protective layer of oil. Don't restart the car until spring. You will need to change the spark plugs back to your good ones or buy new ones in the
spring because of the oil that fouled them with the protective layer.

BRAKE FLUID: Change the brake fluid. Even if the car doesn't need it desperately, you'll be preventing future problems by changing the fluid. Moisture in the brake lines will cause damage no matter what, even when the car is in use. Many people ignore this bit of maintenance, anyway, so now is time for them to redeem themselves. At this point, also consider switching to silicone brake fluid if you drive you car hard. Racing teams use it. Why not you?

DRAIN RADIATOR: Drain, flush and refill the radiator with new coolant. The same reasoning behind changing brake fluid applies here. Now is a good time to remove your radiator to be hot-tanked over the winter if needed.

BAT T E R Y: Disconnect battery cables and remove the battery for storage inside, but not on a cement floor. You will find a dead battery in the spring if you store it on cement. Very low temperatures also destroy batteries. If you take the car out of storage. Use a battery tender not a trickle charger to maintain the battery.

REMOVE BLADES: Remove wiper blades, especially if storing the car outside. Temperature changes will not do them any good, and they can fuse to plastic or glass over time.

PLUG EXHAUST TIPS: Plug the exhaust tips with material that mice and other rodents won't chew through.

JACK STANDS OR FLAT STOPPERS: Storing the car on jack stands or blocks. Pros: You can remove the old bias-ply tires that may flat spot. You can also remove the wheels and tires and bag or cover them to prevent dry rotting and adverse environmental effects.


BLOCK WHEELS: If you leave it on the ground don't set the emergency brake. Block the wheels in front and back to prevent rolling. Pads and shoes can stick to discs and drums.

PLASTIC ON FLOOR: When storing inside or outside, lay a large sheet of heavy-duty plastic or a tarp (greater than the car's length and width) to prevent moisture rising from the ground or cement and collecting under the car. Outside, this will also prevent grass from growing up and touching the car's underside.

CAR COVER: There are many sources of car covers. Use one! If you do store your car outside, use only an external cover that breathes. Moisture must escape from the cars surface. Ideally a synthetic fabric that sheds water,
yet breathes, shielding from dirt and sun and will not mold or mildew.

STORAGE LOCATION: If you leave your car outside, pick a spot that will be shaded or as dark as possible. Sun can damage paint through a thin cover.

MOISTURE-ABSORBING PACK: If the car is being stored indoors, put a moisture-absorbing pack in the interior (and trunk, for solid-axle cars). DRYPAC is a vendor that makes these packs, which do not smell, swell or
have any adverse effects on the vehicle. However the windows and vents must be closed for them to work.

TRAY OF MOTHBALLS: Put a tray of moth balls inside the car to remove any odors. This will also help to drive away any carpet loving rodents.

SPRING LUBRICATION: When you start up the motor in the spring, first disconnect the spark plug leads (or the positive distributor lead, or the coil) and crank the motor over a few times to get oil up into the bearings, rings and valve train. (You don't want the engine to fire.) Don't remove the plugs themselves, however, as this can damage the starter motor, letting it spin vary fast without the engine's compression limiting it's speed. The motor has sat for a long time, and the oil has dripped completely down into the pan/sump. Starting it and letting it run, even for one to three seconds without thorough lubrication, will cause more wear than 100 trips to the redline!

http://www.rochestercorvetteclub.org...-checklist.pdf
Long-term and Winter Storage Tips for vehicles. - Car Forums and Automotive Chat

Wow! One would have to be pretty fanatical to follow all of those but they are definitely good suggestions ... except for the mothballs thing.

Mothballs can (some formulations being sold nowadays don't) contain naphthalene (or dichlorobenzene), and paradichlorobenzene which can attack plastics. Shouldn't be a problem for short-term (2-3 days) use, but I wouldn't want that stuff floating around for a long time with so many plastics in a modern vehicle. There should be some odor prevention products out there that don't contain the nasty chemicals that are in many mothballs.

Wow, that article's got some solid advice. Thanks.

Np, just remember google can answer almost any question. If you want to search the boards just type 'the370z' before what your searching for.

Just say no to mothballs. Mothballs and dryer sheets do nothing to thwart rodents and they shure as hell don't remove odors.

In the op's case it may be moot because he mentioned that he thought the battery might already be shot, but the advice above is off the mark.

• Disconnecting the battery is unnecessary if the car can be stored with a float charger like "Battery Tender" attached
• Storing a modern battery on a concrete floor isn't a problem. That's an old wive's tale that hasn't been true for almost 20 years - certainly since they've been using polypropylene cases.
• Cold weather is not a problem for a charged battery. Electrolyte in a fully charged battery won't freeze until about -60 degrees F. Another reason to keep the battery on a float charger.
• If you can't leave the car plugged in or don't want to, it's reasonable to pull the battery and store it somewhere on a float charger, or to just pull the battery and scrap it, accepting its replacement at the end of a year of car storage as part of the cost.

The thing that causes the demise of any lead-acid battery is primarily sulfation---lead sulfate bridging of the plates causing internal shorts, higher resistance, inability to take a charge and an increased rate of self-discharge. The thing in turn that causes sulfation primarily is partial discharge or repeated charge/discharge cycles. Sulfation begins anywhere less that a full charge, but is particularly enhanced by a charge state less than 80%. Store your car for the winter without a float charger on the battery, even if you go to the unnecessary step of disconnecting it or removing it from the car, and you are shortening its lifespan to a huge degree.

My battery is OEM, and is about 5 years old now. I'm also wondering if everything will be ok if I leave the battery out for a year, or if it's best I get the new one now.

Also, I don't plan on using moth balls, I have my own "air freshener" ;)

And rodents aren't an issue.

I'd go ahead and replace a five year old factory battery. Especially since you live in a cold area. I'd get a battery tender to keep the present battery charged while in storage and wait for a sale on a new battery.

I've got the original battery in my '09 but it's a lot warmer where I live. I can tell it's getting a little weak and wouldn't want to chance it another Winter if I lived farther North.

my G's battery is original from 2004. still plenty powerful.
my z's battery is original too from 2009. like new condition.

Cold weather has no intrinsic effect on a lead acid battery, other than the fact that cranking a cold engine takes a little more power.

OP might be well-served to get a "pulsing" float charger. There is some evidence it will "de-sulfate" an aging battery that's been misused. Otherwise, any Autozone etc would be tickled to load test the battery and accurately determine its state of health.

Which in other words....bad.

Fancy post but nothing really inside. :ugh:

No, not bad at all. Alternator will recharge those extra few amps it took to start a cold engine it in about 90 seconds. But you already knew that, of course.

The output of a chemical battery (not just lead-acid) is dependent on temperature. Put that and the fact that a cold engine is harder to crank together and Winter can "kill" a battery. Add in some age and things just get worse.

I was interested in the suggestion marked "Spring Lubrication" that indicated you should crank the engine several times without letting it fire in order to lubricate the bearings, etc. It suggests either first removing the plugs (… a bit of a pain in the a**) or disconnecting the condenser(s) (… also a pain). Is there another simpler way to accomplish the same thing without compromising any electrical components, control modules, etc.? Presumably, you could pull a fuse(s)??? Looking for advice. Thanks!

Sorry, my mistake … it suggests removing the spark plugs leads, not the plugs themselves … which makes more sense.

yah, that's if your improperly cared for battery has enough cca to start in the cold. by cold im talking sub 0F which is common in snow belt states.

:iagree:

i suggest just plugging the battery into the wall (while still connected to the car) using a simple battery tender that will float the battery... if there is power available.

as for plug wires, id be more worried about mice. i use dcon under the car just in case. i dont have a mouse problem yet.

Nah. Charge/discharge cycles is what hurts a lead-acid battery, not temperature. Especially discharge below 80%. True, extended cranking can discharge it below that, but making it work a little harder for the brief few seconds it takes to start a modern automobile won't hurt it. And although output is temperature dependent, longevity isn't. If it doesn't freeze, and it won't if it's on a float charger, the battery won't be damaged by the cold alone. Especially in storage, which was what we were talking about anyway.

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You can supply power to the coils of the Starter Relay and the Starter Control Relay. Or use a jumper cable to go straight from the battery to the B terminal on the starter then jump from B to S to crank.

I guess I should've mentioned that I do have a trickle charger. I usually put it on for the last week of winter storage. So from what I gathered, it would be best to leave it hooked up for te duration of the year. I'm that case, I'll use the old battery (there's nothing actually wrong with it, I'm only mentioning replacement due to it's age)

Also, I won't be doing that whole "pull the plugs and spray a little oil in there" method. That seems a bit of overkill tbh.

Now as far as cranking it over to get the cylinders oiled up - is it really worth the hassle? I wouldn't have a problem disconnecting power to the spark plugs, but my concern is the fuel that will be injected and not burned up. That means I should disconnect the fuel pump too, or cap off the fuel rails.. I'm pretty sure that fresh gasoline would cause some adverse effects with fresh oil inside the cylinders.

Thanks SouthArk. One item of clarification: Since the B terminal on the starter is already powered by the battery, I'm not sure why you would need to connect a jumper cable from the battery to the B terminal. I understand jumping from the B terminal to the S terminal on the starter … which will then crank the engine without it firing.

Also, is the suggestion to crank the engine before starting it up really necessary? There are lots of folks who store their Zs over the winter. I've never seen mention of cranking the engine before the first start-up in the spring. There is some debate as to whether you should periodically start the car over the course of the winter versus leaving it sit without starting it, but I can't recall anybody mentioning the need to crank the engine before starting it for the first time. What do most folks do?

During winter storage, it is NOT good to start the car for short periods, because while the engine is cold, the moisture which is generated as a byproduct of combustion can condense on the cylinder walls and throughout the exhaust system. If you're gonna start the car mid-storage, you should run it long enough for all components to fully warm up and to expel all the unwated moisture out of the engine & exhaust.

This is why I'll be taking her for a nice hard drive just before parking her.

Trickle charger is different than a float charger. As the term is commonly used, a trickle charger provides a continuous charge at low amperage. A float charger will sense when the battery is charged and stop charging, will re-start charging if the charge state drops. It continually monitors the charge state.

Leaving a battery on a trickle charger risks boiling off the electrolyte. In that case, the best thing that could happen is that it ruins the battery. The worst thing would be a case rupture and possibly an explosion.

It's safe to leave a float charger like Battery Tender on a battery during extended storage. In fact, it's smart. Leaving a trickle charger on it is dangerous.

Yes periodic starting through the winter is counterproductive. This is Minnesota. I have various vehicles in storage during the winter. I shut 'em down in November and leave 'em alone on a Battery Tender until the spring, when I get in them, push the button and drive 'em away.

Thanks Mac, I didn't know there was a difference. I'll add a battery tender to my shopping list.

yah, it's only like $20-25 shipped on amazon. just get the junior one. been using a few of these since like 8-9yrs ago. very reliable.

I've got a Canadian Tire store just 2 min away from here :) they have everything I'll need :D

You can just see it past the power lines in the attached pic (taken from my backyard)

You are correct. Brain-fart on my part.

A "pre-crank" shouldn't be necessary. I don't know if it's possible on the 3.7L but we used a drill motor to spin the oil pump on old engines (driven by bottom of distributor shaft) to pre-lube before startup.

Starting the car during storage is not bad as long as you let the engine warm up completely. When I was working on the transmission of the '67 Mustang I had, I would start the engine every week and let it run for about 30 minutes.

Alternative
 

Have you considered loaning it to a trusted friend of family member just to drive it 20 minutes a month?