Car storage for winter.

[ernie scar]

Disclaimer, first off I am not a mechanic, the following is only a guide line. If unsure get someone to help with storage, I am not responsible on how you choose to store your car or what the outcome will be.

I have however done a lot of research over the years because 2 of my cars are not daily drivers. My way of doing things may not be correct. But I have had no problems doing things this way over the years. The pictures here are of the 13 Camaro, but I use the same procedure for my other car; 09 Challenger.

This is long winded but bear with me. I see a lot of questions being asked about how to store the car over the winter months and here is my take on what I do to put the car away. I will also throw some pictures up so you can see what I do with my jack stands. Depending on what model you have the lift points maybe different (jacking up the car) read the manual to see where they are or look on this site.

Also taking the time to prep these cars for storage in my mind is the most important. Also write down on a piece of paper what you have done to the car for storage. I take the list and throw it on the front seat of the car. This way when you take the car out of storage you will be able to find the list on what you have done to the car.

I have been storing my cars this way for the last seven years. I even had to store my cars for 15 months at one time because of a move where I was unable to start the car and have had no issues. Don’t forget there are a lot of new cars that sit on dealer lots that are never started. These cars sit for months on end without being driven; also the cars sit outside; not in dry storage.

Because of where I live the car sits in storage anywhere from 5 to 6 months each year. If you are only storing the car for a month or two, a lot of these steps can be bypassed.

I lift the tires off the ground just enough to take some weight off of the suspension. You want to give the cars suspension a break but not where the tires are hanging off the ground, this is not good for the suspension.

If you are worried about mice or rodents, stuff some steel wool up the exhaust pipes.

I usually change the oil before I put the car away for the winter months just so I don’t have the old crap in the pan for long term storage. This has been debated forever and I still can’t find the right answer on what to do. I also don’t change out the oil in the spring. If the car has not been started, there is not any reason to worry about moisture build up or contamination in the oil.

I give the car a good wash and wax before it goes away.

There has been a lot of debate whether to fill the tank up with gas or leave it empty over the winter. I usually fill my tank up with gas and throw 2 bottles of sea foam in the gas tank. You can find this product at any auto parts store, keeps gas fresh up to 2 years. I don’t want to worry about the seals drying out.

I also give the AC a good run just so that the refrigerant has a chance to circulate through the system and lubricate seals etc.

When I have the cars stored at home (I leave my battery in the car, heated garage), I usually throw the charger on the battery every 2 months and then when they are all charged up I take the charger off. I don’t like to leave the charger on trickle function, just my own paranoia.

When I had to store my cars for 15 months because of a move, I just removed the battery wiring from the terminals so that the battery would not discharge. This was in a heated storage area. If you are worried about freezing conditions take the battery out of the car and store it indoors. My buddy has been doing this for years with no battery issues.

One thing you have to remember if you disconnect the battery, you don’t want to open the doors on the car because the window will not roll down the inch or so to clear the trim. What I have done is lock the doors and then remove the battery that way you won’t be able to open the doors accidentally. If you look at the one pic, I use a screw driver to push in the trunk latch. I then remove the screw driver and just rest the trunk lid it on top of the lock mechanism. You want to be able to lift the truck lid to be able to put the battery back in. If you close the trunk lid with no power to the car you have your work cut out for you to get the trunk open. But also remember to open the latch before you close the lid after the car is taken out of storage. I have done this and it’s a sick feeling, you don’t forget once you have done this.

Also I have never worried about turning over the engine to lubricate the cylinders because the car hasn’t been running for a long period of time. Like I said, I had to store the car for 15 months where I could not start the car. When I was able to finally start the car and drive it, I let the car warm up for about 20 mins. and drove it like it hadn’t been in storage. Starting the car up every month or not starting the car at all, this is also something that has been debated over the years that I can’t seem to get a straight answer for.

Here are some pictures

The only reason I have plywood under my tires is because of the jack stand height. I can put the car on jack stands but because of the way the car normally sits the height of the jack stand was too high. I had to put plywood under the tires to raise them up a bit so that the suspension was not fully extended.

Here is a picture of what I use to get the car off the ground in order to store it. I bought these off of a member on this site.

On my car here is a picture of the jack I use and also the front end of the car where I place these. The rear of the car has the same config. Also what I have found is the metal frame where these things sit has varying thicknesses. So what I do is throw a wooden shim to limit the amount of open space.

I don’t like metal on metal so that’s the reason I have some plywood spacers between the jack stands and the metal frame.

Good luck with storing the car, I hope this info helps anyone on here answer any questions they may have.

[drew peacock]

fantastic post
many thanks for sharing your findings.
i will be following as many as i can very soon