Hello folks,

Yes, I coulda done a search, or posted this in a tech-forum, but what the heck, I'll bother the local crowd, and I'm sure at least Dave can offer me an educated opinion.

Like most, I endorse the "do not start" technique of storing your car over winter. As such, my car hasn't been started in close to 6 months. Of course, one of the must-dos after long storage is an oil-change.

My question is; should I first start up the car to let the oil warm up before dumping it? Or should I dump it cold? I see two sides to this. If I start her up before the change, the more viscous oil will flow better, facilitating an easier and complete drain of the oil. Cold oil conversely, will flow a little thicker, and I might not get it all out. On the other hand, starting a car with "old" oil after 6 months of sitting idle might cover engine internals with oxidised oil, which in itself defeats the purpose of doing a spring oil change.

Thoughts, comments or suggestions?

Cheers in advance.
Asif

 

I'd thought the best way to do it was to change the oil just before storage? Then come spring, start it up and resume a normal schedule?

Dave?

 

Same question here actually. Are you better off to change the oil before putting it away for the winter, or first thing when you take it out in spring? (BTW I'm also in the camp of not starting it all winter, just leave it hooked up to an automatic trickle charger).

I changed the oil in October before putting the car away for the winter. The only concern I might have is if the cold has caused some moisture in the system to condense and drop into the oil -- in which case the right thing to do is change the oil in spring. I had planned to fire it up and go.

 

You guys gotta remember that Asif's car has very few KMs since the last oil change and before storage. Ordinarily, when I used to store cars, I'd change the oil before storage. In the spring, I'd fire it up, go for a drive long enough to bring the oil up to operating temp, come home and dump it. Even though we might worry about the additives going bad over storage, oil is still oil and will still lubricate.
Asif, if you are worried about it, you should pull the fuel pump fuse under the dash and crank the motor for about 10 seconds to circulate some oil before ignition. Then fire it up, let it idle for a few minutes. (If you have a block heater, plug it in for about and hour or so, even though it is in a heated garage. This will get the block warm so that the idle won't be too high for too long.)

 

here are my thoughts:

If you only want to do one oil change, leave the old oil in all winter. If you're not starting it, the old oil isn't going to hurt anything really. When you get ready to use the car again in the spring, drain the oil (without starting the car), and fill with new oil.

If you're really worried, change it in the fall, and again in the spring.

 

Dylan's approach will work too.

 

Thanks for your help guys. Solution: Dino-juice is cheap. What the heck, I'll do it twice a year.

Asif