Where the hell do you live? Snow in the 2nd week of Oct????

 

Mine has been stored for about 2 weeks now. Alaska winters start early and go on for a long time. I would asume that some of the northern Canada guys know what I am talking about. All I do for winterizing the car, is change the fluids, wash, wax, and unlatch the hooks on the soft top, leave it out of gear, release the hand break, chalk a wheel so it wont move, detail the inside and throw 2 dessicant pads in the car. I also regulary go and make sure the tire pressure is good throughout the winter. I miss driving the S a bunch already, but the car will thank me for it next spring when i take her out again with the new addition of a supercharger.

 

Why do you guys change your oil BEFORE storing the car? All the oil will simply collect in the oil pan and stay there for the duration of the winter. It doesn't protect the engine at all. I'm changing my oil before starting up the car in the spring.

 

I will winterize my car in late November when temps are consistantly below 40. When I say winterize I mean wax the exterior and put the winter tires on.

 

Release the parking brake so that the pads won't corrode to the rear discs. Change the oil to remove all the contaminants(e.g. acids, water,unburnt fuel, etc.) that are in it ,along with the filter and what is trapped in it. Upon restarting the engine the fresh oil will dilute any remainig old oil that did not get drained out,and the additives in the new oil will tend to hold any remaining contaminents in suspension or neutralize them. At the end of the day , the 30 odd dollars or so that an oil and filter change costs is very cheap when stacked up against the price of a new engine.

 

Some say to deflate the tires if you are putting the car on jack stands though, and inflate the tires if the car is sitting on the ground.

If you don't have jack stands, some choose to let the car sit on 2" of styrfoam (so that the pressure's distributed more evenly on the tires

 

My winterizing consists of winter tires and changing to 5W30 oil.

 

I don't "winterize" my car, and I don't think I ever would. I do keep it at my parents from mid November til April, since I don't have a garage anymore (for now). I'll come visit every couple of weeks if the weather is bad, pull it of driveway and run it for about 20 minutes or so. If it's mild and there's no residual salt on the road, I leave the Mazda at parents and take the S2000 for a couple of days or until weather gets bad again. I don't like the idea of any car I own not running year round. It's a Honda, not a Ferrari, and I want it to last and be reliable and long lasting, so in my mind I need to try and pretend the best I can that it's a year round car I just don't drive very much. I have the belief that time has just as much of an effect on a car as miles. I couldn't imagine not running this car year round, even if I don't have the ability to use it.

 

 

we're still in the 80's and 90's

i actually wait for fall and winter to actually drive my car top down in the 60's, perfect!