winter Preparation
10-28-2018, 07:47 PM
#1
Winter Preparation
Will not be driving my s at all this winter. What steps should I take to store it away properly? I have summer tires on it right now. Should I take them out and put on my oem wheels with all seasons even if it’ll just sit in the garage?
10-29-2018, 06:30 AM
#2
Just a short list:
- Change the oil so you are ready for spring. No reason to let used oil sit for months in the sump.
- Fill some panty hose with moth balls and lay them in the engine bay to keep varmints from nesting if that's a problem.
- Stabil in a full tank of gas.
- Treat the leather seats and give the car a full detail from top to bottom. No reason to let dirt sit.
- Treat the top with protectant.
- Even though flat spotting tires isn't as big of a deal anymore, I would still be inclined to put the oem wheels on and store the good wheels in the basement.
- Put a can of DampRid in the interior to absorb moisture and stinkies.
- I am not a fan of starting a car in the winter since it will do more harm than good. All you will be doing is creating moisture in the exhaust since it won't get hot enough to burn off.
- Take the battery out and store it indoors.
- Cover the car and wait many months until spring. Mine is going to sleep very soon.
Last edited by IA-SteveB; 10-29-2018 at 06:42 AM.
10-29-2018, 07:04 AM
#4
Ha! Easier said than done! Norcal is insanely expensive! (I used to live in the Bay area and still miss it). This is what I do:
Change the oil
Fill the tank, put in stabilizer (Seafoam has worked well for me)
Hook up a battery tender
Put out a bunch of mousetraps (and be ready for the ensuing carnage!)
Dryer sheets in the engine bay, trunk, interior. I've never tried peppermint oil but have heard that it works well.
Put the climate control on recirc
Stuff socks in the exhaust pipes
Put the car in reverse
Crack the windows
I had been starting it monthly per the owner's manual's recommendations, but after reading many posts on this issue have decided to leave it alone until the first drive next spring
That's it! Of course, the other recommendations listed previously, e.g. cleaning the interior and top, etc., are never a bad idea. But I do nothing with the tires. They've sat on my cold midwestern concrete garage floor through past winters without any issues.
Change the oil
Fill the tank, put in stabilizer (Seafoam has worked well for me)
Hook up a battery tender
Put out a bunch of mousetraps (and be ready for the ensuing carnage!)
Dryer sheets in the engine bay, trunk, interior. I've never tried peppermint oil but have heard that it works well.
Put the climate control on recirc
Stuff socks in the exhaust pipes
Put the car in reverse
Crack the windows
I had been starting it monthly per the owner's manual's recommendations, but after reading many posts on this issue have decided to leave it alone until the first drive next spring
That's it! Of course, the other recommendations listed previously, e.g. cleaning the interior and top, etc., are never a bad idea. But I do nothing with the tires. They've sat on my cold midwestern concrete garage floor through past winters without any issues.
Last edited by jeffreygebhart; 10-29-2018 at 07:15 AM.
10-29-2018, 06:41 PM
#5
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Foothills East of Sacramento
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The Bay Area is insanely expensive true. It is also permanently congested, filthy, polluted, filled with rude, selfish individuals and the criminally insane. I only go there if I absolutely must. You are not like that because you left!
The rest of Norcal is much better.
10-30-2018, 02:19 AM
#6
If your tires are 200TW or lower, you generally don't want to expose them to cold temps. Put them inside the house somewhere and use your stock wheels for storage.
Specifically page 167 in your 2006 owners manual.
