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There's pretty much universal agreement that starting the car every week or so is actually bad for the engine. The most stressful time for the engine is at startup, after all the oil has made its way to the pan. It's better just to keep it shut down until you're back to driving it regularly.
Now, as for every day... If you think you can keep that up through the season, I'm not sure, but it's probably not a bad thing. The trick is to keep the oil coating the cylinders. I would (personally) think that'd be hard to do every day.
I'd just recommend shutting it down and storing it, only starting it for times when you're gonna' take it out for a drive. You might even disconnect the battery if it's going to be a few weeks -- I have stored mine in the basement before where it doesn't get freezing cold.
Originally Posted by Mikes256,Nov 23 2005, 07:36 PM
I'm planning on driving my car in the winter on the nice days and the not so terrible days. This might be a few days a week, or maybe once every two weeks. My question is, is it a good idea to start the engine once every day, or every other day to keep the oil well circulated, or does all the oil drip down overnight?
There's no way I can go all winter without driving it, but I don't want to do any damage either..... oh the drama!!
The rule of thumb is not to start the car unless you are going to drive it or at least run it for 30 minutes. My guess on how quickly the majority of the oil drains into the oil pan would depend on conditions. Reportedly starting the car is the hardest thing on the engine, and I would think that is especially true if it is sitting out in the cold under a car cover. An unheated garage would be slightly better. I use to store my MG outside but it had a hand crank that allowed one to turn it over slowly to circulate some oil first. I store my cars now in a heated garage (min of 45 degrees), so I am less concerned about how often I start it up while in storage. I doubt if anyone can give you an exact answer, so do what you feel is best.
OK fellas, here are my 'two cents'.........if you want to store the car for long periods an addition to your list would be; purchase (4) scissors jacks, place them on all jacking points, lift the car to the point to where the suspension is in mid travel (no tires suspended) and suspension bushings are centered (no load). Your suspension and components will be "AS NEW" for many years.........
Winter storage typically does not impact the suspension and I've not seen any lasting impact from tires flat spotting. I've been storing cars for 35 years without doing anything special except an occasional roll. I have many friends with multiple cars (one has over 30 cars) and not a single one of them does anything when it comes to the car's suspension beyond perhaps rolling them forward or backwards a couple times during the winter.
We are already off the road, washed and polished. My last job to do today is to treat all the seals and then the cover goes on, Of course we have 80 degree weather today, the sun is shining and the roads are dry. Michigan, it never knows what it is doing.
11-23-2005, 04:39 PM
that time of the year,again... 
Bonsoir, Emil! 
