My father said he'll take it once a week so thats good

Cheers guys

 

[QUOTE=Bassoctopus,Feb 12 2009, 07:54 PM] Those solar powered battery chargers are only

 

In general if you take the car off the road for any time it should be on Jacks to stop the tyres distorting, if you have a batery conditioner use it. Suspension bolts wont corrode as they are doing the same job with car standing as they are with it on the road. you should be ok for 5 weeks but if it gets to be much longer you should consider an oil and brake fluid change before putting it back on the road. If you can get your hands on the large silica gell bags to place inside the cab and boot to soak up any condensation and damp its not essential but it doesnt harm and stops it smelling musty

 

Seeing as the advice in the service book is to start it at least once a month, if your car is off the road for winter, how do you suggest you do that without letting it idle to warm up?

 

I think that's a bit extreme for a modern production car, personally. However, I would wedge the clutch pedal down with a piece of wood or something so the plates don't seize together.

 

That is just to keep the battery topped up.

Letting it warm up by idling then turning it off is worse than not starting at all, especially as it's only off the road for 5 weeks.

Not that it matters now anyway as his dad will take it.

 

Yes, but mine's been garaged for 4 months and has only been driven twice in that time

I've done all the other stuff, but been starting and running it for 20 minutes once a month

 

its up to you, a lot of oil has small amounts of water emulsified in it due to condensate if its left standing it seperates, as you say it might be extreem but for me the cost of an oil change if its left standing for say 12 months is worth paying for peace of mind. same goes for brake fluid unless its synthetic the normal stuff is hydroscopic and can lead to piston corosion if they are left
not sure i would be happy wedging the clutch open and leaving the hydraulics under load for an extended period.

 

In addition to leaving the hydraulics under pressure, the "fingers" of the clutch pressure plate will be under sustained load and this may result in plastic deformation. The net result would be a slipping clutch.

Best solution: on the drive, wheels chocked, in gear, h/brake off. Get your dad to drive it once a week. In the mean time, get the damned battery/alternator/earth fault sorted!

2 days for a flat battery is RUBBISH! I came back after 2 weeks away and the thing started first time - no sluggishness or owt.

That does sound to me like a duff battery. tbh, it's going to be ~

 

Are you using a scan gauge? i found mine was switching on and off with the car left in the garage and this was flattening the battery, unfortunately i didnt find it until after i bought a new battery.