Storing a Car for 3 Months

Ilpav

Ilpav

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Joined
Sep 3, 2006
Messages
6,653
Location
GTA, Ontario, Canada
Car(s)
'04 Toyota Corolla LE
The Caravan will have to be stored in the garage until autumn, so what should be done to it?

I heard unplugging the battery is a good idea, since it won't discharge and won't need a boost when starting again, but I also heard someone else say that it needs to be started and ran for a few minutes twice a month for it to get "exercise" and for it to not develop any problems.

Are these ideas right or wrong? Any thing else I should consider?
 
If you are going to be near it, it is not a bad idea to start it once in a while. But you can store it for 3 months without any major problems by unhooking the battery or hooking it up to a good trickle charger. It would be a good idea to start it out with a fresh oil change just before parking it.
 
Full tank of fuel maybe even with some fuel stabilizer might be a decent idea.
 
JipJopJones said:
maybe even with some fuel stabilizer might be a decent idea.
Click to expand...

I've had gas last for well over a year. It should be good for three months. Disconnecting the battery is a must.
 
Fill the tank, fresh oil, get it off the tires.
 
I left the Saab parked up for a month and a half or so, and the tyres are very deflated and the battery seems very weak. It started OK but not perfectly and I haven't driven it yet (plus it didn't start today when I tried but I didn't try for long - there is potential our trickle charger isn't working properly but it didn't fire up instantly at least). I took no precautions for this and it wasn't great. Main problems for me were the tyres and battery.
 
When I was in the USN if I was gone longer than a couple weeks I'd unplug the batter, and that's just about it. Even after a six month deployment it didn't really harm the car.
 
As someone that leaves their car for 3 months every summer, I can tell you the only crucial thing is to disconnect (if you can) and remove the battery and take it in the house.

Removing the tires is a good idea, but not always feasible. I've never taken mine off and I haven't had any problems so far. They've only lost 2-3psi for a whole summer.
 
Increase tire pressure to avoid the tire pressing itself flat where it touches the ground :)
 
Starting the car from time to time is unnecessary and possibly harmful when the car doesn't get to temperature, since condensing water leads to rust in the exhaust.

I wouldn't do anything except the battery thing and maybe increase the tire pressure.
 
Beni said excatly what I was going to say. Unless you can run the engine at higher load with normal temperature for a longer period, don't start it. If you want to be sure there's fresh oil everywhere, take your spark plugs out and run it by starter motor, but that's extreme overkill if you're storing it for three months.

So like Beni said: disconnect battery and increase tire pressure and you're done. :)
 
That's what I thought. Thanks guys. :)
 
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