Well guys I'm off to college in about a week. I will be an hour and a half away from home and I have arrangments to keep my car in my dad's garage since he lives in Florida during the winter. I have a feeling I will be able to come back and drive the car once a month or so, maybe a little less...so here are my question. (Keep in mind come October I will be putting my winter wheels back on)

1. Should I put the car up on stands in order to not work the suspension and tires?

2. What about storing it with the new E-10 gas, I work at a Marina and we have had a few problems with boats that just sit for a long time, the E-10 fuel does not store well.

3. Should I keep a battery charger on it while Im gone?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated guys. Thanks.

 

i wouldnt be too concerned about your suspension and tires or your fuel, since you are just going to be gone for a month. i'd say, put a battery charger on it, slow charge... and put a car cover over it, so that way when you come back your baby will be clean. thats what i would do

 

It depends if you are going to use all the fuel up each month. If you aren't, I would use a good premium fuel and add fuel stabilizer to the fuel. It always has instructions on the bottle for short term or long term storage. I have never had fuel problems with my boat and it has over 100 gallons in it stored each winter. If you work at the marina they usually carry quality fuel stabilizers.

 

Thanks guys. Maybe Ill just put a slow trickle charger on the battery and try to drive it as much as I can when I come home. Im going to put my winter tires on sometime in october, since I really dont care if those tires go bad. I was about to go out and buy 4 jack stands and go through the hastle of leaving the car on stands. I dont think I'll do that anymore, and maybe just throw a little fuel stabilizer in there.

Anyone else have any input? Thanks

 

Don't worry about 1 month of storage.

Problems come in when you store the car for several months at a time without driving it or even starting it up. Pump your tire pressure up to like 38 or 39 PSI to help avoid flatspotting them, maybe chock your wheels and park with the E-Brake off but the car in gear and the load off of the transmission(push the clutch in once after the car is parked, so that the car rolls back into the wheel chocks). The reason I say to park with the E-brake off is that humidity can actually corrode the rotors so much that the brake pads can become stuck to the rotors if neither part is moved for long periods of time.

You're storing your car in a garage though, so you don't realy have too much to worry about other than fuel stabilizer products. It's probably a good idea to store your car on fresh oil too, so that you don't have a buildup of harmful contaminants accumulating inside the engine as the oil sits.

You won't need a trickle charger for only one month of storage.

I made a fairly in-depth post on here about a year ago that listed a bunch of stuff that I do when I store my car for the winter. Sucks living in Massachusetts, doesn't it?