I just got my winter car, a 97 Lexus ES300, and was going to store the G during the winter. Is there anything that I should do to the car to avoid something like flat spots on the tires and should I put something like the stabill stuff in the gas tank. I need help.

 

well i see a whole lot of veiws but no one wants to help....damn....

 

i only see 12

 

Here's what I've decided to do as far as winterizing the car this year:


-Oil Change
-Fresh Wax(did this last week)
-Fresh Wash
-Car Cover(Just ordered a California Car Cover, Stormweave today)
-Full Tank of Gas and Add Fuel Stabilizer

Then I will lock the car with the following procedure:

1) Park Car On Tarp
2) Chock Wheels
3) With Car in Gear, Release E-Brake
4) Pop Hood
5) Lock passengers side door only and Close all doors with windows fully rolled up
6) Remove battery
7) Close Hood so that it is only locked on the first level(not requiring hood release to open from outside)
8) Use Key to manually lock drivers side door from outside
9) Put on Car Cover

 

Remove that battery? Is that really needed?
And what is "Chock Wheels"? Will that help avoid the flat spots on the tires?

 

i heard you should disconnect the battery..............but im not sure

 

I read somewhere online that it's also a good idea to let a little bit of air out of the wheels.. but I don't see how that would prevent flatspotting.. you'd think it would encourage it.

If I had jackstands, I'd use those, but I don't want to leave my car up on jackstands outside all winter. If you just disconnect your battery, it's still going to be exposed to the winter cold.. which is bad for it. It's a good idea to put it in your house where it's warm, and hook it up to a battery charger a few times during the winter to make sure it's kept at a good charge level.

 

Will you be able to start the car every 2-3 weeks? Are you taking it "off the road" meaning no insurance etc? If you are officially taking the car off the road and it will be in the garage and you won't b able to start it, I would guess a fuel stabilizer would be a huge plus. I believe you would need to put in the tank and fill it up. Drive a few miles to run the stabilizer through the system and then throw her in the garage. My only thing is I don't know how the stabalizer will react with these motors. You may want to ask a local Nissan/Infiniti Dealer which products to use. In regards to wheels, I would assume you would want to use some really good jackstands with a board underneath them (to avoid them digging into your garage floor). I don't particularly care for the stock mounting points as I have seen numerous G's with that think metal lip bent. I assume a month or so with jackstands on em would do the same. I would recommend talkin with the service manager at your local dealer or giving them a call.

 

I don't have a good feel for a solid and long-lasting stable place to put my car up on jack stands... which is why I'm not doing it outside(as you said).

When I work on my car, I put a jackstand either under the differential or on a suspension component, but I wouldn't feel safe leaving the car like that all winter. If I had a spare set of ****ty tires, that would be ideal to have on the car for winter. Filling the tires with nitrogen for the winter might be good, so they won't fluctuate as much in pressure with the cold.. possibly increasing the likelyhood of flatspotting.

 

I put Stabil in the gas and add 10 lbs of air in the tires cover her up and drive it once a month for a couple of miles. It is not good to let it sit for a long period of time.

 

Well it is going to be sitting in a garage so it will stay somewhat warm. I think i will be able to start it once and a while i will just open the door. I will be keeping my lexus outside. And i have never really looked but how do you dissconect the battery, i dont really want to mess anything up. I dont really want to drive it once every two weeks or anything, I live in Indiana and it will be snowy and there will salt and sand on the roads that i dont want on the bottom of my car.

 

ive been letting my hobby cars hibernate during the winter during the snow season too. what I do is nothing really special...

1. fuel to full
2. pressure up tires to 39 psi.
3. battery charger (2A for a couple of hours and let it tickle charge)

I roll the car forward/aft every other week, or just lift the car
corner by corner and spin the tires 1/4 of a turn each time. this will
prevent flat spotting the tires.

if possible, fire up the motor at least once a month and take it out on
a quick 10-12mile spin on a dry day while you turn on the AC compressor.
you can just put it on defrost mode and the compressor will turn on.
you need to let it cycle.

 

Just Curious...I know that you guys that are parking for the Winter are in for some bad weather, but what part of the country are you all from?

 

ok...I see that it's displayed in the top right of each message...Chicago...and Mountville and Indiana...Does Indiana get a pretty bad Winter? I guess so...

 

yea the indiana winter sucks really really bad. If the snow was not bad enuf they put so much nast salt and sand on the roads and it sounds horrible hitting the bottom of a car.

I dont really need to dissconect my battery? I just need to charge it once and a while?