I was wondering if there are any negative effects to garaging your G for a few months. The winter season is here and I basically spent one sunday afternoon clay bar, wax, and polish and interior detail the 04 6mt. Took about 4 hours and I just put it in the garage and left the cover on there, just wondering if it'll be ok when i pull it back out in march or april? Little paranoid but which G owner isn't? Thanks.

 

If it were me, I'd run it oh, about once or twice every other week.

 

Put Stabil in the gas and fill it up then I try to drive it once every month. Don't just start it up and let it idle in the garage though. You have to drive it so moisture does not buildup inside the motor.

 

check the tire pressure also and i'd put it on jack stands if you can and just not drive it at all. You may end up flat spotting the tires if you dont put it up.

 

mine's garaged during the winter. i use 38psi (40F in the garage).
Every 3 weeks I run a battery charger on it, fire up the motor with A/C on
full blast for 10min, and turn the tires a 1/4 of a turn.

I rev the motor a couple of times to rid some of the condensation
in the exhaust. that's about it. if you use synthetic you can go
without firing up the motor probably throughout the winter.

 

I have to chime in only because their is so much mixed information out on this subject. I have my car stored for the winter (first time I have attempted this), and have taken bits and pieces of various information that I have read. I have compiled my own form of what I think is reasonable in prepping for winter storage (garage only). The following information has been taken from this forum, freshalloy, other online resources, and some verbal comments aswell.

Prep / Care
As many have stated, and this one should be obvious, give your car a detailed cleaning. This includes a wash, clay bar (optional), 2 coats of wax, rim cleaning, interior, engine bay, trunk, whatever else you feel needs to be cleaned.

Oil change, and full tank of gas. Add Sta-Bil (7 1oz fills) to your tank. This should be done while in the garage. I let the car idle for 5 minutes after adding it, not really sure if it's required to drive the car around after adding this.

Adjust tire pressure to at least 40psi to prevent from "flat spots." Though I have no real hard data backing this one up, I went ahead and did it anyway based on what I have read, and verbal comments I have received about this. Some recommend to either have your car on jack stands, lifting the wheels off the concrete, or putting wood planks under your tires. I may do what some have suggested, and that is to move the car back and forth every 2 weeks or so to prevent from so called "flat spots."

Car cover to prevent from dust. I went with the Custom Fit Noah by Covercraft. It's fairly lightweight, and easy to put on.

I didn't go ahead and disconnect the battery, only because I will be starting my car every now and again (every 2 weeks). I didn't really feel that this one was a huge requirement, but anyway can step in and give some facts here.

The one that I have yet to find a direct answer to is whether or not I should start the car and let it idle in my garage. Some have said that starting it without driving it around for a few minutes is basically pointless, and others have said that this is perfectly fine to do so. Plenty of conflicting information on this one, so once again, anyone that can shed some light over here, it would be great.

 

NO dont do this. just park it in your garage it will be fine.

 

+1. Yes it should be done right.
Some say starting is best (I do it) and others say not to. I prefer to start it to lubricate the inside of the engine , but I don't idle it. I warm the engine then rev it at about 1500 for about 2-3 minutes.
I don't see a problem with this provided there's fresh oil in there and the engine is warmed properly.
C.

 

wow this is makin me kinda paranoid as to whether i should leave it, I think there will be a few sunny days out here in between the winter, i'll just use it as a weekend car i suppose. Thanks for the insight guys, i was just gunna leave it there in the garage if I didn't post anything on this forum. By the way... what's "Sta-bil?" thanks.

 

I never start my car when it has been stored for winter and have been doing it this way for about 14 years now.
My method:

Make sure it has been driven for a while before storing so the engine moisture has been fully purged from the exhaust and brakes are completely dry. For 13 years I added stabil when storing my former cars. Last year I spoke to the service manager at my dealership and he suggested I not do that. I followed his advice. He said the fuel system was very well sealed in the G and the manufacturer does not make any specific recommendations for a storage fuel additive. This is because they cannot test all the different products out there for effectiveness or potentail damage. (Note BMW recommends not to use a storage additive for their cars.)

Before final storage I will drive slowly while pulling the park brake gently on to dislodge any rust or film sitting on drum or pads. I then change oil, crank tires to 40 psi, put steel wool in exhaust, disconnect negative on battery, don't engage park brake and that's it. Some years I have charged battery once or twice and most years not at all with no shortened battery life. The exhaust on my last car was original 11 years and in excellent condition (not stainless) before I sold it which is pretty rare where I live. Part of it I contribute to the storage method which does not contribute more moisture that sits in the exhaust after frequent short start ups and idling. My cars have always started immediately and run perfectly in the spring after 4 + months. Even the G without the stabil.

 

Where do you live?

If it's somewhere where they salt the roads for winter... don't take it out of your driveway, or you will ruin all the work that you've done to prep it for winter.

-Change your engine oil and oil filter, preferably to synthetic fluids.

-Wash/Wax/Vacuum/Full-Detail the car both inside and out(Don't forget to wash/wax/detail the painted surfaces in your engine bay, rims, door jams and the edge of your trunk, and cloth down any dirty parts). Also make sure you remove any leaves or pine-needles and dirt from the edge of your engine bay and the inside lid of your trunk. Pay special attention when washing the vehicle, to make sure that you really spray down the undercarriage of the car very good, to remove any salt or dirt. Don't forget to clean your tailpipes too, because soot can stain the chrome if it sits on it for a long time. Start the car up and let it run for a few minutes to get moisture out of the exhaust system, engine bay and undercarriage.

-Add Stabil to the gas tank, and fill the tank all the way to the top. Then drive the car for about 5 to 8 minutes so that it works its way through the fuel tank, lines and into the engine. You should run the vehicle with the A/C on for a little bit too, to circulate the A/C fluids and then also run it with the heat on for a bit, to get fresh coolant through the heater core. Make sure that you run the A/C and defogger immediately before you get out of the car before sealing it up.. so that you don't get moisture building up in your vent shafts... which can lead to mold growing. This will also help get moisture out of the air inside the cabin.

-If your vehicle has had the same coolant in it for over 16-18 months, flush the coolant and refill it with a new batch of coolant/Distilled-water.

-Remove all unnecessary papers and items that aren't part of your car(don't forget to empty your ash trays and trash recepticles). Also, take all CD's out of the CD-Player.

-Leave a box of Arm and Hammer in the vehicle to keep it dry and clean-smelling inside the cockpit.

-Pump tire pressure up above 36 PSI(do it on a cold day too... so you know the pressure isn't going to drop back to normal levels when it gets real cold)

-Lubricate your door hinges and trunk/hood latches with White Lithium grease and work it into the hinges by opening/closing the doors a few times after applying it.

-Park the car with it in gear, but do not pull up on the E-Brake. Buy some wheel chocks, and block all 4 wheels on both sides(8 chocks required). Once the chocks are placed around your wheels.. get in the car and either put the car in neutral, or push down the clutch for a second or two(to release pressure on the transmission and engine)... then, go back and push in on your wheel chocks to make sure they are firmly in place on all wheels. You don't want your E-Brake on, because sometimes the brake pads can rust to the rotors if the car isn't moved for a long time.

-After the vehicle has cooled off a bit, block off the tailpipes with something waterproof(plastic cap that fits on the tailpipe, or a plastic bag), to prevent moisture and rodents from getting into them.

-Make sure the vehicles exterior is completely dust free and dry, and then apply your car cover.

-You might also want to park the car on a plastic tarp(to keep any fluids from dripping onto your garage floor, and also to help keep moisture from coming u through the floor and building up on the undercarriage.

If you don't plan on starting the car every few weeks or moving it, you might also do the following:

-Park each wheel on a large heavy-duty plastic trash bag(these need to be placed on top of the tarp), and then pull the trash bag up and around each wheel and try to tie the other side of it closed on the back side of the wheel(Around the axel or suspension, etc) to try to minimize moisture from oxidizing your rotors over the winter.

-With your drivers side door open, remove your battery. Once the battery is out, shut your hood but only latch it down one notch(not all the way.... so you can open the hood without going into the cockpit to pull the hood-release lever). Shut the door now(your window should be down about 1/8th of an inch now and won't interfere with the rubber window seal... due to a lack of electric power when going to open the door). Hook your battery up to a trickle-charger.

-If you can find a good way to support the vehicle on jack stands, then you should do this.... but it's a bit tough to safely do this on these cars without buying or building some custom adaptors for the jack stand to mate cleanly with the OEM jack points. Some people have recommended using a hockey puck(with a slice cut in it to fit over the lip on your jack piont) or other semi-padded fabric to help disperse the vehicles load across a wider surface area near the vehicles jack points and prevent denting/warping.

If you don't remove your battery, then I recommend starting the car up every 2 or 3 weeks for a few minutes and move it forward a bit to help the tires avoid flatspotting(althoug modern radial tires are pretty good with resisting flatspotting).. preferably do it on a day that is not super-cold(so the tires are flexible and cold-start isn't as damaging to the engine) and let the car run for a bit.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

My car = completely stored and winterized as of a few nights ago.

 

Damn...haha

 

Sta-bil is a fuel additive for storing gas powered engines. You use it in cars, lawnmowers etc when storing them so the gas doesn't go stale.
It's available at Walmart, auto parts stores etc.

 

I think it's completely stored for a few winters, damn!

I thought I was super picky, but that was very informative. I picked up a few tips in your post, extremely detailed, and well explained. Good work.

 

partyman66 i have to applaud that post, thats standing ovation material right there. About the salts and snow and winter ruining the preparation, I live near San Francisco, California so i'll just take it out for the day every other weekend i suppose. Thanks again for that post, awesome.