Storing your car for the winter. The automotive hibernation guide.
Y ou’ve decided to make your car do like a bear and have it hibernate over the cold winter. You’ve long been told just how damaging the winter can be to a car and you are finally heeding the advice and putting your baby away for the winter. This year, you’ll use your ice-skates and snowboard as your new winter mode of transportation. Here is some more advice on how to properly store your car for the winter and how to make sure that your bear is still alive and breathing when the spring comes around.
Basic tools needed:
- A socket set
- A wrench set
- 4 jack stands
- Plastic sheet
- A car cover
- A battery charger
Consumables needed:
- Engine Oil
- Antifreeze
- Steel wool
- Quality car wax
- Fuel additive
There are countless arguments pro and con for storing your car for the winter. Elaborating on those points isn’t the focus of the article, rather we’ll concentrate on making sure that you do it right.
Find a nice warm cave for you bear. Usually this can be found in a location referred to as: the garage. That is, of course, if you are fortunate to have one. If not, well then rent out your friend’s or neighbor’s garage. Hopefully your garage will have a nice concrete slab for the flooring and some electrical points and adequate lighting.
Clean out your garage and remove all the bird nests made in between the wall studs. Smash the spiders and eliminate the mice if you can. Once you have made everything nice and tidy, place the plastic sheet on the floor where you will park your car. Before you buy the sheet, make sure that it is large enough to encase the bottom half of your car. Paint drop clothes are great for this and recommended.
Make a run to your local lube station for a complete changing of all of your auto’s fluids. This would include:
- Engine coolant / antifreeze
- Motor oil
- Hydraulic clutch fluid
- Brake fluid
- Windshield washer fluid
If you are the home mechanic type then you can do this yourself in a couple of hours. You’ll still have to venture outside to fill your gas tank to the brim. Doing this makes sure that water is pushed from the system and reduces the chances that the interior of your gas tank will begin to corrode. Add the fuel additive and drive around for about 15-20 minutes to make sure that the additive thoroughly mixes with the fuel and your injectors.
Once you have completed getting the internals of your car ready for it storage, you now have to get the rest of the car ready. Begin with the interior and give it a good cleaning. Vacuum and dust everything in the car. It’s important to try to remove any type of moisture from the interior of your car before closing it up. When you open the doors 4 or 5 months later you will be greeted by a nice foul smell and stench as will as new pharmaceutical supplies if you don’t remove all moisture. For example, don’t use a spray cleaner moments before you close your car up. This cleaning should use dry products and vacuuming. Do the wet work a couple of days prior to storing your car.
Move on to the exterior when you have the inside sparkling. Give the car a good washing from the top to the bottom. Try to clean off every little piece of grime you find on your car and remove all traces of soap. After you wash and dry your car, give it a serious wax job. Don’t get lazy and skip areas - you’ll pay for it later. The more time that you spend doing things properly now, the less time you will spend on it before driving it again in the spring.
Now that you have completed all the maintenance tasks - it’s time to position your car for storage. Park your car centered on the plastic drop sheet. Remember, the sheet needs to be waterproof. The sheet prevents liquids from going both ways. It’s ideal to stop water vapor from rising into the underbody of your car as will as oil from staining your garage floor. The sheet also prevents small animals from making your wheels their winter home.
Jack up the car and put it on jack stands to eliminate having pressure on the suspension system for 4 or 5 months. Also, it eliminates "flat spots" developing on your tires. If you are not sure on how to jack-up your car in order to get the 4 jack stands underneath it then make sure to consult your owner’s manual or another knowledgeable source.
Time to prep the car’s fuel system. Start your car up and then disconnect your fuel pump. This will make the care sputter a few times and then die. The purpose of doing this is to eliminate fuel pressure in the lines which could become combustible under certain situations. If you have a newer car with a sealed type of management system then contact your dealership for advice on how to proceed.
Grab your steel wool and plug up your tailpipe(s). Make sure you don’t put it in too far. Leave enough of it out so that you can unplug it later. The wool keeps moisture from getting into the pipe as well as keeping out any mice or critters that may want to make it their home.
Remove your car’s battery. Most batteries cannot make it through a winter without getting a charge. All batteries discharge and if it fully discharges then you’ll have to replace it. To avoid this you can get a timed battery charger that "drips" charges into the battery so it does not drain. It is not a constant charge which can damage a battery.
You’re almost finished. The next step is to tuck the plastic drop sheet up around your car’s bottom half. Tuck it up around all four wheels and into your door wells too. Open the doors and put the excess into the door then close it tight. Again, this keeps moisture from going both ways.
Lastly, cover the car with a breathable car cover. Make sure that it is designed for the interior. DON’T use a camping tarp or picnic tarp for this. Try to avoid the cheapest ones as they may offer less than desirable results. This is your car we’re talking about here!
You’re done. We’ll maybe. Make sure that you look in on your sleeping bear to make sure it’s still there. You don’t want a surprise months later if it’s gone missing (stolen)! Tracking him down months later would be difficult.
"It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated."
- Alec Bourne
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