Idea on long term car storage.

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Say you are storing a car for a very long time and you are concerned with the engine building condinsation and building up corrosion inside of it. Well what if you filled the engine up with oil untill it is compleetly filled to the filler cap rim!? That way there would be no chance for condinsation to build. Then when it is time to start her up just drain the excess out. Anyway this could damage the engine?
 
That is exactly what my brother in law did. He has not driven it in 15 years.
 
well ill tell you what my dad does. he lives in key largo, florida. this is a very salty area. saltwater is surrounding him on all sides under a mile distance. it is also hot and humid, everything rusts in key largo. he bought a cargo shipping container(the kind you see on large freighters or trains) for a $1000 and put his car in there to store it. he put the container in his backyard. its 15 meters long and atleast 4 meters wide, the container is amlost airtight, its hurricane proof, waterproof and he has a small energy efficent dehumidifyer running constantly to expell and moisture so it is almost impossible for condensation to form. the dehimidifyer removes about half a liter a day of water. this is plumbed outside and into the flower garden.

i think this is probably the ultimate in do it youreself long term car storage. theres no change of mousture. very low chance of thieves getting in. you can hit the container with a sledge hammer and not dent it. a saw would take hours to cut into it. if you have about a grand laying around you can pick one up for youreself and put it in youre backyard.
 
You are aware that the filler cap is above the combustion chamber right? Do you want your combustion chamber, intake valley and possibly exhaust and intake filled with oil?

-T
 
Your main problem is going to be from the piston rings down. Rings may stick and the other "internals" may start rusting. I would start out doing what we do for boat winterization. Change oil and filter, run if for a while, then fog the be-jesus out of it. If not fogging spray is around, use MMO down the intakes. Then go beyond that. Fill the rest of the block up with a low sulfur diesel fuel, up to the valves. Make sure the pistons are soaking in it by popping off the spark plug and seeing any is running out. You could also take a breaker bar and socket, make sure ignition is off, and manually turn the engine over so that the pistons have been bathed in this stuff. Take off the valve cover gaskets and put a good coat of grease on the valves, springs, rocker arms, basically the whole top of the head that is not soaking in diesel fuel with something really thick that won't runoff. Put in fresh antifreeze. I'd take out the AC fluid but remember you'll probably have to put in new seals when you fire it up. You'll have to anyway for the prolong sit so might as well reclaim the freon and use it later. As long as this stuff stays dry, you can re-use it later. I'd then fill the transmission all the way up to the top of the dipstick and just make a note and put it in the car that you'll have to drain it off first before firing, and so for the crankcase as well. Take battery out. Jack car up and not let it sit on the tires. I'd spray the exhaust system with a good coat of oil, including the headers. Leave the climate controls on "panel", that will allow the car to breath. Cover it with a good cover, regardless if it's outside or not. Then like I said, write this all down and tape on the steering wheel so you don't forget how to de-winterize it.

[ June 10, 2004, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: Schmoe ]
 
On the theory that heavier oil may leave a thicker, or at least more durable, film of oil on components for "very long term storage," how about filling with a heavy weight (perhaps straight 40 wt or even 50 wt?), running the engine just long enough to thoroughly circulate it, then storing? I'd guess that the film left would have greater longevity than a 5w-20 film..?
 
Ocean containers are not as air tight as you might think. I've seen lots of water pour out when they've been dropped in the ocean. Also, when they get holes in them on top from poor crane operators, most of the water drains out through the doors, leaving enough inside to condense on the roof and rain over and over.
Many are also ventilated through hidden vents in the corner posts. (I get 3 or 4 delivered each month from Houston)
 
This is what I did with my TR3 that was in storage for about 8 years. Works great. I used Marvel Mystery Oil for the fill above the full mark. Also filled the chambers through the spark plug holes. Ran great after a drain and refill but a little smoke at first. I would think this would eliminate any rust in the engine.
 
I'm not storing a car but just wondering if this way was a possibility. Sounds like it would cause damage.
 
I have had my old Torino in storage for the last few years. I changed the oil and filter before the storage, and then fogged the engine. Additionally, since I've stored it, at least once a year I have taken the car out of storage for a couple of days to wash it, check everything over, and at this time I usually take it on a good highway trip or 160 or more miles. Then I change the oil agian, fog the engine and put it back into storage. So far this has seemed to work well and with 140+ K on the orignal drivetrain, she still runs like new.

I have been using Castrol GTX 10W40 in the car for storage, but thanks to the info on this site I am going to switch to a HDEO, probably Delvac 1300 when I change the oil this year.
 
quote:

Originally posted by widman:
Ocean containers are not as air tight as you might think. I've seen lots of water pour out when they've been dropped in the ocean. Also, when they get holes in them on top from poor crane operators, most of the water drains out through the doors, leaving enough inside to condense on the roof and rain over and over.
Many are also ventilated through hidden vents in the corner posts. (I get 3 or 4 delivered each month from Houston)


hehehe,
I was engaged as the commissioning engineer at an MDF plant a while ago. The hydraulic oil looked like whipping cream. Sent a sample away, and it came back with about 5% water, and heaps (read heaps) of sodium. I worked out that the water was vabout the concentration of seawater if you ignored the oil.

Then one of the fitters (last name Behan, which was the last name I expected to see in an MDF plant in the coldest spot in Australia, and he WAS related to the Tombstone Behan) recalled that when they opened the container doors it poured out, but the German engineers reckoned that their waterproofing of the cylinders were OK.

Containers seem to be one way sieves when it comes to letting water in, and holding it there.
 
Castrol make an HDEO (at least down here) that is full of vapour phase inhibitors, which should really help long term storage.
 
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