winter storage, change oil before or after.

[SnowDrifter]

Why even keep oil in It for storage?

Fog the intake, drain everything out, toss a filter on it. When it comes time to start, fill we up and go. There will still be a film there for rust and next start

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by SnowDrifter
Why even keep oil in It for storage?

Fog the intake, drain everything out, toss a filter on it. When it comes time to start, fill we up and go. There will still be a film there for rust and next start



That's a recipe for disaster, what if you forget that there is no oil in it and start the engine in the spring? And honestly, what benefit are you getting from doing this in the first place? Change the oil in the fall and it'll still be just as good as new in the spring.

 

[BrocLuno]

Almost all the literature I have read over many decades says to change oil before storage. Eliminates any acids or other chemistry and makes sure the oils buffers are at full strength. Takes any trapped moisture out of the equation. Takes any fuel dilution out of the equation.

Change oil and filter. Start it and drive around the block until at full temp and to make sure all residual oil is now mixed with fresh. Put it away.

Filters are meant to be "sopped with oil". They do not care one iota as long as the oil is clean and the chemistry is normal.

 

[k1xv]

I change the oil in my C7 Corvette before putting it away in a 40F garage for the winter, with a battery tender on it. I leave the same oil in it when the car gets woken up in Spring. No engine starts over the winter storage period.

However, the car's oil life monitor shows, in Spring, that I lost about 40% of the oil life with the car just sitting there. I just ignore that. The algorithm factors time and mileage, and seems to assume the car was in service. So, in Spring, I just re-set the monitor to read 100%

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by k1xv
I change the oil in my C7 Corvette before putting it away in a 40F garage for the winter, with a battery tender on it. I leave the same oil in it when the car gets woken up in Spring. No engine starts over the winter storage period.

However, the car's oil life monitor shows, in Spring, that I lost about 40% of the oil life with the car just sitting there. I just ignore that. The algorithm factors time and mileage, and seems to assume the car was in service. So, in Spring, I just re-set the monitor to read 100%


That's something that causes a lot of people on the Corvetteforum grief, especially those that had C5s and C6s that didn't use time as a factor in the alogorithm of the OLM. People that seldom drive their cars find it annoying that the OLM still counts down to zero by the one year mark, even if they've only gone 500 miles on the oil.

 

[Whimsey]

For many years I just garaged my car for the winter without changing the oil or changing it in the spring if it wasn't at the mileage interval for an oil change. It was on a battery tender and never started until I took it out in spring. The one UOA I had done on this car with PP 5w30 for over an 18 month period and ~8,800 miles showed low wear metals and other contaminants. If you can, garage it when the engine is hot, like after a high speed run. That will help minimize condensation while sitting out the winter in the garage.

Whimsey

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by Patman
People that seldom drive their cars find it annoying that the OLM still counts down to zero by the one year mark, even if they've only gone 500 miles on the oil.

Not trying to compare Corvettes and Ford Fusions (and presumably other Ford models), but Ford says to change the oil every "x" miles or once a year. Don't go over a year regardless of the miles. Someone on a Fusion forum tracked their oil life % and miles and they didn't drive the car many miles. The % dropped slowly for 9 months and after 9 months, it decreased much, much faster. It changed the 'trending' to coincide with 0% life remaining around 11-12 months.

 

[Patman]

The way the OLM works in the Corvette, it will immediately start counting down based on time, so if you reset the meter and don't drive it at all, the oil life will drop by 8% per month. I'm not sure which way would be better though, having it go down like this, or having it count down much faster once it starts approaching the one year mark.

 

[DGXR]

Change the oil in the fall, before it goes into storage. First time you fire it up in the spring, make sure it reaches full temp and stays there for a while, like at least 30 minutes.