winter storage, change oil before or after.

[JustinH]

Quick question for the group.

I store my car six months out of the year indoors, but its not climate controlled.

The motor is a supercharged 4.6 ford motor.

Anyway, I only put about 2-3k miles on the car per year, and I run mobil1 oil in it.

I change the oil every 2500-3000 miles because the car is tuned a bit rich and I run into fuel dilluation problems if I try to go longer.

Anyway, I'm already thinking about storage.

The car will be parked for six months. Would you guys recommend putting fresh oil in it for storage then changing it again to mobil1 in the springtime, or can I let it sit with the old oil?

I was going to put Chevron Delo in there just for storage.

JH

 

[kickster]

I am in same situation as you are.
I race my VW during summer and park it during winter time. Last year I kept the AMSOIL in the car for entire year including the winter storage period.

I sent a sample to blackstone and everything was ok. I also have problem with running rich but AMSOIL seems to be OK with it!

 

[Patman]

My vote would be to change it once per year, immediately before storage. Then in the spring that oil is still good, as long as you aren't in the bad habit of starting and idling the vehicle during the winter storage period.

 

[road_rascal]

I park my motorcycles with fresh oil in the crankcases for winter storage so they're ready to go after the ice melts (which could be February or July in Minnesota). I agree with statement about letting the car idle a few times during storage- bad idea.

 

[toyo]

I would change it before and after. Get the engine up to operating temp at the end of winter, then dump that oil. It will get all the moisture and any other solvents from sitting against those metals. Cheap peace of mind.

 

[Matt_S]

All the best advice I've heard says to change it before storage. That goes for cars, lawn equipment or any other engine. You don't want any contaminants in the oil sitting there all winter, especially if you have fuel dilution issues. I'd say take it out one last time before storage, get the engine good and hot, then drain and put fresh oil in.

 

[Ugly3]

Matt_S - Right on the button!

 

[Whimsey]

My car rarely gets used in the winter. November to April I only put on 450 miles. The engine always got hot when I did use it. It spends the majority of it in a heated garage. I drain the Schaeffers out in Nov/Dec, it's ptretty well used anyway, and put in fresh Havoline. Drain that out in the spring and put the Schaeffer's back in. I'd rather have fresh oil while it's sitting for the winter. And it seems like a shame to use the Schaeffer's for that. Only to remove it in the spring.

Whimsey

 

[Audioquest]

Further on this topic, suppose you change the oil right before storage, would you start the motor and let the oil filter fill up with oil (assuming you don't prefil your oil filter), or would you just change the oil, slap on the filter empty and let it sit until Spring to start it up? This way, the filter is not sopping with oil all winter long...

 

[tmorris1]

quote:

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Originally posted by Audioquest:
Further on this topic, suppose you change the oil right before storage, would you start the motor and let the oil filter fill up with oil (assuming you don't prefil your oil filter), or would you just change the oil, slap on the filter empty and let it sit until Spring to start it up? This way, the filter is not sopping with oil all winter long...

---

I would start it and let the oil circulate for a few minutes at least, but probably better to warm it up good so you don't have moisture in your exhaust system to cause corrosion. If you leave old dirty oil in over the winter it can form acids that can cause corrosion.
I agree that oil should be changed before storage, but I think it is a waste of oil to change it in the spring if the engine hasn't been run. The small amount of moisture that is in the oil will burn off the first time that it is warmed up.

 

[Bamaro]

Change the oil, take a long enough drive to get up to full operating temperature, park it for the winter.

 

[Hemidart]

I have stored a few cars, but live in LA....

I will change the oil and add MMO to a full tank of gas. I then run the car at operating temp for 30 minutes. Park the car and add some MMO in all the spark plug holes. I will also put the car on stands so the tires don't get a flat spot and disconnect the battery. Last car I did this to was my 57 Chevy 210 that sat for almost two years and started right up and ran perfect.

Side note...

I was running the 210 right after storage and saw something crawling on my shirt. It was a black widow about a quarter dollor in diameter. That woke me up better then any coffee.

 

[427Z06]

On the cars I've stored for 6-9 months, I drive it until the tank is near empty, and then fill it halfway with fresh fuel and make sure the tires are properly inflated. Then change the oil to something inexpensive like a dino Chevron/Halvoline/Penz/Valvoline 10w30 with a new inexpensive filter. Drive it until it reaches operating temperature and then another 20-30 minutes. Park it in the garage and put it on car dollies so I can move it around if need be and the curved surfaces of the car dollies prevent flat spots on the tires. Disconnect the battery.

When removing from storage, I take it off the car dollies, charge and reconnect the battery, put in 5 gallons of fresh fuel, disconnect the coil and crank it for 5 seconds. Reconnect the coil, start it, let it fast idle for a couple minutes then take it for a very gentle 30 minute drive. I then change the oil to synthetic and put on a new filter. The used dino can be used for lawn mowers, etc, or recycled.

 

[Bror Jace]

I'm another change-it-just-before-you-store-it chap.

Yes, dumping out the clean oil in the spring is a waste.

And yes, get the oil good 'n circulated before shutting down for the season.

But no, I am not worried about an oil filter being submersed in clean oil all winter long.

--- Bror Jace

PS - For extended storage, D-Con mouse poison is a good idea. Can't help you with them black widders.

 

[penzdude]

about those widows..i live in south eastern virgina and work for the utility dept. these things are downright nasty! we had one employee who was bit when one went down his glove while he was reading a water meter. he was in the hospital for 3 days. very common around here, and almost every meter box has one or two in it. every year when i do a "spring clean" i kill 3 or 4 of the suckers. you can tell the nest area usualy by the cotton candy look of the web and the egg sacks are usualy white, where a reg house type spider has a brown egg cluster. most of the time there are scattered cricket parts or other various insect pieces around as well. they love dark corners and such. i had one crawl up my pants leg while kneeling working in a pump station once. i thought it was sweat running down my leg or some thing, kept feeling it and when i pulled up the old pants leg...surprise! didn't get bit but it was good for an instant afro and a great larry of the 3 stooges imitation! we found one underneath a vault box lid once that was so fat, that the body had stretched where the hourglass on her belly had seperated until it looked like two seperate triangles. don't play w/ em!

 

[Matt_S]

Regarding Audioquest's posting, I made an assumption that the engine would be run a little after the oil change to circulate the new oil. My normal practice is to change oil in the driveway, while the car is kept in the garage. I would at least need to move it that far, so the engine would be run at least a little. So, yes, the engine should be run at least long enough to fill the filter and circulate the new oil. Good point.

Ugly3,

Thanks for the kudos.

 

[jsharp]

I'm not sure this matters. I left M1 5W-30 in my 5.0L Mustang for 2 years. The car sat in my unheated shed through 2 Illinois winters and was only driven 2000 miles in the 2 years.

I did a UOA and it was pretty normal. Minimal fuel, no water, and the TBN was still 8.5...

 

[theguru]

quote:

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Originally posted by 427Z06:
On the cars I've stored for 6-9 months, .... Disconnect the battery.

When removing from storage, I take it off the car dollies, charge and reconnect the battery,

---

Most lead acid batteries will not recover from being uncharged for that period of time. At least monthly charge is necessary to stop sulfation. A gell cell type battery would probably be ok though.

 

[427Z06]

quote:

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Originally posted by theguru:

quote:

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Originally posted by 427Z06:
On the cars I've stored for 6-9 months, .... Disconnect the battery.

When removing from storage, I take it off the car dollies, charge and reconnect the battery,

---

Most lead acid batteries will not recover from being uncharged for that period of time. At least monthly charge is necessary to stop sulfation. A gell cell type battery would probably be ok though.

---

That's why I use a battery charger with a maintenance setting on it. However, I did subject a $30 Walmart battery to 4 years of 6 month disconnect time per year and it lasted 4 years. (Sometimes you just don't feel safe leaving some things plugged in when your overseas for 6 months.)

 

[Michael_Scott]

I agree!