Taking the Vr6 off the road.

[JimSTORM 0]

Hi all, not used the forum in ages but needed to ask for some peoples advice on this.

 

Basically im having to take my car off the road for 6months to a year. So i was wondering if anyone could actually tell me what the best thing to do with the car is. The car will be kept in a garage but i really want to make sure i do everything right to keep it in good condition. Really gutted as i've just taken it out and it was running so nice, im having nightmares about what will happen to it over the next year.

 

So if you have some ideas please share, thanks very much.

 

James.

[Portent 0]

Can you get someone to run it for a while every couple of weeks? Ideally get it up to temp and roll it forward and back.

[j_s14a 0]

As above. I'd also fit a battery cutoff switch as they're cheap, easy to fit and will save your Battery from dying. A trickle charger would also be a good idea.

[daleyboy 0]

I store mine for six months every winter, i also stored it for 18 months when i was working on it. I started mine every couple of weeks but every now and the had to charge the battery.

 

I would say that somewhere dry is the most important thing, when i first got my garage it was very damp in there and my car suffered for it, after i got my garage water tight it was so much better for the car, and felt a lot better about leaving it in there. Six months is not long to store your car but a year is quite a bit, there was a guide somewhere for long term storage but cant remember where i saw it....

 

One month in a damp place is as bad as a year in a dry place........ :wave:

[Roger Blassberg 0]

Put it on axle stands to save flat-spotting the tyres and doing in the wheel bearings.

 

Get a dehumidifier kit from Robert Dyas or similar (plastic box with calcium chloride crystals inside, about £5 ) and put it in cabin. Close windows.

 

Disconnect ignition and spin the engine on the starter once in a while to get oil pressure up - lubricates bores, camshafts and crankshaft. Starting it and running it stationary will almost certainly leave a lot of acidic moisture in the exhaust system which will shorten its life

 

Trickle charge battery occasionally.

 

Pump brake pedal and pull up handbrake sometimes to keep pistons and mechanism free. Leave handbrake off so as to stop pads from sticking to discs.

 

Put money into piggy bank regularly so that you can get back on the road asap.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[JimSTORM 0]

Right thanks for all the suggestions, some good tips there i will use.

 

The garage it's going to be in is relativly dry throughout the summer so it should be ok untill October. It does get damp during the winter though but at the moment there is nothing i can really do to seal the garage up. The trouble is im not actually going to be able to do anything to the car as im going to be away.

 

I will look into getting a dehumidifier and possibly some axel stands, unless i could use bricks and a blocks of timber as a cheap option?

 

The annoying thing is im unsure of how long it will have it off the road for, it will definatly be at least 4months and then after that i will know wether it will be longer or not. I was thinking i'd have to go down the road of draining all the oil and other fluids, if its longer than 6months maybe i need to consider things like this?

 

Sure i'll have some more questions, i will be starting it all on thursday. Thansk for all your input so far and feel free to add some more sugestions.

[jamiehamy 0]

Spray everything with WD40, and I mean everything. Copious amuonts, including the brake discs. I had mine in a damp garage for 6months there and am amazed at how little damage it did, if any. The WD must have helped :) The WD40 also is great to clean the brakes when you put it back on the road, just be careful and have plenty space, and make sure you get the brakes hot enough to burn off the residue. I ran the engine once every other month. i know there is view on here not to do that, but as far as I was concerned it was not going to do anymore damage than any other cold start.

[seanl82 23]

Don't drain fluids, like mentioned get someone to turn it over every few weeks to keep it lubricated. By all means drain and refill when your ready to put it back on the road, this would be a very good idea imo, but dont leave the block with no/little oil in for an extended period. I think thats the reason behind turning it over every now and then.

[dragon green 4]

Agree on raising the wheels of the ground, get a battery conditioner from Halftauds, these can be left on indefinitely, WD40 sounds a good idea,as does the cheap dehumidifier !

Bricks are ok if you haven't got any axle stands

[quicky1980 0]

any thoughts on fuels? should additives be put it. fill the tank or fully drain it? I only ask as this may be a potential reason for my poor running after being stored for 6months.

[JimSTORM 0]

Excellent stuff guys, this is really helping thanks.

 

Right definatly got an idea of what im doing now, but have a few questions.

 

 

Disconnect ignition and spin the engine on the starter once in a while to get oil pressure up - lubricates bores, camshafts and crankshaft. Starting it and running it stationary will almost certainly leave a lot of acidic moisture in the exhaust system which will shorten its life

 

 

If possible could you explain how to disconnect the ignition? I can probably do it i just don't have much know how on where to start.

 

I can get someone to turn it over or start it up every couple of weeks, but do you mean just to get the pistons turning and not actually have the engine running?

 

Is it worth using a fuel addative or similar, if you know of any products?

 

 

 

any thoughts on fuels? should additives be put it. fill the tank or fully drain it? I only ask as this may be a potential reason for my poor running after being stored for 6months.

 

I read somewhere that you should keep the fuel tank full, so i'll prob do that.

 

Im really a bit tight for cash at the moment so really don't want to change the oil and filters, the oil is only 6months old and not had many miles though that probably doesn't make a difference. If i need to leave the car off the road for the whole of the winter i will probably get them changed.

 

I'll have to get a trickle charger as if i have someone turning it over it's a bit much to get them to recconect the battery each time.

 

Well the work starts tomorrow with a good clay and clean.

 

Thanks all.

[G-Lad 0]

Make sure you give it an under body wash to clear any remaining road salt - it will attract loads of water if the car is left standing with salt on it. The winter's salt is only just starting to wash away this week, here in Nottingham. I'd suggest getting underneath to treat any rusty bits on the wishbones, subframe, front cross member etc. I use Kurust and then spray tons of a wax based sealant on top. Dinitrol is the best but waxoyl underbody spray is nearly as good and more easy to buy a can of, from Halfords...

[Roger Blassberg 0]

To disconnect ignition, take the centre HT lead from the distributor cap, or the multi-connector from the coilpack, depending on the ignition type. Alternatively, pull the fuel pump relay or the ECU relay from the fuse/relay panel.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[JimSTORM 0]

To disconnect ignition, take the centre HT lead from the distributor cap, or the multi-connector from the coilpack, depending on the ignition type. Alternatively, pull the fuel pump relay or the ECU relay from the fuse/relay panel.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

 

Thanks, i'll look at this today.

 

Thinking about getting this battery cut off:

 

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_795171_langId_-1_categoryId_255205#tab2

 

Anyone used it before or know where would be best to put it, don't really want to go messing around with the dash, can it be mounted in the engine bay?

 

Also does anyone know of good trickle chargers, halfords don't seem to do any? but found some cheap silverline ones for £4.99 but im guessing they're a bit crappy.

[G-Lad 0]

I use a Ring RSC4 bike trickle charger. It works fine on my 60+Ah car battery. They're on Amazon for about 35quid.