I agree with Patman, I won't start mine until the spring. As I mentioned in another post, cold starting an engine does about the same amount of wear as driving it 700 miles. Besides, my engine runs rich when it's cold so all I'll be doing is washing down the cylinder walls.

Let it sit.

 

I've never had to jump my car in the 5 years that I've stored it. And I let it sit from late Sept.-Mid May.

 

Mines been untouched for at least a month and a half. Should I start it? Also its been under 32 degrees for the past 3 weeks or more.

Im really not sure if it will do more harm than good or vise versa...

 

I'd leave it alone if all you are going to do is sit there and let it idle.

I work at a dealership and with the cold weather we are having right now I'm getting alot of new cars off the lot in the shop right now with check engine lights and fouled plug becasue the salemen start the cars up and move them around then turn them off after 2 minutes.

 

Id give it some easy revs after its good and warmed up, but its not going out on the roads right now... its been a slush and salt nightmare most of this month

 

Change the oil before you put it away.. You don't want the acids and crap in the old oil sitting in your car for 3-4 months.. Pull out the battery and store it someplace at room temperature.. Leave the car sit until spring... If you have to start it, make certain the car gets up to operating temperature (oil too) before you shut it off, otherwise you can be leaving condensation (water) in your oil and your exhaust system -- rust..

but it's your car... do whatever you want..

 

Well I already failed there... My mobil 1 is 2k old. I dont think I should drain it now since is so cold out. :sigh: ...or should I?

 

This is the 7th winter that I have stored mine and every time I have waited until spring.

As others have said, the oil has drained out of the engine and everytime you start it, it takes a while to lubricate everything again. I prefer to do this once.

I do like to have fresh oil in the car before I store it because I would hate to have that old oil sitting in my car all winter.

It has always started up just fine, and runs a little rough for about 30 seconds, then all is good.

Dan

 

I also agree with not starting the car until spring. Not only will use cause metal to metal contact, but you'll be causing condensation to build in your oil. A friendof mine would start his car off and on through out the winter. One day he went to start it and had no oil pressure. We drug the car into a heated garage to let it sit before we ripped it apart. When we pulled the oil plug, a lot of water came out. We are guessing that the condensation froze around the oil pump. Changed the oil and had 40# of pressure. Unless you take it out and give it a good run, leave it go until sping. Been doin it for a good many years.

 

Mines sitting all winter and I dont plan on starting it up until spring. I've heard lots of stories about condensation build up when you start your car every week and dont run it. I changed my oil before I stored it. I put a bottle of dry gas in the tank and filled it up to the top. it should be good....

 

What about the tranny? I've heard of guys letting their car sit all winter and come spring they lost their tranny, can anybody back that up? Next 32F+ day I was planning on jacking up the rear and letting it shift through the gears.

 

I've never heard that before. I wouldn't worry about your tranny. A tranny won't just go out for no reason.

 

2K?? I wouldn't worry about that too much.. I'm probably over-protective.. I'm just concerned about the people that run their oil 8-10,000 miles, then leave it sit there all winter.. Whether this actually hurts a car in the long run, I can't be certain -- I've never seen any solid proof.. but it makes sense, don't you think?

In my opinion, the only benefit to running your car in the middle of the winter is maybe your tires won't get flat spotted..

by the way... I didn't mention it earlier, but I always store my car with a full tank of gas too (with stabilizer) -- for the same condensation issue..

 

Woo-hoo, I did that right

 

Where I am the winter is actually quite cold,,,,, (20 to 40 below for weeks/mnths)

The battery is inside the house in the basement or it will be an ice cube come spring.

Ditto on the fuel stabilizer for sure.

I don't think it is a good idea to start it up every week/mnth etc. I know I am not. I just want one "dry" start up. I would be worried about the condensation/acid thing and also,,,,

If you start up evey week and do not get up to operating temperature for a long enough period of time, you may shorten the life of the exhaust system significantlywith the acids in the exhaust gases and condensation from not warming up the engine and exhaust system enough.

I will be putting my car in neutral and rolling it back and forth in the garage to avoid flat spot on the tires and lube the rear gears, wheel bearings, drive shaft, etc to keep as lubed as best I can and hopefully keep some seals from drying out.