Winter storage
 

I did a few searches on this forum and have not been able to find a thread specific to winter storage. So I'm sorry if I am repeating the question that i'm sure has been asked numerous times before:
What do I do to prepare for long-term outdoor storage? -40°C 2+35°C
The engine is blown so I'm keeping the car for a while to see what to do.
In the meantime I have put a trickle charger on the battery and left it connected so the security system, etc. will continue to function.
In the old days it was called putting the car up on blocks. So for today's vehicles what should one do?
- tire protection, how to? Is a set of wheel covers to protect against the sun good enough? The tires are one year old. Do I need to lift them off the ground?
- suspension preservation, anything need to be done?
- gas tank preservation additive?
- Engine oil preservation needs?
- Engine coolant antifreeze is good till -45 so I'm guessing I don't have to do anything with that?
- something to put into interior other than a good cleaning to keep undesirable visitors from making a home inside car?
- car cover? I have one specific for the RX-8 but never used it. I know I would need to clean the outside of the car before putting it on however I feel I need to get into the car every once in a while especially under the hood to check that the trickle charger is still doing it's job.
-do I need to put anything in the trunk, other than keep it clean, to keep undesirable creatures from taking up residence?
-other tips?

I've been winter storing my car for 10 yrs. and never added any preservatives or jacked it up. I never saw any evidence of tire flat spots. Just put on the trickle charger and put a tinfoil pan full of arm & hammer inside to absorb any odors.

Fuel stabilizer in the tank and trickle charger for the battery. The place you need to worry about critters the most is the engine bay, you can put some moth balls there to keep animals away.

Try to visit it every so often and fire it up monthly, if possible, to circulate fluids.

You want to make sure its on a surface that doesn't accumulate humidity, like asphalt or brick with good air circulation and a grade for water runoff.

A car cover is a good idea because inevitably stuff will land on the car: bird poop, pollen, ice, etc. Just make sure there is ample air circulation under the car cover, so it's not a pocket of trapped humid air.

For the tires, I've seen people put the car on blocks of dense construction foam or heavy insulation, so the tires are cushioned.

Make sure you use the correct amount (min) of fresh StaBil (use within the 2 year expiry dating from when you purchased this). StaBil goes bad as well. If you purchase ethanol-free gas, please do so. It's the ethanol that absorbs water and gas oxidizes over time.

The expiry date is 2 years from first opening (assuming to cap it tightly and keep it in a cool dry place).

Water is a piss-poor oxidizer (the oxygen in water is fairly well stabilized by the two hydrogen atoms). More likely the gas is reacting with the oxygen in the tank, possibly mediated or catalyzed by the metal of the tank itself (I know for a fact we put molybdenum in the petroleum refining catalysts my employer makes).

Ethanol should act as a desiccant when used in a draining system like a gas tank because any water dissolved into the E10 mix will get pulled into the engine. This is how HEET fuel line antifreeze works (it's mostly isopropanol).

Sta-Bil is 90% petroleum distillates that carry the remaining 10% magic pixie dust. The magic pixie dust of Sta-Bil is probably red dye, antioxidants and polymerization inhibitors.

See I disagree with this. Starting the engine after it's been sitting is one of the highest wear events the engine can see. Especially since you can't prime the oil pump with a drill like you can with older cars. Why subject it to more of these starts than necessary? It's not like the fluids are going to separate or anything, so I don't see that circulating them will really do anything. Am I missing something?

My logic there is to circulate the fluids to the various seals, so they don't sit dry for too long. Maybe that's outdated thinking and not necessary any more. While starting the car is the highest wear, if you do it monthly, after 2 years you've added 24 starts... that's less than if you had been driving it. Whether it's been sitting for a day or a year is largely immaterial in terms of wear.

I have no experience with storage, but wouldn't it be a good idea to start it occasionally to keep hoses and belts from getting brittle from the cold?

Once the rubber gets down to its glass transition temperature, it's going to be brittle until it warms up again. Running the car once in a while won't change that.

You might be thinking of rubber getting permanently brittle due to deterioration (heat, wear, oxidation, drying). Running the car at all will only accelerate that.

A car cover is mandatory. In -40 weather, the snow that'll pile on top of the car is so dry that it'll burn the paint in no time.

-40 weather burn paint? The only issue I see with low temperatures is the delamination of paint from metal if the paint (as coating) has a different shrink rate than the metal it is attached. Snow (frozen water) is only an issue if the freeze/thaw cycling creates changes in shrink (though temperature at surface is the same).

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...c39ec1469f.jpg

Acid snow.

I never heard of snow burning the paint on the outside of the car. I do know that being out in the sunshine is generally not good.

In my case the engine is blown. So there is no starting and running opportunity.

no car cover outside, inside only
fuel stabil
leave it... don't worry so much.

done