Going into long term storage - Need Input!

[Boiler2]

Hey,

I will be moving out of the country soon for 2-3 years. I cannot give up my baby so it is going into storage. I do plan on putting it in climate controlled storage. After searching a number of other threads, I have come up with a list of things I need to do to the car to prep it for storage. This is picking up bits and pieces from other threads. Let me know if I have everything covered. Thanks in advance!

-Put car up on jack stands
-Lower tire pressure to prevent cracking
-Put an air freshener in the car
-Top off the coolant
-Put in Sta-bil engine stabilizer in the gas
-Top off the gas tank
-Unplug the battery
-Put a car cover over the car
-Wax the car before storage
-Spray an undercoating to prevent rust (not sure about this one. Is it needed?)
-Plug exhaust pipe from pests
-Put a teaspoon of clean oil into each cylinder
-Coat rotors with wax or oil(not sure about this one either?)
-Check and top off all fluid levels

And then for coming out of storage:
-Reverse/clean up all from above
-Check all fluids
-Start it up
-Change the oil after a few miles

What do you think?

 

[spyderturbo007]

I have also seen that it is recommended to wrap the underside of the vehicle with plastic or some type of tarp. The main concern is small little critters crawling into the exhaust pipe, eating your wires, etc. Other than that it looks like you have everything under control. I store my car over the winter and would recommend getting an OEM cover. They are breathable and do not scratch the paint at all. They also fit really well. Enjoy.

 

[Boiler2]

Anyone else put their car in storage for 2+ years and had it come out without any issues?

 

[Rice Over Wheat]

I just took my car out of long term storage after 1 year. You have a good list going there on what to do but I'll just add a couple things and stuff I should have done.

You can put the car up on jack stands but it'll take the compression of your springs which is not supposed to be a good thing to do long term. On the other hand, if you let it sit you can get flat spots on the tires. Pressure will also be gradually lost over time.

Personally I had brand new tires well inflated and left the car standing on them. When I got back there weren't any flat spots though I lost about 5 lb pressure in a year. I'm not sure if maybe because they're low profiles and the stiffer sidewalls help or what...but it worked out fine. If you can get someone to roll the car forward or back a few inches every couple months that should work. I would not lower tire pressure because like I said you will be losing pressure over time unavoidably...even if the car is on jacks. On jacks I don't think cracking would be an issue unless you have some old rubber and really dry weather.

Teaspoon of oil in the cylinders? That doesn't make much sense because it'll just settle to the bottom like every other internal over time. Though there are additives out there that supposedly make the oil cling to metal surfaces...you could try that. Easier thing to do is just keep in mind dry internals upon start up when you get back. Take out the engine fuse before you crank up and turn the engine over several times to build oil pressure. Then start her up.

Take out the battery from the car completely and put it down somewhere. If you want to use it later on, trickle discharge it to empty and make sure the cell fluids are topped off. I made the mistake of just leaving the battery on the floor and it evaporated about a half inch. It still started up the car even after a year sitting, but just leaving the lights on killed the battery in 10 minutes afterwards...so I replaced it.

I stored my car in Daytona Beach Florida where its humid and the air is salty. My unit was nice and fully enclosed but not air conditioned. I did not have any rust to speak of. Only if there's a bad seal in your unit and condensation forms under the car could it maybe evaporate and rust the undercarriage but I doubt it. With environmental control you should be fine. Any rust prone areas like the sun roof, maybe apply some WD-40 before you store to protect it from rust. That worked for me. I don't think you need to coat your rotors with anything...I didn't and they came out fine.

When out of storage, start it up like I said above. Add a bottle of fuel system cleaner and do the same every other tank of gas for the next 5 fills or so. First thing take your car to a shop to get a fuel system tune-up with filter change and coolent system flush. Change the oil and filter as well.

Oh and if you have an SAFC or similar piggyback computer with static memory, don't trust it to retain your settings even though it should. Write your tune settings down to save you grief later...mine lost its settings and I had to pay another 150 for a re-tune.

Hope that helps.

 

[Quasimondo]

Don't top off the gas tank. Even with fuel stabilizer you're going to come home to a tank full of bad gas. Leave no more than 1/4 tank of fuel in there with the stabilizer.

If you're storing your car in a climate controlled place, I don't see the need for a car cover either. Unless there's a problem of shit dropping from the ceiling or something. Same goes for the undercoating.

I wouldn't coat the rotors with wax or oil. I know that you're trying to prevent rust on them, but if you do that, you're going to have the world's most ineffective brakes and we'd hate to see you crash your car into a wall because it couldn't stop due to slippery brakes. Usually after a few applications of the brakes, any surface rust that's on them is gone. But just in case, budget in a brake resurfacing upon your return, or a new set of rotors. Much cheaper than collision repairs.

When you return, before you start the car up, pull the plugs or mfi relay and crank it long enough for the oil pressure light to go away, then start it up. You want to get the oil cycling before you start it up so you don't have any dry friction in your engine. Change the oil immediately, and then again at 500 miles because the filter will probably be choked with contaminants and residue from the old oil, then you should be back on your regular schedule.

 

[Boiler2]

You can put the car up on jack stands but it'll take the compression of your springs which is not supposed to be a good thing to do long term. On the other hand, if you let it sit you can get flat spots on the tires. Pressure will also be gradually lost over time.

Personally I had brand new tires well inflated and left the car standing on them. When I got back there weren't any flat spots though I lost about 5 lb pressure in a year. I'm not sure if maybe because they're low profiles and the stiffer sidewalls help or what...but it worked out fine. If you can get someone to roll the car forward or back a few inches every couple months that should work. I would not lower tire pressure because like I said you will be losing pressure over time unavoidably...even if the car is on jacks. On jacks I don't think cracking would be an issue unless you have some old rubber and really dry weather.

Teaspoon of oil in the cylinders? That doesn't make much sense because it'll just settle to the bottom like every other internal over time. Though there are additives out there that supposedly make the oil cling to metal surfaces...you could try that.

Thanks for the added info. This is what I am looking for. I am on the gulf also, so it is humid. I have read in a number of other threads that putting the car on jack stands is a good idea. I have not heard of the lack of spring compression causing problems over time. Anyone else care to comment?

I am not worried about the tires as I will need new ones anyway when I return.

As far as oil in the cylinders, I read this in one or two other posts. It probably is not needed, but is precautionary. Any other comments on this as well?

I do have tuning and logging capability and was planning to crank the engine without the relay connected.

There were also many threads stating to fill your gas tank to prevent condensation from rusting the inside of the tank. It had nothing to do with octane.

Thanks again.

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

I would agree with not storing your car on jackstands. The lack of compression on the springs isn't good for them. I would fill up the tank 3/4 of the way.

 

[hystericfox]

We store the Miata with a full tank and sta-bil. Always fires right up, but thats only after 6 months or so. Put carpet under the tires, and a plastic sheet under the entire car. We do the last 2 with my girlfriend's father's muscle car collection. A good cover, too.

 

[Boiler2]

Anyone ever hear of issues with engine seals leaking after coming out of long term storage? I have heard they dry up/crack over time when the car is not run for a long period. This leads to engine oil leaks. My searches on this site came up with nothing.

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

Anyone ever hear of issues with engine seals leaking after coming out of long term storage? I have heard they dry up/crack over time when the car is not run for a long period. This leads to engine oil leaks. My searches on this site came up with nothing.

Yes they may leak for the first few hundred miles, then they stop leaking again after they have been "heat cycled" a while.