Draining Fuel for Winter Storage

There will always be fuel "stuck" in the system after the pump unless you open a low point drain, and a high point vent and drain the system.

But, any time the car will be "down" for an extended period, I wouldn't drain any of the fluid filled systems (fuel, lubrication, cooling), but would treat each of these systems with an anti-corrosion additive or passivator. This is what the people with multi-million dollar collections of rare / antique cars do with theirs. And these people have the wherewithal to hire expert consultants to advise them, not just "internet consultants".

Here are some tips for winterization that Jay Ross of Applied Chemical Specialities (makers of NoRosion products) wrote in one of his recent newsletters. He plugs his own products, of course, but IMO the underlying philosophy in his recommendations is sound (and so are his products, BTW as they're used in some of these multimillion dollar collections):

DO: Top off the fuel tank. Fuel oxidizes over time, and breaks down to form less-combustible byproducts. Oxygen is a catalyst to the oxidation of fuel. A half-full tank contains air, and therefore oxygen, that accelerates oxidation. But a full tank contains no air, which dramatically slows the rate at which fuel oxidizes.

DO: Fill tires with nitrogen. It is a colorless, odorless, non-reactive inert gas. It will therefore preserve rubber tires much better than compressed air, which contains oxygen and highly reactive ozone. As opposed to compressed air, nitrogen is also completely devoid of moisture, which further enhances its non-oxidizing properties for both the inner wheel as well as tire rubber.

DO: Put your vehicle on jack stands. Otherwise tires will develop flat-spots during winter storage. This is particularly the case in unheated garages, as cold concrete will worsen the effect.

DO NOT: Store your vehicle with an empty fuel tank or cooling system. As described above, this only introduces more air, and oxygen, that will accelerate the oxidation, or corrosion process.

DO NOT: Store your vehicle with the same oil you ran all summer. Byproducts of combustion form acids in oil that will cause upper cylinder corrosion, and possible start-up damage. If you do not have time to change oil before storage, add a bottle of No-Rosion Lube System Passivator. It neutralizes acids, and increases oil film strength to passivate and protect upper cylinders against corrosion. Pouring in a bottle of No-Rosion Passivator is far easier than removing spark plugs and spraying an engine fogger, and yet it accomplishes the same effect.

DO NOT: Mix coolant types. Orange, yellow, and green coolants all contain inhibitor packages consisting of different chemistry. Mixing chemistries will compromise the protection it offers - in some cases, drastically.

DO: Check coolant freeze protection. Maybe you forgot that you topped off your cooling system earlier this year with water, thereby diluting the antifreeze concentration. Even if your garage is heated, it is good to have freeze protection, just in case! The only way to know for sure is to check it. Our No-Rosion Coolant Test Pack not only tests for freeze protection, it also tests for corrosion protection and coolant corrosivity.

 

Yes

The water absorbtion would be minimal as the system downstream of the check valve on the outlet of the fuel pump is "closed" to any direct contact with the atmosphere, but it isn't hermetically sealed, so eventually some of the lighter elements would evaporate/escape. Separation is still an issue.

Wouldn't make any difference to what happens downstream of the check valve. It can't be drained by running the engine to stall as the engine would stall as soon as the fuel pressure falls below ~5 bar (and the volume downstream of the check valve would still be full of fuel at the accumulator pressure of ~3 bar.

 

Use no alcohol gas if you can find it. Completely filled up with a little stabilizer added. Tires-Fill up another 10 psi at least or to rated max. Park on multiple layers of throw rugs or Cattle mats. Live stock mats are heavy rubber 4x8? Cut them up and drive on them. Or a lot of throw rugs. The cattle mats can be purchsed at local feed,horse stores etc. You place them on a barn floor that is concrete to prevent the animals from going lame on concrete. GTS Bruce

 

My Ferrari is not a barn animal. She is a garage whore.


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This has been a subject of debate as well. Unloading your suspension for months at a time might be hard on suspension bushings that were not meant to do this. When I put my vehicles in the air it definately pinches bushings in ways that don't look desirable for a long period of time.

 

I agree with this

 

Or........drive it into the garage, disconnect the battery cut off and wait until spring.