Hibernation Tips

steve - search the archives on this board and the old board. TONS of discussion of this, including opinions that starting the car and letting it run for 15 minutes is a bad idea.

doody.

 

go to the old board via the link near the bottom on the front page of ferrarichat.com.

hit search at the bottom left.

i just tried "winter" and "storage" with "AND" not "OR" and search all forums. 63 results, of which a bunch were directly on topic.

doody.

 

Steve, current wisdom seems to be that its a bad idea just to start the car up and run it without driving. As Doody says you will find several quite recent discussions on this topic.

If you want to go for full winterisation, look for a post by Jim (Napolis). For most though, this would be too much (it involves jacking up, rewmoving wheels etc). The other option is to wait for a dry days every fortnight or so and go for a long enough drive to reach normal engine / transmission temperatures.

I'm certainly not an expert, it's what I have gleaned from others.

Steve

 

Thanks for that - very useful

 

Even with our hateful weather I usually manage to get out for a drive at least once a month even through the Winter, and that seemed to keep my 328 running in tip-top shape. I know that this isn't an anwer to your question, more of an alternative...

I'd certainly recommend a battery trickle charger.

 

The trickle charge is a must

 

Found this for Andy308

 

Total b-holix.....just use the flicking thing!!!!

Petrol can go off btw so that one about petrol really is boulderdash!!!!

 

Why is it?? Not everybody wants to use there Ferrari when the roads are covered in salt.

Yes petrol does go off but condensation can form in an empty fuel tank and cause it to corrode from the inside.

 

Best hibernation to my taste: start the engine and do drive the car at least once in two weeks,use brakes and gears carefully until warmed up. If you don't want to drive it( because of salt ), still run it at idle speed, after a few minutes, go for slightly higher revs, without forcing on the engine. Once you see at the gauge that the oil is warming up variate revs, fluently. Go on for at least 20 minutes , be sure that all condensation in the exhausts is gone! Switch off contact, switch off battery! At least, that works very well for a 328!
Regards!

 

Just about what I do. It seems there are a few ideas on what is best. If it works for you stick with it.

My mate bought a 70 Dodge Charger this year. The guy he bought it of is a Marine technician. He used to fill the carbs with some chemical. All sorts of other stuff. A bit of work to get it going come summer. Basically what ever you would do for a boat moored over winter.

He is lucky being a 1970 he has not tax to pay. He can use it if the weather allows. Me I am SORN. Not decided if that is the best thing to do.

 

To be honest guys how long are the cars really off the road? 3 months max I'm guessing. I really don't think there is any problem leaving a car for 3 months. Fair enough if its 6,9 or 12 months you may want to take some precautions but a UK winter isn't that bad.

We get a LOT of snow here and from xmas to March the Range is the only car I use. Max I can't drive my cars is 3 months. Perhaps I'm being stupid, but in the last 11 years in CH none of my cars has failed to start come the spring.

 

I used to do the SORN on mine from November to March and in fairness getting a cheque for a few quid every winter was handy.
But with the onset of children my annual mileage has become so low that I figured that I need to take advantage of every opportunity available (within reason). I still may not drive my car until April but at least if things do brighten up in February or March I can make a decision.

 

Rotates wheels if possible (move car slightly) once a week, helps tyres and keeps all of CV joints and wheel bearings lubed.

Fuel goes off in small quantities (carb float bowels) but OK on injection cars over our winter, I would be more worried about tank corrosion. I have an injected car in the garage that has 2 year old fuel in it and it starts first time (plastic fuel tank).

I start my 355 once a week, drive if I can, but always leave it on long enough to get the engine oil near to operating temps. Engine mechanicals dont really need this over 3 months but I like to rotate rubber belts etc and put it through a heat cycle + get moisture out of exhausts.