To start or not to start.....?????

I give it full throttle for 5 minutes Just To Limber It Up.

And boy, is it ever limber!

 

NEVER START AND LET RUN..

ITS THE WORST FOR THE ENGINE, FLUIDS, ETC

START IT UP AND DRIVE IT!!!

 

Agreed, don't start it unless you intend to drive it (as long as it takes to bring the oil up to normal operating temp)!

In most northern climes, the off season lasts maybe 4-6 months; this isn't really long-term storage.

All I've ever done for winter storage is fill the gas tanks, change the oil and filters and plug in the battery maintainers.

Sure, there are a few other things I do, but most of them are just normal maintenance items.

Also, I don't bother with fuel additives such as Stabil; in my mind your just wasting money if the car isn't in an area where it's consistently -30, or the car will be sitting for a year or more.

 

Never?? You have to start it again sometime!!

 

Surely there must be one nice day every month or so when you can take it for an hour long drive. It'll give you a chance to burn off some old fuel, fill up with fresh fuel and keep the engine well lubricated.

If not, I agree with Darolls - don't even bother firing it up if you're not willing to go for a nice long drive (at least long enough to get the oil up to normal operating temp for a few miles).

 

There is no reason why you cant start it up once a month or so, let it come up to temp. the thermostat will open, the fans kick on, and get the oil moving.

Since it is in neutral, your input shaft to the transmission will spin throwing oil around and keeping things somewhat lubed. albeit, the transmission oil cooler wont open up but at least things arent going to freeze up.

I would roll the car back and forth 5 feet or so and make sure the brakes pistons are moving.

Pump the clutch a few times to make sure the discs dont stick.

What other system would otherwise be exercised by driving as opposed to sitting in a warm garage?

 

Au contraire!

With all due respect, we're not talking about systems being exercised/not exercised.

A running engine adds corrosive contaminants to the oil. These cannot be burned off by the engine idling in a garage.

The oil needs to circulate vigorously and, to obtain proper, even, operating temps., the car needs to be driven for quite some time. An engine operating under load behaves much differently than an engine freewheeling at idle.

Also, an idling engine tends to run rich, allowing some raw gas to wash oil off of the cylinder walls creating excessive wear.

It is never a good idea to let an engine idle for a long period of time.

However, the other points you make are well taken.

 

You guys are nuts. Starting a car, letting it idle for 5 min and shutting down once a month will NOT kill your car. Gimme a break, doing that 3-4 times during the winter is fine. It may not do the car any good, but it won't damage it. Do you change the oil in the spring? If so you're fine. Granted, a good hard thrashing at temp. once a month is a much better way to go.

I let my Lotus sit and don't start it unless I'm going to drive it, because I don't see the point in a 5 min. idle, but I just can't see how this will kill the car if you want to keep the pistons from rusting in place ;>).

Ken

 

A very interesting thread as I was considering the same issue.
I thought it would be worth it so the belts don't spend all winter in one shape.

I'll watch this thread from the sidelines with interest.

Wes

 

Kill the car.......whoever said that??

And you're right, there is no point to a 5 min. idle!

Heck, we should probably start up our lawn mowers every few weeks in the winter months to keep things lubricated too!

 

LOL And the snow throwers in the Summer! Actually, I do start both a month before their seasons just in casethey DON'T start.

Ken

 

When you do, would you come and start mine too??

I live just down the road from you............

 

The biggest problem with a "start without driving" is that the oil will begin to emulsify with the condensation that is produced in the engine. It must be raised to a temperature high enough to boil off the condesation. Aluminium sweats when heated from cold, and a cold engine sweats heavily internally.

Another big problem is water in the exhaust. A running engine produces HUGE amounts of water at idle, if you don't give it a wide throttle squirt for a good few minutes, it'll sit in there MASSIVELY accelerating the corrosion rate internally. 365/400/Daytona owners will testify to this. $$$$$!!

Rolling the car will do nothing for the brakes or clutch, it MUST be driven to keep these in healthy shape. Also, tyres will need to be rotated, as if they keep sitting on the same spot, they'll go out of shape. Drive it to park them in a different spot, or at least park the car half a wheel turn forward or backward if you can't drive it.

Also, it generally takes at least 10 minutes of off idle running to replace the lost energy from the battery that it took to start it up in the first place.

My advice is leave it totally alone for up to 6 months. If you get that far, then run it for at least 1 hour and give it some big revs once warmed (2/3 max is fine on a free rev), or drive it for at least 30 minutes.

 

I just plug in the battery tender, run the tire pressures up to about 45 PSI to keep from flatspotting, put the cover on and let 'er sit all winter. Works for me just fine. She fires and runs like a champ every the spring.

Just one man's method.

 

I am lucky, I live in Washington State, near the coast. The most we get is rain, and snow comes very rarely in my area. So I am able to drive my car whenever I want. It can get very cold but not so cold that it could damage the car or prevent it from starting.

 

5 min at full throttle---good way to rid neighborhood of unwanted rats,cats,dogs,billy goats,mother-in-laws,etc. what a racket that would make. what a riot. best awnser on this thread.

 

FYI (I know this is counterintuitive) you're better off to lower the tire pressures.
This little bit of truly cutting edge insight (it's actually news to the tire companies and at least one OEM in the last year or so if you can believe it!) brought to you, free of charge, right here.

 

Really? Where do you live?

Ken

 

This is my first winter storing my ferrari. I decided to let it sit still until I take it out this spring. Over this winter I have re-dyed the interior leather and I am waiting on some samples from GAHH regarding new carpet.

I can't wait till spring!!!!

 

Mt Prospect!