storing a car

jackaleks · September 04, 2008, 12:59:56 PM

because of finance/insurance on my current car (i\'ll get another year ncb in january) i\'ve decided not to insure my new fd until the start of january. basically i\'m going to do all the little jobs on the interior and the motor in the meantime.

should i take any special care over the next few months with it? i was going to drain and replace the coolant and oil (planning on putting one of WGT\'s metal ast\'s on). maybe take it for a quick ten minute spin every weekend or is that a big no?

elford_tim · September 04, 2008, 04:59:04 PM

Put fresh oil in it, don\'t take it for a spin unless it\'s a long one because you want to ensure that everything including the exhaust heats up properly and ten minutes ain\'t going to do it.

Stick the battery on a smart charger as well. Other than that, it\'s only a few months.

Oh, and leave the handbrake off unless you want the pads corroded to the disk, plus exercise the clutch occasionally to stop it from sticking. Possibly some fuel stabiliser in the tank.

jackaleks · September 04, 2008, 05:16:12 PM

driving up and down my quiet little road with no insurance is one thing, so i\'m not going to risk anything a little longer!

good tip about the handbrake, wouldn\'t have thought of that. could i just disconnect the battery rather than leave it on charge (planning to move it to the boot anyway)?

elford_tim · September 04, 2008, 05:20:59 PM

Don\'t run the engine then - you\'re better off that way rather than running it a little. Disconnecting the battery would certainly help, but I\'d still charge it up occasionally as that\'d extend the lifespan of the battery.

jackaleks · September 04, 2008, 05:27:14 PM

cool, thanks for the advice! :Thumbs-up

marcusd666 · September 04, 2008, 05:48:56 PM

Quote from: elford_tim;532254Stick the battery on a smart charger as well. Other than that, it\'s only a few months.

What\'s a good battery charger to get as I was thinking about this myself

elford_tim · September 04, 2008, 05:55:50 PM

I\'ve got a (well, two actually) Accumates - very similar to the Optimate charger but they do 6V as well, which I need because I\'ve got two bikes with 6V electrics.

Optimates are very good as well and there are several other, similar chargers out there. Just stay away from the 5 quid specials.

marcusd666 · September 04, 2008, 06:07:49 PM

Quote from: elford_tim;532306I\'ve got a (well, two actually) Accumates - very similar to the Optimate charger but they do 6V as well, which I need because I\'ve got two bikes with 6V electrics.

Optimates are very good as well and there are several other, similar chargers out there. Just stay away from the 5 quid specials.

Cheers for the info :Thumbsup! will get one sort before I put mine away for the winter

FEED Addict · September 05, 2008, 08:04:36 AM

I use an accumate charger, put fuel stabilizer in the tank and over inflate the tyres a bit! (my car hibernates for the winter(end of September to end of March)).