Short Term Storage Advice

[Jesda]

My 92 Q needs new tires, new wheels, chain guides, power steering bushes and hoses, and a transmission flush. So I decided to store her until the early spring when I can just do it all at once.

Now, when storing a car for 5 months, are there any specific things I have to do to keep things in good shape until then?

Thanks!-Jesda

[PalmerWMD]

I thought you were gonna have Dan do the guides?:(

Anyway, here are some things:

Fresh fluids for everything that takes fluids, right before storage.

After exhcnaging flushing the coolant be ABSOLUTELY sure you dont have ANY air pockets in your cooling system.

Raise the nose of the car high while running shut off let stand+cool the fill up as much as possible both in radiator cap ( under plastic trim on drivers side) and refill cap.

You may wanna invest in a trcickle charger.

Will you be able to restart and excersise the car every month?

Fred...

[Jesda]

Call it sick irony, but now that I can afford the work I dont have time to have it done.. because of work!

[Q451990]

Inflate the tires to the maximum sidewall pressure during storage. This may help reduce flat-spotting. (Deflate to normal before driving)

If you'll be replacing the tires first thing in the spring then this may not be an issue...

Heath

[elwesso]

What kind of storage area is it gonna be in??? If its not going to be a in a really enclosed area, id put a cover ALL the way around it so that critters dont get in there..... They can make homes ANYWHERE!!!

If its not gonna be run at all until spring, Id suggest running some fogging oil so that you dont have a dry start.......

Aside from that, disconnect the battery, make sure everything that can be lubricated is, etc.......

[PalmerWMD]

Be sure to exercise it at least once per month better every 2 weeks.

Fred..

[elwesso]

Or better get the guides done and drive it daily........

Sorry......

[Q451990]

As far as lubrication - I'm a big fan of pulling the injector fuse and then turning over the engine for a few seconds before the first start-up. After seeing how fast that oil pump can spread oil around through the system (watched Byron do it with the front cover off for the guides on Q2) that should make a huge difference! I even hate to hear the engine tick two or three times after an oil change so I use that trick then too. I used that method on "Q2" after it sat for 6+ months without being started and heard zero rattle!

I couldn't get Byron to let me pull the fuse and turn the engine over after the guide work - even after several requests he "forgot" - he was probably just pissed that I had been looking over his shoulder for a day and a half and ready to get me out of there ASAP.

In any case Byron said it still made a lot less noise than the other Qs that he had done - probably because of that little bit of priming by turning the pump the day before... That's not part of the normal service since it makes a bit of a mess. Seems that it's some sort of right of passage at T3 to hear the chains slap and rattle like hell on the first startup until the tensioners are pumped up. Whatever... I like nice quiet engines but they're the pros.

What I'd really like to see is some sort of 12v driven auxilary oil pump that could do the same thing before each startup - sort of like the fuel pump starting up for a second when you turn the key on. I've heard that someone did a study on engine wear, and found that one cold start-up causes as much wear as a 50 mile drive, or something like that... maybe Dennis has more info...

Heath