How do you best prepare a car for long term storage?
I'm going to be traveling for 18 months or so and want to have my car waiting for me when I get back. I live in a hot, dry, dusty country. What sort of storage space and maintenance should I do before leaving?
1. Wash car. Not half ass. 100% Clean, inside and out. Apply a good wax. Vacuum the vehicle. Condition leather seats. Windex windows, inside and out. When you are finished, place an open box of Arm&Hammer baking soda in the passenger compartment. Close all windows and sunroof. The baking soda will inhibit mold to form inside the vehicle while it is stored. If you are storing the vehicle indoors (garage) it is ok to leave one or two windows ever-so-slightly open, as no critters will find their way in.
2. Fill gas tank with fuel (Only needs to be premium if that is what you normally use.) Purpose: Allows no room for moisture to build in the fuel tank, as it is filled with fuel.
3. Add Fuel stabilizer to fuel tank after you have filled the tank of gas. (Avail at Canadian Tire) Purpose: Helps ensures that no moisture builds in fuel tank due to airpocket at top of tank.
4. Keep load on suspension. Two choices: 1 Leave vehicle on ground and put cheap rims and tires on car. (Keeping your tire on the same spot for a long period will cause the tire to develop flat spots. Hence why I recommend cheap/rim/tire for storing purposes.) 2 Raise vehicle and place wooden blocks under both front control arms, and under rear torsion beam. This will maintain load on the suspension, and keep your tires off the floor, avoiding flat spots. Purpose: Your vehicles suspension was designed so that 99.9% of it's life is under load. If you leave your car with it's suspension hanging for a long period of time, it can cause unnecessary wear to most suspension components including strut and springs.
5. Open hood, remove negative battery terminal cable from battery post.
Purpose: You do this so that power is not drained from the battery while it is stored.
6. While under the hood, Remove top of airbox, and place one or two plastic garbage bag around filter. This keeps air and critters from entering the engine. Also, place garbage bags inside tailpipe. NOTE: Please tape a note to your keys, reminding you that you placed plastic in your airbox. Starting your vehicle with plastic in your intake is not a good idea!
7. Car Cover. I purchased mine form Canadian Tire. (Not the premium ones, just a regular blue one. My car was stored indoors, and it did the job.) If you are storing your vehicle outdoors, you may want to invest in a better, premium more expensive car cover.
8. Forgot to add this step. Perform Oil change.
3 Answers
1. Wash car. Not half ass. 100% Clean, inside and out. Apply a good wax. Vacuum the vehicle. Condition leather seats. Windex windows, inside and out. When you are finished, place an open box of Arm&Hammer baking soda in the passenger compartment. Close all windows and sunroof. The baking soda will inhibit mold to form inside the vehicle while it is stored. If you are storing the vehicle indoors (garage) it is ok to leave one or two windows ever-so-slightly open, as no critters will find their way in.
2. Fill gas tank with fuel (Only needs to be premium if that is what you normally use.) Purpose: Allows no room for moisture to build in the fuel tank, as it is filled with fuel.
3. Add Fuel stabilizer to fuel tank after you have filled the tank of gas. (Avail at Canadian Tire) Purpose: Helps ensures that no moisture builds in fuel tank due to airpocket at top of tank.
4. Keep load on suspension. Two choices: 1 Leave vehicle on ground and put cheap rims and tires on car. (Keeping your tire on the same spot for a long period will cause the tire to develop flat spots. Hence why I recommend cheap/rim/tire for storing purposes.) 2 Raise vehicle and place wooden blocks under both front control arms, and under rear torsion beam. This will maintain load on the suspension, and keep your tires off the floor, avoiding flat spots. Purpose: Your vehicles suspension was designed so that 99.9% of it's life is under load. If you leave your car with it's suspension hanging for a long period of time, it can cause unnecessary wear to most suspension components including strut and springs.
5. Open hood, remove negative battery terminal cable from battery post.
Purpose: You do this so that power is not drained from the battery while it is stored.
6. While under the hood, Remove top of airbox, and place one or two plastic garbage bag around filter. This keeps air and critters from entering the engine. Also, place garbage bags inside tailpipe. NOTE: Please tape a note to your keys, reminding you that you placed plastic in your airbox. Starting your vehicle with plastic in your intake is not a good idea!
7. Car Cover. I purchased mine form Canadian Tire. (Not the premium ones, just a regular blue one. My car was stored indoors, and it did the job.) If you are storing your vehicle outdoors, you may want to invest in a better, premium more expensive car cover.
8. Forgot to add this step. Perform Oil change.
Is this the PM article you were lookin for? http://www.popularmechanics.com/how_to_central/automotive/1272486.html?page=3
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The most recent edition of Popular Mechanics had a great article on how to prepare your car for longer-term storage. I tried finding an online version of the article, no luck, but hurry to a newsstand and you should be able to grab a copy!