Now the weather is turning the cars getting bedded down for the winter (until the sun comes out on a dry day and I can’t resist taking it for a spin!)

What advice do people have for this?

Im going to buy a trickle charger and plan on starting it up every few weeks. Will probably drive it out on the drive and then back in just to keep the tyres turning.

Most important thing for me, would be don't start the engine and leave it idling.... It's the worst thing you can do!

As you suggest, providing there's no salt on the roads, if you do start it up, take it out for a few miles.... ? 

Why’s shouldn’t it be left idling mate?

Not a fan of starting a car to let it idle as it can cause damage just let it sit with a trickle charge for the battery and have the tyres well inflated. If you do want to start it then take it for a drive is my advice.

11 hours ago, Howl said:

Why’s shouldn’t it be left idling mate?

Highest engine wear is on a cold engine and slowest way to warm up an engine is sat idling. Plus various other reasons such as Carbon build up in the combutsion chamber, spark plug fowling, Exhaust condensation is not properly cleared out....etc

Nice legacy. My daily is a Facelift 3.0R Spec B 6speed.

Don't start it up every few weeks, it's completely pointless. If you're not going to use it, don't start it. As above, all you're doing is prolonging the startup period increasing wear. A healthy engine's wear-state is at its highest from cold start. Don't cold start unless you have to. You'll also be running it on the cold-start portion of the fuel mapping which has a significantly higher fuel mixture; you don't want to risk bore washing. In addition, you'll also get condensation build up both in the oil AND around the electrical contacts in the engine bay.

 

Cold start idling is about the worst thing you can do for an engine. Leave the car switched unless you're actually going to use it. 

 

Key to winter storage is GOOD storage. A dry insulated garage with an insulated garage door with a humidity that sits between about 40% and 60%rh is optimum. Appreciate this isn't always possible unless you have a modern home with an integral garage with an insulated garage door (sectional etc). Single skin garages in older properties will stay damp and your rH will be around 80-90% in the winter and will stay high for a long time. High rH will cause the connectors and harnesses to corrode as well as the body (the inner skins will sweat and encourage rot and plated metal will break down), too low an rH will cause rubbers, seals and plastics to dry out which can encourage leaks, issues with bushes, belts and dampers . If your garage is in any way damp, you're probably best leaving it outside as the car will just sweat if it's not aerated and will stand damp for longer. Good car storage is a bit of a dark art; they say not to store cars as it causes problems which can be true however good storage is absolutely fine and you'll do it a massive favour as opposed to driving it in the salty damp crap of a UK winter. Z32s are not known for having good rust prevention by design - I've seen too many completely rotten Z32s and it's not pretty and expensive to put right.

 

If you have access to GOOD storage then do the following: over inflate the tyres slightly, park it up, leave it in gear, hand brake off, windows slightly cracked and plug it into a C-TEK or even unhook the battery. Not as straight forward for more modern cars which need a charged battery at all times, but older cars like the Z32, you can and you won't need to reprogram things or worry about check lights for things with a CANBUS system. When you come to start the car after lay up, pop the bonnet, take out the fuel pump relay and crank the engine a few times until the oil light goes out to build up the oil pressure, drive to your nearest petrol station, full up with quality high octane fuel, check tyre pressures and you're good to go. This is all you need to do for good storage, but check your quality of storage. You can buy humidity sensors for peanuts. You can buy dehumidifiers but they're incredibly costly to run.

Edited September 28, 20223 yr by Funkysi

Funkysi that was epic mate. Thanks

And thanks to others as well!

I’ve got a modern garage but it’s not insulated or attached to the house. I’ve got weather stripping on the bottom of the door to keep out some of the rain I noticed that was coming in after bad weather. And the floor is painted, whether that actually makes any difference to anything! ?

how often, per month, would be a good amount to drive it instead? If my garage isn’t great for storage I’m thinking I keep it taxed and then just take it out for a spin when it’s dry instead?

I'd only take it out when it's dry if your garage storing because parking a damp car in a garage is properly bad for the body. There's no hard and fast rule really, we usually get 1 dry salt-free weekend once a month in winter now. Salt won't be thrown for another month at least, I would always avoid salt. Folk say 'wash it off', well, good luck with that as salt will always sit and blow into the areas that you can't reach, ie the areas where it's prone to corrosion and when salt is being thrown, it's normally sub zero so you don't really want to flood your driveway with gallons of water from a jet wash turning it all into an ice skating rink. If you take it out and it's wet or rains, just leave it outside for the underside to fully dry before putting it in the garage. 

 

 

Mileage on engines is important of course, however the heat cycle of an engine is more important. That is how many times an engine has heated up and cooled back down again. A little old ladies fiesta that is driven to the local shops and back everyday will do more heat cycles than a taxi driver and could suffer an earlier failure. Have a look at those remarkable stories of ford mondeos or toyotas in america doing 1 million miles and the common denominator is that they are taxi drivers or salesperson, so they start the car in the morning, drive 1000 miles and then turn it off. Yes that's 1000 miles, but its only one heat cycle and less damaging to the engine.

If you are starting the car to let it idle and turning it off, you are doing a heat cycle for no reason. If the conditions are nice, start it and take it for a drive. not 2 miles down the shops but a proper drive to get it up to temperature and hotter. Get all the fluids moving around, get the turbos spinning and get some nice fuel in it. Most important though, get that grin on your face.

I don't start my car unless I need to, sometimes its in the garage for the whole winter without moving, I just disconnect the negative on the battery. I have no power in my garage for a trickle charger, but that is only if I know it's going to be a few months of not driving it. During spring, summer and autumn, I park it up and just leave it as is until I next need/want it. If I do disconnect the battery all I have to do is re-do the settings on the stereo, but it's not a complicated one so it takes 30sec.