300zx TT winter maintenance. I'm planning on not to drive mine during the winter period, as we can have quite a lot of snow here where I live, and they spread salt on the roads, which would cause the car to start rusting. Is there something special you would recommend me to do when I have it standing in a garage for four to six straight months? I assume it would be good for the battery to be re-charged every now and then, but how about the rest of the car?

Zeds and snow/ice don't mix (IMO) and normally you end up doing 360's all over the place :D

 

Although I do drive my Zed during the winter at times it's not something I can recommend.

If you live in an area with mountains/hills, it's even worse.

I have been told its a good idea to disconnect fuel pump and run car till all the fuel is out of the engine. Also disconnect battery.

The area where I live is quite flat, but I still don’t want to take the risk to quad mine :)

 

Yep, I was told to empty the fuel tank on my motorbike during the winter when it wasn't in use, so I assume you should do the same with cars. Has someone disconnected the fuel pump on their zx, is it hard to reach?

Fuel doesn't go stale in cold climates like it does when it's warm/hot. Don't think it's entirely necessary. But wouldn't hurt.

 

My zed won't be used in the winter. Don't want the paintwork ruined and also don't want the added probability of either loosing control or some other person hitting me. Chances of this are doubled in the winter. I have a Cavalier to smash up if the needs be. :rofl:

I have been told its a good idea to disconnect fuel pump and run car till all the fuel is out of the engine.

 

 

:rofl: that wont take long then? :rofl:

Yeah, even if you would be a professional driver and have no problems in the winter there is always the chance that someone else hits you. :)

why not just tick the motor over for 15 mins once a week....set a reminder on your email...if its very cold you can get those parrafin heaters to go under cars...keeps the damp out and burns for days without refueling

That’s a quite good idea, running the car for a couple of minutes ones a week to keep the parts well smeared. I think I’ll do that. Is it better for the car if you keep it warm by using i.e. a paraffin heater (I understand that its not good to keep it in -20 degrees Celsius for a longer time, but how about +5-10 degrees Celsius, will that be directly bad?).

i would have thought you'd need a cold winter grade oil in the engine for starters living in Finland...but i'm not an oil expert so not sure which one would suit

the parrafin heaters keep the damp and frost out basically...in a closed garage they will even dry the whole car saving damage from rust...popular with classic car buffs if memory serves me right

I’m not really sure about the oil, I think it does just fine with a normal, little more expensive oil. The paraffin heater sounds quite good on paper, but how is the actual usefulness? I have a garage, so it can dry there, and a heater would probably fasten that up quite a bit. But if you think about it, you would maybe have the energy to put it under the car the first couple of weeks, but after that you would start to get to lazy to do it :p

Ken2, if you need any help with z-cars in Finland I think you could try to visit this site: http://www.dnsf.org

It's the local Z-car club in Finland ;)

I don't say that you can't ask questions here, this site is really great IMO, but at http://www.dnsf.org there could be guys that have had similar questions.

Oh, thank you very much for the link Kimi :)