What are you guys who live in really cold areas doing for the winter?
 

Hi,

Last winter I just didn't touch the car and then when I wanted to drive it I had to buy a battery, have the gas tank drained, etc. My engine was super expensive so I dont want to do anything to hurt it. This winter what I have been doing is on the rare occasion the temp hits 40 degrees and roads are clean I will take it around the block. What I have been doing lately is starting the car and letting it idle in my garage till up to temp or till it stalls out :) to keep the battery charged and get all the fluids flowing. Once I see the oil pressure go down to around 15psi (it starts at 88 when cold) I figure the oil is at temp as well. Is there any problem in doing this?

Thanks and have a happy new year!

If you prep the car for winter storage then it’ll be just fine.
Stabil in the full tank of fuel
Battery tender
Fresh oil for storage
Tires aired up or off the car
Then just leave it alone until you decide it’s done hibernating.


Pick your poison.

Re: What are you guys who live in really cold areas doing for the winter?
 

I moved back to the Midwest from the west coast 6 months ago. All I've done is Stabil in a full tank of gas, a trickle charger for the battery, and cardboard under the tires. Good enough for ex-government work. It's 5 degrees out right now under a sunny sky.

Re: What are you guys who live in really cold areas doing for the winter?
 

It doesn't sound like I need to be draining my tank at the end of winter then, I've heard all sorts of conflicting info about how high octane gas (that contains ethanol) goes bad even with stabil. Some have told me 2 months, others 2 years.

I have half a tank of 93 in it that is probably a few months old. Do you guys think I need to run it to empty and fill it back up with fresh gas or just leave it alone, and fill the rest of the tank up with fresh gas + stabil? I can't drive it to the gas station in this weather and even if I wanted to according to Procharger its too cold to run my blower lately.

Do you guys remove your battery or just hook the trickle charger right on?

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

Re: What are you guys who live in really cold areas doing for the winter?
 

I’ve always driven mine on nice days( roads clean), when I can. I also think just putt putting around won’t hurt that blower or an occasional romp after driving it 20-30 minutes. But I just started mine and let it run today for 15 minutes in the garage, temp was about 0. I just wanted to give the battery some juice and circulate the oil....

That's worse then not driving it at all. That isn't enough time to burn off all the condensation inside the engine. So it dilutes the oil and causes issues in other places. Unless you can actually drive it just leave it be. Put it on a battery tender if you're worried about the battery.

The reason Procharger says not to run the blower in cold weather is the tight tolerances. If it's too cold the impeller will hit the case.

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Re: What are you guys who live in really cold areas doing for the winter?
 

That's one thing I like since I moved back to the Midwest. They give you a choice at the pump between using ethanol gas or straight gas where I live. I definitely always use straight gas.