Storing car

[Bernster]

I am going to be storing my 2015 5.0 in my garage for 4 months while I go to my 2nd home. The dealer suggested disconnecting the battery and having a full tank of gas. I also think the tires should be inflated to 3 or 4 pounds above recommended pressure to avoid flat spotting. Any other thoughts? Will disconnecting the battery cause a loss of settings?

 

[ksoze]

Maybe try these:

http://www.amazon.com/Race-Ramps-RR-FS-10-Wide Flatstopper/dp/B00H5PTQGC

 

[kn5owa]

1. Put some Sta-Bil fuel stablizer in that full tank of gas - get it at your local auto store

2. Leave the battery connected - Get a Schumacher SEM-1562A Trickle/float charger ($25 at Amazon). Works well - OK for AGM batteries. Then no need to disconnect anything or lose settings, etc. One of the best purchases I ever made. By the way - disconnecting the battery on that car is a bear.

3. Dealer is also right about the tires - they lose maybe one lb. a month, on average.

 

[Midnightsun]

4 months is not much at all. No need to stabilize or fill fuel however a fun tank will not hurt. Put it on a maintenance charger so as to avoid resetting that comes with disconnecting a battery.

 

[kn5owa]

4 months is not much at all. No need to stabilize or fill fuel however a fun tank will not hurt. Put it on a maintenance charger so as to avoid resetting that comes with disconnecting a battery.

Maybe a "fun" tank would be OK (interesting idea), but the idea of a trickle charger, and it's advantages, was already noted above. Why repeat/copycat other posts?

 

[Midnightsun]

Maybe a "fun" tank would be OK (interesting idea), but the idea of a trickle charger, and it's advantages, was already noted above. Why repeat/copycat other posts?

Because if one person says something it has no value. When others back it up it actually holds some weight. I was basically backing up your charger comment and also advising it would be a waste and not required to use stabilizer for such a short period of time. If you were smart enough you would realize fun was a spell checker correction and it should have been full instead of wasting bandwidth.

You should stop giving bad advice as a trickle charger hooked up long term will damage your battery. A "trickle" charger does just that, it trickles or sends a small charge current to the battery ALL the time which ruins the battery in the long term simply because it gets overcharged. A maintenance charger or smart charger or tender, actually shuts down or reduces the charge to a float charge which is what should be used and can be hooked up indefinitely without damaging the battery.

 

[rickfen]

We spend 3 months per year in Europe. I park the car in our underground condo garage.
With both our Gen 1 and Gen 2, I fill the tank, get a car wash (so only dirt when we return will be "dust" from being in the underground), take the car for a run on the highway to "dry it out after the wash", then I just park it. Both cars have started up right away and even with the Hankooks, the flat spotting lasted 10 minutes, then it was fine.
No trickle charger, no stabilizer, no tire pump up.

This works for me

 

[kn5owa]

Because if one person says something it has no value. When others back it up it actually holds some weight. I was basically backing up your charger comment and also advising it would be a waste and not required to use stabilizer for such a short period of time. If you were smart enough you would realize fun was a spell checker correction and it should have been full instead of wasting bandwidth.

You should stop giving bad advice as a trickle charger hooked up long term will damage your battery. A "trickle" charger does just that, it trickles or sends a small charge current to the battery ALL the time which ruins the battery in the long term simply because it gets overcharged. A maintenance charger or smart charger or tender, actually shuts down or reduces the charge to a float charge which is what should be used and can be hooked up indefinitely without damaging the battery.

"When one person says something, it has no value" - I assume you are referring to your comments - not those of others on the forum.

And I am smart enough that I can spell "full" without the help of a spell checker which changes the word to "fun"

And, if you had checked, the specific charger that I recommended by model # is a so-called smart charger or maintenance charger. I was using the term "trickle charger" in a generic sense, as some people might be more familiar with that term. In fact, if you do a search on Amazon for "trickle charger" almost all the hits are for "maintenance chargers".

 

[kn5owa]

We spend 3 months per year in Europe. I park the car in our underground condo garage.
With both our Gen 1 and Gen 2, I fill the tank, get a car wash (so only dirt when we return will be "dust" from being in the underground), take the car for a run on the highway to "dry it out after the wash", then I just park it. Both cars have started up right away and even with the Hankooks, the flat spotting lasted 10 minutes, then it was fine.
No trickle charger, no stabilizer, no tire pump up.

This works for me

A couple of years ago, I inherited a year 2000 Corvette with 3000 miles on it. It had been sitting parked in a garage for at least 5 or 6 years - perhaps more. Never run at all. But otherwise, mint condx.

I had to sell the thing because resolving the estate became a full-time job, but the new owner put a new battery in it. It started right up, and he's been a happy camper ever since.

 

[Mark_888]

With both our Gen 1 and Gen 2, I fill the tank...

What is the theory for filling the tank prior to storage?

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[rickfen]

What is the theory for filling the tank prior to storage?

Not sure if it matters, but I figure it "dilutes" any junk floating around in the tank and just provides a bigger pond in case there is water or whatever in the gas. It may not make a difference, but seemed like a good theory(?) and doesn't create problems even if it does nothing otherwise.

 

[kn5owa]

What is the theory for filling the tank prior to storage?

Easy one - A full tank of gasoline keeps the air out - thus, the moisture in the air is kept out.

 

[Mark_888]

Easy one - A full tank of gasoline keeps the air out - thus, the moisture in the air is kept out.

I can sort of see the advantage of that, but downside is gas gets stale.

Just as normal practice, I do not like to get gas on a humid day, so as to not let moist air into my tank. Plus, if one fills the tank, and drives until near empty, not sure how moisture would get in there if the gas cap is kept on the whole time.

 

[jarred52]

If you use gasoline that has ethanol as most US gasoline has, you definitely should use the Sta-Bil to counteract the deterioration effect of the ethanol. Filling the tank will decrease condensation.

 

[srobak]

As others have said:

Sta-bil on a full tank. Make sure you drive the car a few minutes after putting in the stabilizer. 4 months is more than long enough to warrant using it.
Battery Tender - you do NOT want this car to get a dead battery for that long - and the car does have parasitic drain. http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Batte...qid=1464039534&sr=1-5&keywords=battery+tender
I have to disagree with the Race Ramps... unless the cut perfectly matches the size of your tire - it will not increase the contact patch. Instead - I would actually put the whole car on jackstands.
If being kept in a garage - crack the windows - and make sure there is no old food or trash in the garage.

 

[MikeyTG]

I know this will probably start a flame war, but I did some web-research on fuel stabilizers and came up with PRI-G fuel stabilizer. Many people swear by it, claiming that it works better & longer that Stabil. I am using it on gas that I store for my emergency generator and from what I can tell it works - I have 2 year old gas that still smells and runs fine.

http://goo.gl/0AM1d2

 

[Midnightsun]

I come from a long term boating environment and ethanol is a major issue. We always stored our tanks full for winter layup to prevent condensation and hence water in the tank HOWEVER since the introduction of ethanol things have changed dramatically and it is now recommended to store with an empty tank. Good news is non ethanol gas is available at almost all marinas. Ethanol absorbs water from the air. A car is better off since the fuel system is pretty much sealed as compared to a boat where it is vented to atmosphere with basically an open hose.

Bottom line is I would fill with non ethanol gas if storing, not only does it not attract water, the shelf life is much greater. I actually do this for my Mercedes. Interesting video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeCyFxoWPpo

 

[kn5owa]

I know this will probably start a flame war, but I did some web-research on fuel stabilizers and came up with PRI-G fuel stabilizer. Many people swear by it, claiming that it works better & longer that Stabil. I am using it on gas that I store for my emergency generator and from what I can tell it works - I have 2 year old gas that still smells and runs fine.

http://goo.gl/0AM1d2

Sorry - no flame war here - but it would be interesting if somebody like a petroleum engineer/chemist would weigh in on these products. A few years ago on the Sonata forum, a couple of chemical engineers did just that on the nitrogen/tire topic, and the results were quite interesting.

These so-called fuel stabilizers are high priced additives, and should be suspect until proven, like any additive. And, the Amazon "five star fluff" reviews, while interesting reading, are to be taken with many grains of salt.

For the record - and to avoid a flame war also - I assume they do work - but I'd like to know why.

 

[ksoze]

but it would be interesting if somebody like a petroleum engineer/chemist would weigh in on these products. A few years ago on the Sonata forum, a couple of chemical engineers did just that on the nitrogen/tire topic, and the results were quite interesting.

Isn't everyone a nuclear engineer, scientist, millionaire or Rhodes scholar on the anonymous internet

 

[NavyBus]

Isn't everyone a nuclear engineer, scientist, millionaire or Rhodes scholar on the anonymous internet

Unfortunately, I'm only one of these things...