Long-Term Car Storage, any advice?

[XperienceM5G]

Whats up Zilvia? I searched for a good car storing thread but really couldn't find much information on it here.

Anyways I just got my S13 back in Washington, and it's loving the not 115 degree dusty Phoenix weather. But with the way my monetary situation is, I've been forced to take insurance off the car for at least a year. Largely due to the fact that I still have SR22 insurance until I am 21, next September.

Just wondering if any of you guys have any advice on storing / maintaining my 240 to protect it from the weather. The car will be sitting outside for about a year, on a gravel & dirt lot. My biggest concern is rust and plants / animals trying to make a home out of it.

I came across a pretty good website that had a lot of information how how to properly store a car, so here that is if anyone wants to check that out.

Long-Term Storage the Correct Way (http://www.dccarcare.com/tipowk/tipowk15.html)

I would like to keep my car as rust and rodent free as possible. So if anyone has any good tips or tricks I would love to hear them, I am always open to suggestions.

[jholman05]

I would really try to get it in a garage somewhere, then all you would need would be disconnect the battery, put a car cover over it and call it a day.

Maybe look into storage units, go in with someone and they can throw some stuff in there? then put a car cover over it. I have a wolf - noah car cover I use in the winter... Wolf Car Covers Custom Universal Covers for Cars Trucks SUVs Vans (http://www.wolfautocovers.com/Wolf-Car-Covers.html) but I wouldnt mind getting one of these to go over it... Rhino Shelter Car Storage Bag, Rhino Shelter Car Pocket, MDM Car Storage Cover Bag, MDM Car Pocket (http://www.autoanything.com/car-covers/65A3648A0A0.aspx)

[driftsilvias13]

Make sure to give it a full detail inside and out before putting a car cover on it, empty out the gas tank and remove all fluids. Make sure to put some crappy tires on there too. I remember reading a really good thread on this topic on another forum but those are all I can remember.

[coww-cho!!!!!]

ya i left my 96 camry out for a year without doing what driftsilvias13 said and i pretty much got lucky since it still runs cept for my tires they were beaten by the sun 24/7 and started to crack so i recommend the RV tire covers if u plan on keeping your good ones on
looks like this
http://bluestarsupply.com/os_store/images/rv-tire-covers%5B1%5D.jpg
my mom said she got hers at harbor freight so if you have that store near you or maybe a outdoor/sport store will and its very easy to put on. there is metal semi circle in the fabric that goes behind the tire. and when you go back to take em off watch for spiders! and close all your vents so that nothing gets inside along with any food or candy left behind

[s13silvia123]

keep insurance on it. you can still have insurance on at full coverage and telling your insurance youre storing the car and not driving it.

you'll get compensated back what you loose if it gets stolen.

the insurance should cost you 50-80 bucks every 6 months.

[driftsilvias13]

Not only will they be beaten by the sun but also they wont be any good since they have been sitting in one position for the whole time which messes up the sidewall/balance of the tires.

[ryguy]

keep insurance on it. you can still have insurance on at full coverage and telling your insurance youre storing the car and not driving it.

I do this during the winter when I store my car, and for me it was way cheaper than that, I believe it was around $20 a month on top of liability for my Jeep.

I store my car in a 10x15 self storage unit. The one by my house charges $60 a month, so it's definitely worth the expense. When I store it, I change the oil, wash the car REALLY well, and remove the battery, storing it inside my house. I also put a big box of silica gel inside the storage unit and leave my windows rolled down. About once or twice a month I roll the car back and forth a foot or so to alleviate some of that flat spotting on the tires, and after last winter the tires came out just fine.

[xawax]

I stored my sr'd 240sx over a brutal south dakota winter at my parent's house in a area which was half paved, half dirt...

I did the following:

-oil change before storing

-took wheels off and put them in the hatch

-put the car as high off the ground as I could on blocks below the lower control arms so the suspension was sitting as it would on the ground(with wheels on)

-had the engine at idle then used marine fogging oil(can find this at most auto parts stores) to kill the engine, by spraying a continuous blast into the idle air port off my intercooler, The engine dies from the oil, but coats the internals with oil! (you will want to clean or get new plugs when you are ready to start the car again

-stabil into the gas tank

-coat the brake rotors with grease, so the don't rust, and spary everything in the engine bay and under the car with wd-40 or some spray on lubricant

-i also wrapped two breathable car covers around my car and tried to tuck the covers over all the suspension bits, as much as i could.


After a winter, about 4 months, several 4ft blizzards...

the car fired up on the first crank and it ran flawlessly just like the day i stored it.

hope this helps...sorry for the run on sentences and shit

word

[ryguy]

-had the engine at idle then used marine fogging oil(can find this at most auto parts stores) to kill the engine, by spraying a continuous blast into the idle air port off my intercooler, The engine dies from the oil, but coats the internals with oil! (you will want to clean or get new plugs when you are ready to start the car again


Man, thats a great idea. I was told to pour a teaspoon of Marvel's Mystery Oil into each cylinder before starting after storage, but that sounds so much better.

[LayNLow]

I would be careful spraying oil into the engine while its running as theres a chance you can hydrolock it. I would say just drop a few capfulls of oil in each cyl, unplug the coil and injectors, and turn it over a few times to coat the walls and rings. If you store it with fluids be sure they cant freeze. And add some kind of fuel stabilizer then let it idle for like 5-10 mins so it can work its way through to the injectors also. Also might want to take the wipers off if you care about them. And be sure to keep the dash clean and oiled to keep it from cracking in the heat.

[S14_Kouki]

fill engine to the top with oil!!!! really not joking. and just make sure the car is clean disconnect the battery, empty gas.

[Nissan87]

Should there be any precautions i should take if my car's been in storage in a garage for about 6 months without preventative care? I'm planning on just changing all the fluids and maybe changing spark plugs as someone else suggested.

I've also been told that the gas can cause rusting or damage the fuel lines, pump, and injectors, but I'm not sure if I should be worried about that considering how long my car's been in storage.

[S14_Kouki]

Should there be any precautions i should take if my car's been in storage in a garage for about 6 months without preventative care? I'm planning on just changing all the fluids and maybe changing spark plugs as someone else suggested.

I've also been told that the gas can cause rusting or damage the fuel lines, pump, and injectors, but I'm not sure if I should be worried about that considering how long my car's been in storage.

Change plugs, all fluids, oil and fuel filter and try to drain gas and start new.

[ryguy]

Should there be any precautions i should take if my car's been in storage in a garage for about 6 months without preventative care? I'm planning on just changing all the fluids and maybe changing spark plugs as someone else suggested.

I've also been told that the gas can cause rusting or damage the fuel lines, pump, and injectors, but I'm not sure if I should be worried about that considering how long my car's been in storage.

Might want to put a teaspoon of oil in each cylinder before you crank it too, if you haven't been starting it regularly.

Gas turns into varnish if you let it sit for a long period of time, but that's like a period of years. Your gas should probably be okay.

[XperienceM5G]

I would really try to get it in a garage somewhere, then all you would need would be disconnect the battery, put a car cover over it and call it a day.

Maybe look into storage units, go in with someone and they can throw some stuff in there?

That is definitely an option, my friends got a lot of stuff that he does not really want around his house so I'm sure it wouldn't be too expensive to have two people rent out one unit. I will look into that.

Make sure to give it a full detail inside and out before putting a car cover on it, empty out the gas tank and remove all fluids. Make sure to put some crappy tires on there too. I remember reading a really good thread on this topic on another forum but those are all I can remember.

Car just got an oil change as of yesterday, got a new water pump too =D And all new fluids everywhere else.
I have three questions about the gas tank though, ones fairly off topic come to think of it haha. Is there a drain plug? And if so where is it?
Also, is an S13's gas tank pressurized? Because when driving it around in Phoenix after about 5 minutes I would always hear this hissing noise coming from the rear of my car. I could never quite tell if it was my differential or the gas tank as when the car was running it was always too ungodly hot to lay down on the pavement underneath it lol.

ya i left my 96 camry out for a year without doing what driftsilvias13 said and i pretty much got lucky since it still runs cept for my tires they were beaten by the sun 24/7 and started to crack so i recommend the RV tire covers if u plan on keeping your good ones on

my mom said she got hers at harbor freight so if you have that store near you or maybe a outdoor/sport store will and its very easy to put on. there is metal semi circle in the fabric that goes behind the tire. and when you go back to take em off watch for spiders! and close all your vents so that nothing gets inside along with any food or candy left behind

Nice I will definitely look into getting a pair of those. Think they would fit over 17's? Who am I kidding they probably sell them in different sizes haha.
If I can't find any I plan on just rolling the car forwards and backwards a few feet every few weeks to keep as much uneven wear off my radials as possible.

keep insurance on it. you can still have insurance on at full coverage and telling your insurance youre storing the car and not driving it.

you'll get compensated back what you loose if it gets stolen.

the insurance should cost you 50-80 bucks every 6 months.

I was thinking about it. But I'm really out in the boons in Washington. About an hour north of Seattle and close to the ocean. So the worst thing that could happen to it would maybe be a tree falling on it, or pieces of a tree, which would suck considerably, but i'm willing to take the chance. I'm not very worried about anyone stealing it around here either. (We've left our house doors unlocked for 2 weeks while away in Canada, and everything was A okay, sure maybe it was lucky but it gauges the neighborhood I live in quite well.) Once I can find a job i'm sure it will all change, I will have a source of income and be able to start spending my money on things I want, instead of taking things away from myself =p I'm pretty sad to see the car have to go through a year of no love, but we all make sacrifices here and there.

Not only will they be beaten by the sun but also they wont be any good since they have been sitting in one position for the whole time which messes up the sidewall/balance of the tires.

I heard that newer radials don't really experience that problem as much as older ones? I was planning on leaving them on and rolling the car forwards or backwards a few feet every few weeks. But I could be wrong, i'm really no tire / car storing expert. Hence ze thread =D
Also I'm not so worried about the sun anymore. As much as it does love to destroy things, it is nowhere near as deadly up here in Washington as it was in Phoenix.
I left my windshield cover off the 240 for 1 day down in Phoenix and I came out to a small crack on my perfect dashboard. I was livid!

I do this during the winter when I store my car, and for me it was way cheaper than that, I believe it was around $20 a month on top of liability for my Jeep.

I store my car in a 10x15 self storage unit. The one by my house charges $60 a month, so it's definitely worth the expense. When I store it, I change the oil, wash the car REALLY well, and remove the battery, storing it inside my house. I also put a big box of silica gel inside the storage unit and leave my windows rolled down. About once or twice a month I roll the car back and forth a foot or so to alleviate some of that flat spotting on the tires, and after last winter the tires came out just fine.

60 bucks a month? D*mn that's a really good deal, that could be 30x30 between me and my friend, even more doable =D
Yep oil got changed yesterday, battery got taken out before we put it on the trailer to drive it to Washington, and silica gel, that's ingenious!
I better start buying beef jerky packs now. haha
Where do you get your large boxes of silica? I would definitely like to do this seeing on how wet it is here, i'm not so used to all this rain stuff all the time lol.

I stored my sr'd 240sx over a brutal south dakota winter at my parent's house in a area which was half paved, half dirt...

I did the following:

-oil change before storing

-took wheels off and put them in the hatch

-put the car as high off the ground as I could on blocks below the lower control arms so the suspension was sitting as it would on the ground(with wheels on)

-had the engine at idle then used marine fogging oil(can find this at most auto parts stores) to kill the engine, by spraying a continuous blast into the idle air port off my intercooler, The engine dies from the oil, but coats the internals with oil! (you will want to clean or get new plugs when you are ready to start the car again

-stabil into the gas tank

-coat the brake rotors with grease, so the don't rust, and spary everything in the engine bay and under the car with wd-40 or some spray on lubricant

-i also wrapped two breathable car covers around my car and tried to tuck the covers over all the suspension bits, as much as i could.


After a winter, about 4 months, several 4ft blizzards...

the car fired up on the first crank and it ran flawlessly just like the day i stored it.

hope this helps...sorry for the run on sentences and shit

word

I'm definitely hoping I wont have to prepare for the winter apocalypse as that sounds like to me. But thank you, legit instructions if you're going to be preparing for blizzards lol =p
I am especially interested in killing the engine with oil i've never heard of anyone doing that, and protecting the underside / engine with wd-40.
My rotors are already f*ck*d, and I have parts for the z32 conversion, just don't have the mounting hardware yet, so i'm just looking for an excuse to change them. But I will remember the grease trick for future winters, assuming it sits outside again.

Stabil in the gas tank already but I might just drain it all out anyways.

And I only have 1 breathable car cover, but that hopefully should do, hopefully. No worries about the run on sentences man, thanks for your help.

I would be careful spraying oil into the engine while its running as theres a chance you can hydrolock it. I would say just drop a few capfulls of oil in each cyl, unplug the coil and injectors, and turn it over a few times to coat the walls and rings. If you store it with fluids be sure they cant freeze. And add some kind of fuel stabilizer then let it idle for like 5-10 mins so it can work its way through to the injectors also. Also might want to take the wipers off if you care about them. And be sure to keep the dash clean and oiled to keep it from cracking in the heat.

It sounds like it would work, but I would like to see it be done before I trust it. I'm too partial to my blacktop to possibly annihilate it by something that is not tried and true.
I'll get a battery over to the car today to be able to turn it over and coat the walls, I think that's the last thing i'm forgetting to do.
Oh and before I disconect the injectors maybe let the stabilizer run through the engine, that probably wouldn't be a bad idea either i'm sure.
Wipers, well. Mine are totally not worth keeping anyways but i'll take them off for the heck of it because it's easy. Thanks for the advice.

fill engine to the top with oil!!!! really not joking. and just make sure the car is clean disconnect the battery, empty gas.

I definitely topped it off as much as I could when she got her oil change yesterday. As much oil as I could fit in that little block =D Lol
Batteries good, and I was thinking about putting some stabilizer in the gas tank and just leaving it in there as it's pretty much full to the brim. Or would it be better to just drain it and leave it completely empty?


Thank you all for the advice and help, I've tried to respond to every one, let me know if I missed you. With all of your help my 20 year old beauty will stay beautiful for one more year =D

[ryguy]

Where do you get your large boxes of silica?

I got my box from Cabela's, but any place that sells guns should carry it. People put it in their gun safes. I got two of the big sized gun safe boxes, and it's reusable, once a month I took the silica gel out and baked it in the oven, and it's ready to be used again. If you arent going to be visiting the car, they also sell an mega sized pack of the stuff, but it's pricey.

[NoviceDrifter240]

Make sure to give it a full detail inside and out before putting a car cover on it, empty out the gas tank and remove all fluids. Make sure to put some crappy tires on there too. I remember reading a really good thread on this topic on another forum but those are all I can remember.

I have heard to not empty the gas tank because if you do it will cause rust?

is it better to empty it?

[cbcm2435]

put bags over the intake and exhaust and tape them up tight to keep moisture from getting inside your engine

[Drift_FX]

emptying the gas tank can cause rust as condensation inside the tank will settle and puddle in the bottom of the tank. by filling the tank you are lessening the amount of air inside the tank, and therefore lessening the amount of condensation possible which is what ruins gas....

I stored my car for a year once myself, here is what I recommend.....

*fill tank to the top
*add fuel saver
*disconnect battery
*put on junk tires

I would not recommend a car cover, in most cases the cover and do more damage to the paint then the sun will....

just wash your car very well, and put on a heavy coat of wax....

[towlie]

I stored my car outside for a few months during winter.

-Threw a tarp over and secured it with blocks
-Had a space heater in the car I had my dad switch on to prevent moisture from damaging my interior
-gas tank I kinda blew off draining it but its probably a good idea to out fresh fuel in before you store it, then drain it and refill when you return
-battery obviously disconnect
-would jack it up and leave on stands, the tires can develop flat spots. If there's no way you could air the tires to max psi beforehand

Do this it will be fine

[NoviceDrifter240]

emptying the gas tank can cause rust as condensation inside the tank will settle and puddle in the bottom of the tank. by filling the tank you are lessening the amount of air inside the tank, and therefore lessening the amount of condensation possible which is what ruins gas....

I stored my car for a year once myself, here is what I recommend.....

*fill tank to the top
*add fuel saver
*disconnect battery
*put on junk tires

I would not recommend a car cover, in most cases the cover and do more damage to the paint then the sun will....

just wash your car very well, and put on a heavy coat of wax....


probably stupid question, where to get fuel saver? what exactly is it? lol
#noob

[NoviceDrifter240]

I stored my car outside for a few months during winter.

-Threw a tarp over and secured it with blocks
-Had a space heater in the car I had my dad switch on to prevent moisture from damaging my interior
-gas tank I kinda blew off draining it but its probably a good idea to out fresh fuel in before you store it, then drain it and refill when you return
-battery obviously disconnect
-would jack it up and leave on stands, the tires can develop flat spots. If there's no way you could air the tires to max psi beforehand

Do this it will be fine


I have heard if you put it up on jacks, to take the tires off, so the suspension dosent sag.... is that right, or would it be better, or just fine to keep the tires on ?

[towlie]

It's only to prevent the tires from developing flat spots. Either way don't really matter

[NoviceDrifter240]

It's only to prevent the tires from developing flat spots. Either way don't really matter


I am buying my first 240 at the end of this month-- and I live in Upstate NY, with shitty winters.. so I plan on storing it. and where I am storing it, I don't think there is heat, so it would prolly be best if I take the wheels off, so they don't crack or get brittle