Winter Storage Procedure?

[allister]

Hi Guys

It's coming up to that time of year, when I myself and I'm sure many other F430 owners will be looking to put their cars away for the Winter. My car will soon be getting it's final thorough clean for the year and be placed under it's cover. I already have it connected to a CTEK Battery Conditioner and will be leaving the handbrake off to avoid the brakes sticking on.

I read somewhere that it's also a good idea to leave the tank filled to the top with fuel, has anyone else heard this? and if so, what's the thinking behind it?

Finally, are there any further measures recommended for Winter storage?

Many thanks

Allister

[allister]

Thank you all for your comments, a bit of a mix really..... If I'm honest, I would rather drive when possible through the Winter months to keep everything moving, the thought of leaving all parts standing for 4 or 5 months makes me think it can only lead to problems. The only trouble is I live in Yorkshire, it's so cold and miserable here, that the council tend to start gritting in August!!

And that's just it, salt is my only real concern - Joking aside, gritting will almost certainly start in November and continue through to March, I've heard many people say salt will rot your car, how concerned should I be?

[allister]

carpov said:

I take extra special measures with my 458 spider in the cold, dark winter months:



I leave the roof up.

Good point.... Do you know what, I think maybe we all worry a bit too much about our cars in the Winter months, maybe just a bit of common sense and assessment of roads, moisture combined with salt (as mentioned above), etc is the answer.

I think I've decided..... I'm going to keep my car on the battery conditioner, avoid salt and moisture when combined, check weather forecasts for all clear before leaving, this should equate to - keeps all moving parts and electrics active and enjoyment when possible!

[allister]

70proof said:

There will be rainy nights when the salt is washed away.. If there is a dry patch after, quick run out...

Sounds like a plan!! I take on board what red_duke says though about the dust, I do recall winters when gritting has been quite heavy and the white dust does start flying around. I guess that would be hard to completely clean out from everywhere.

[allister]

Thank you for your schedule, sounds like good advice.... As you say, I do agree that it's probably a good thing to get all components moving whenever possible.

[allister]

DevonPaul said:

You need to move down to Devon.

We've gritted once this year, and nothing penned in for next week.

I'm just about to pop home and bring my washing in

Although the occasional Palm Tree may have been planted down in Devon, it doesn't mean you're going to convince us all that it's tropical.... And if you're wandering round in your Speedo's coated in Factor 30, a word of advice, cover up, you'll catch a chill

[allister]

DevonPaul said:

We've been pretty lucky down here, on Fri/Sat I winterised the car by filling it with fuel, checking the tyres and fluids, then driving a 300+ mile round trip to Wokingham so the Mrs could collect her Z4M Coupe.

Sadly it hardly rained at all, so the protective covering of roadgrime won't be completed until next weekend.

I was only pulling your leg Paul - The weather you get down there is much better than ours - Having previously lived in Surrey I do miss the much milder weather the South has to offer - Enjoy.

[allister]

berksboy26 said:

I can see you laughing as I write this but I keep a couple of humane mousetraps in my garage (and not just in the winter) as a few years ago now a mouse managed to find its way up and under the dash on my brand new 328GTB and eat its way through a main loom insulation.It could have caused a serious fire and was luckily repaired by a very sympathtic main dealer.
ATB
Alan

It seems that rodent damage from Rats & Mice is not at all unusual while cars are in storage, as pointed out in this post and the one above. I myself have also heard this several times before, often becoming quite costly if they start nesting.

I've bought some rat glue traps, mouse glue traps and rat and mouse poison from this company to cover all eventualities: http://www.pest-expert.com/