Periodically starting a car when not used ?

[J4CKO]

Not using my car at the moment due to it being crappy weather, its been sat under its cover, just started and it started fine and will run it up to temp but not sure that without using it, i.e. driving somewhere does that drain more from the battery than not starting it up at all ?

Not sure how much charge it puts into the battery just idling for a few minutes.

Worst comes to the worst I get a new battery, charge it or jump start it but have never been sure whether starting it is a waste of time.

[Lunablack]

Depending on how long the car is to be left, and under what storage conditions... My personal preference is to leave em alone.....

I used to leave my TVR on a trickle charge in the garage for 6 months and when it came to using it again, it was never a problem..

Same with all the bikes I've owned..... The only one that ever gave me any trouble was an old Suzuki, that I used to start and let tickover, then when it came to putting it back on the road the bloody head gasket went in the first week..... Ever since then my policy has been to leave alone.....

[k15tox]

did you not disconnect your battery?

unless your charging your battery i wouldnt start it at all, until your ready to have it back on the road.

[J4CKO]

k15tox said:

did you not disconnect your battery?

unless your charging your battery i wouldnt start it at all, until your ready to have it back on the road.

Its only been a few days, just its outside and its been pretty cold/wet so thought I would just start it and check it.

Was kind of wondering whether a few minutes idling puts enough current back into the battery vesus what it used to crank a cold engine over.

[FreeLitres]

Lunablack said:

My personal preference is to leave em alone.....

+1

Either leave it alone, or start it and actually take it for a short drive somewhere to warm everything up.

This has been debated to death on the TVR forums. By just letting it sit there with the engine running, the oil is unlikely to get up to temperature (the water temp might look ok though) and this could do more harm than good with regards to engine wear.

A trickle charger could be a good investment though - works a treat on my TVR.

[Dogwatch]

Ideally you should not just run the engine up to temp but get the exhaust hot too so that the rear box isn't full of acid water eating away at it!

Complications, complications.

Best to leave the thing alone unless you are looking a months of non use.

[kambites]

As above really - get a trickle charger and leave it alone unless it's not going to be a long period of disuse; if it is going to be a long time (more than about six months I suppose?), drive it occasionally to give everything a work-out rather than just the engine.

[J4CKO]

FreeLitres said:

Lunablack said:

My personal preference is to leave em alone.....

+1

Either leave it alone, or start it and actually take it for a short drive somewhere to warm everything up.

This has been debated to death on the TVR forums. By just letting it sit there with the engine running, the oil is unlikely to get up to temperature (the water temp might look ok though) and this could do more harm than good with regards to engine wear.

A trickle charger could be a good investment though - works a treat on my TVR.

Yes, but a TVR in this weather, please, no I want to live

[FreeLitres]

J4CKO said:

Yes, but a TVR in this weather, please, no I want to live

I must admit - I've never braved it in these conditions.

>>ahem<< I mean, I always drive it in the snow with the roof off and enter every corner sideways with a dab of oppo!

Am I doing it right, PH?

[E30M3SE]

J4CKO said:

Its only been a few days, just its outside and its been pretty cold/wet so thought I would just start it and check it.

Was kind of wondering whether a few minutes idling puts enough current back into the battery vesus what it used to crank a cold engine over.

The short answer to this is, no.

[otolith]

My Elise will flatten its battery in cold weather in a week or so. I have a trickle charger, but the car lives on the driveway, making it awkward to use. I put an extension cable through the wheel arch vents and into the boot that way and then put the charger in the boot with it, but it isn't ideal and he extension cable needs to be fed out of a window in the house.

Mostly I just take it for a spin if it hasn't been used for a few days.

[dingocooke]

I only tend to run cars or bikes that sit over winter if they have belt driven cams, so that the belts don't sit in one place for too long and take a 'set'.
So I look at it like this; my 916 Bip (belt driven cams) gets run once a month when not used, my 351 Cleveland engined V8 toy (cloyes chain driven cam) gets run when it's used.
Simple

[R12HCO]

Just leave it. Its a machine. It will not automatically sieze up because its cold or wet. Use it when required.

I use to sometimes start an old car that i had sitting there, which i think i did more damage to in the end. Oil never upto tempreture, exhaust rusted due to water vaoupr not properly getting burnt out etc.

I would leave it, and do the necessary checks when going to use it.

[Lunablack]

I'm currently in a motorhome in Valencia......one of my cars is up on axle stands in my garage on a trickle charger... Wheels removed and stored elsewher to make sure it goes nowhere. That car hasn't run since Nov, and I'm not coming home until march, so best part of 5 months.......

My jeep is parked outside the garage door, battery removed, and has been there since 10th of Jan....and again it's going nowhere until I get home...

I fully expect both cars to start and drive, without issue...... If they don't there'll be bother

[jon-]

As most engine wear occurs during the first few minutes of running when the oil is at its thickest, i leave well alone.

The major consideration people seem to miss when leaving a car standing is flatspotting tyres. If you can't get the car in the air, I'd recommend over inflating the tyres and rolling the car onto a different part of the tyre every week.

[Stu 9-5]

Interesting reading.

I'll be moving overseas for a couple of years next month, and will be leaving our Volvo XC90 in the UK for when we visit (about 21 days of use in each 12 months as a family, I'll come over on my own perhaps twice a year and do about 500 miles in it on each visit).

It will be parked on a local farm/caravan storage yard, in the elements. I was prepared to just over inflate the tyres and put a solar charger panel on the dashboard. Before use I'd do a levels and lights check, then adjust the tyres to normal pressures.

I can get a family member to run it around the farm grounds for 10 mins every 6 weeks or so (car will be insured, but SORNed). I was thinking of buying a cover, anybody got any recommendations?

[Maximum Bobs]

IF I'm not leaving a car for months or years on end I always start them up every couple of weeks or so & if possible drive back & forwards a few times. You are not going to do any damage starting it & letting it run for ten minutes or so, in fact you'll do far less than driving it from cold everyday if you were using it, & even damaging it at all is debatable.

Engines don't like sitting & the reason I always start mine is to pump some oil around & also to stop clutches sticking which can often happen. Moving the car helps to stop brakes either sticking or build up between the discs & pads. Also I wouldn't recommend disconnecting your battery with some of these modern ECUs as some have memories that may be lost. Trickle chargers are ok but if your battery's good & you start it every couple of weeks you may not need one.

Some people wont agree with me but it's kinda six of one & half a dozen of another.

[durbster]

I have a car that's parked up for a few weeks at a time at the moment. I spent some time at the weekend figuring out how best to run a cable from the house to the trickle charger. Through the upstairs window is the most direct but means leaving the window open and that would be cold. Out the back has a similar problem and also gives a nice path for burglars to follow to an unsecured window. The third solution was to run it out through the letter box, but that would get in the way.

Then I was wondering about stopping it from freezing and either knackering the charger or battery or worse. A blanket around the charger is a fire risk so I considered hanging a blanket over the bootlid to offer some protection and keep moisture out.

And then as I woke up this morning, I realised I was a fking moron. I went and got the battery out of the car and put it on charge inside.

Anyway, good point about the tyre flatspots and brakes. I'll move the car forward tonight.

[BoRED S2upid]

My MX5 tends to last for 2 months without use and starts ok anything more than that and the battery will need a charge I try not to leave it that long.

[m44kts]

With my Mini being a summer car only, it sits for 6 months in the garage, it's connected to a battery charger/conditioner that's on a timer plug, it's set to come on for an hour in the morning and an hour at night, my logic, the equivalent of a daily commute. The battery has been fine for the last 3 years.

All I do when parking it up for the 6 months is, over inflate the tyres by a few psi, leave it with the handbrake off with a wheel chocked and crack the windows open a bit. I've left it with a full tank of juice this year without thinking as it'll probably go off before March. I did leave it with nothing in the previous year, then put in a jerry can of fresh fuel ready for taking it for an MOT, I know it'll run like a bh until I can get some fresh fuel in it.