Hey Guys, Hope im posting this in the right spot. So i just purchased a 96 2dr Tahoe to use as my winter vehicle and since i moved in with my girlfriend i now have a usable garage to store my monte in through out the winter. What are some steps to take in order to properly store your car away for the cold season? Ie: gas additives, oil, put it on jack stands to avoid flat spots ? etc. Its my first time ever storing a vehicle for winter so im not sure at all what to do.

 

I have never had to store a car before due to me living in the south, so snow is a little more on the rare side. But the big thing is to make sure you start your car and let it run for a little bit like once a week or every 2 weeks just to keep everything lubed up. There are a bunch of people here who store there Montes so I'm sure they will post what they do.

 

I'm actually getting ready to store mine this weekend. I've been storing mine for winter for the past three years now, usually mid November to mid April. My typical routine for storage is here.

When the tank is relatively low (at the most a 1/4 full) I will take a trip to the gas station with a thing of Sta-Bil, dump in the correct amount of the fuel stabilizer, then fill up the car; I try to do this fill up when it's low so I have as much fresh fuel in it as possible. Then I will do an oil change; this prevents old gunky oil from just sitting in the engine all winter. This oil change before storage has been the only oil change I've needed to perform for the year for the past three years, as I don't touch 3k miles for the year. Then I wash and dry the car and, after that, pull it into it's storage spot in the garage. I hook a battery tender up to it to keep the battery fully charged during storage. Finally, I throw my cover on the car.

During each five month duration of storage, I have never once started the car. It sits untouched for the five month period and has started up right away in the spring every time.

 

Just got done with the Deuce this morning.

1) Filled it up with gas all the way and put sta-bil in, let it run for 5 minutes

2) Put her up on jack stands 4 of em

3) labeled the tires as to position on the car and took them off (will rotate in the spring)

4) Removed the battery and took inside and placed on a trickle charger

5) Covered her with a car cover (even tough she is in my garage)

6) Put steel wool in the exhaust tips (keep any critters out) although so far I never have seen any.

I do my oil change in the spring when she comes out of storage I use synthetic oil - the only change I have to do all year. I think I put less than 2k miles on her this season


7) Shed a tear and drink a beer

 

I fill up the tank and put sta-bil in and drive it to my Dad's house. Line the garage floor with a large tarp. Put moisture absorbing bags - one in the engine compartment, one on the floor in front of the passenger side front seat and one in the trunk. Wrap exhaust pipes with plastic bags and put rubber bands around them - just in case. My Dad doesn't have a critter problem. Put my car cover on and to add some extra padding in the case my Dad is careless getting in and out of his Buick, some clean towels closed in the passenger side door for added ding protection. And lastly put the battery on a charger/conditioner. My battery charger also desulfurizes too.

 

You got a 2-dr tahoe?

Its actually kind of a rare car. GM only made them for a few years and they were not popular at the time

 

Amy question for you.... Do you leave your battery in the car or take it out?

I have had bad luck with my batteries just about every time I store the car. I do use a trickle charger. I just took the darn thing out this year and put it on a trickle charger

 

I leave it in as it is a big pain in the *** to remove my battery. I just purchased a new battery after Nats so I'll probably not have it on the charger all winter, probably one week on and one week off.

 

Curious how that works out for you. Topic of conversation at next years Nats! My current battery is new also

 

1 - Clean the car inside and out.
2 - Fill the tank of with gas and add stabalizer.
3 - Park the car.
4 - Disconnect the battery.
5 - Put car cover on.

No need to change the oil for storage. I change the oil in the spring (this way all the "gunk" settles in the bottom and gets drained in the spring). When I get the car out for the spring, Once I run the tank of gas with the stabalizer, I fill up and add a bottle of fuel system cleaner (there is no proven reason, just my piece of mind).

No need to worry about flat spots. Tires are not made like they used to be. The car is not parked for years, just a few months.
No need for a battery tender if you disconnect the battery. A fully charged battery, disconnected will hold it's charge.

I've done this for years on more then one car, zero issues.