Storing a car ...............

[I_want_an_Omega]

Our eldest son will shortly be "deployed" and will be leaving his car with us for about 6 months.

It's an '06 Lancer Sport.

I'm planning on putting it in the garage, handbrake off (with wheels chocked) & unlocked. Was going to start it up once a month and let it get upto temp and keep the battery charged.

Apart from that, is there anything else that I should/shouldn't do?

Thanks

[waspy]

I think you'll find that starting it & running up to temp will do more harm than good. A good ten mile run will do it alot better.
I've stored quite a few cars for months on end without starting them.
If you don't want to drain the battery, just disconnect it

[I_want_an_Omega]

In that case I'll leave it. Won't be taking it for a run as car will be SORN, otherwise that would be my plan too.

[Andy B]

In that case I'll leave it. Won't be taking it for a run as car will be SORN, otherwise that would be my plan too.

Aldi have a battery charger on offer at the moment, you can connect it and forget about it, and for the money it'd be rude not to. I have one I connect to my caravan battery if I intend leaving it a while.
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_15825.htm

[Kevin Wood]

Yep, not worth starting it.

Keep an intelligent charger on it or disconnect the battery (after ensuring you have codes for the ICE gear and it won't upset alarms, etc.).

Probably worth changing the oil before storage if the current stuff is tired.

Run the fuel tank as low as possible before storage so after recommissioning the stale fuel can be diluted with fresh ASAP.

Leave the handbrake off and chock the wheels (or put it on axle stands if really keen).

Kevin

[Amigo]

All the above plus i would axle stand it to save the tyres flatting off.

[Entwood]

In addition to the advice above ....

When I was deployed for a longer period some years back, one piece of advice was to remove the spark plugs, pour in a dessert spoon of oil, turn the engine over 2 revolutions, insert plugs finger tight.

The idea is to coat the bores with a film of oil to reduce cylinder corrosion. before starting the plugs are removed again, and the engine turned over a dozen times with papertowel in the plug holes. Insert plugs and tighten. Start engine. This procedure also ensures that some oil has been "moved" around the engine prior to it firing up on re-commission.

Certainly worked .. but it was an MGB and not an Omega V6 !!

[cem_devecioglu]

if will stay on tires, they will be damaged badly..

at least inflate them to 42-45 psi..

[Vamps]

In addition to the advice above ....

When I was deployed for a longer period some years back, one piece of advice was to remove the spark plugs, pour in a dessert spoon of oil, turn the engine over 2 revolutions, insert plugs finger tight.

The idea is to coat the bores with a film of oil to reduce cylinder corrosion. before starting the plugs are removed again, and the engine turned over a dozen times with papertowel in the plug holes. Insert plugs and tighten. Start engine. This procedure also ensures that some oil has been "moved" around the engine prior to it firing up on re-commission.

Certainly worked .. but it was an MGB and not an Omega V6 !!

Sound advice E, I believe it is also a good idea to take the weight off the tyres by lifting the car and putting on stands or blocks for long term storage.....

[mrgreen]

if it's garaged you shouldn't have a problem jappers sit very well and i'm sure it will start like the day you put it there when it's re-commissioned i always in the past have disconnected the coil (back in the days of coils!) and run the starter a bit to get some oil moving through the engine before starting the idea with the oil down the bores sounds a good one

[Varche]

Better still would be to store it in a hot dry country. I have a large garage (admittedly not quite as large as yours).

I don't know what a 06Lancer sport is but it sounds good. I hope it has a towbar and rear wheel drive as i will be doing a lot of on and off road  towing during the harvest.

[I_want_an_Omega]

Thanks for all the comments guys - much appreciated.

A Lancer is the model on which the EVO is based. Despite the EVO being expensive/desirable, the basic Lancer model had a somewhat dowdy image.

When he bought the car it was a minter with only 10k miles on the clock (with one owner verified history) @ 3 years old - for the same money as an Astra with 60k+ miles on. So far its been totally reliable - benefiting of course from regular oil changes any time I get near it 

I like the idea about an oil change and then spinning it over to get oil circulating before fuel is burnt - but how about this:

Get it parked in position and then pull the fuel pump fuse - let it die of fuel starvation. Then, x months later spin it over, of course it wont start as there is no fuel being pumped. Switch off, put fuse back in and then start.  :question

[aaronjb]

I've done precisely that before now after an oil pump change - pull the spark plugs and it'll spin over faster (and therefore make better oil pressure).

[Kevin Wood]

I've done precisely that before now after an oil pump change - pull the spark plugs and it'll spin over faster (and therefore make better oil pressure).

it also takes the load off the (potentially a bit dry) bearings because there's no compression.

Kevin

[aaronjb]

That too