Mitchocalypse

iTrader: (2)

I'm just wondering how to store an FD over winter.

ie.
-full or empty gas?
-oil recent change?
-start up every so often or leave sit?
-if start up, how often?
-plug in?
-is it okay to sit in the cold (down to -40 C) in the garage or is a heated garage required?
-any type of special way to wash before?
-Wax?
-Products not to use?

please list ANYTHING I should know as I have never stored a car over the winter before.

Thanks!

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

This is geared towards FCs, but almost all of it applies to FDs as well (or any car really):
http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/storage.htm

jim-san

I’ve been storing my FC for 21 winters now and my FD for 3 winters (this winter will be the 22nd and 4th, respectively). I can’t say that what I do is absolutely correct, but here’s what I do:

1. Wash car as you normally would (some winters have come early and I didn’t do this, with no harmful effects)

2. Change the oil. Fill with gas. Check the coolant.

3. Inflate tires to proper pressure.

4. Park in garage, being careful to stop car without applying brakes when moving it into its final position.

5. If you think there is any possibility that rodents are present in the place that you're storing your car, place a tin can over the exhaust. On an FC, rodents can enter the air intake. You might want to consider covering the air intake with a screen.

5. Cover with car cover.

6. Start once a month, preferably during a day when the temperature is above freezing, or at least close to zero. If you can, move the car one or two feet forward or backward to change the spot the tire is resting on.

7. If you can, take the car out of storage and drive for an hour or two if the streets are clear of salt dust; e.g. after a heavy rain during a winter thaw. I used to do this, but the street where I live now tends to be snow or salt covered until late March or April so I’m not able to do this anymore.

8. In spring, charge the battery before taking it out, or if the battery has not run down, take it out on the road for an hour or two, then top up with gas.

I could do things such as put gas stabilizer in the tank, put a trickle charger on the battery over the winter, etc. but I haven’t found this necessary.

I’ve been doing this with my FC now for 21 winters and the FC is still in fine condition and has never failed to start up and run in the spring, with no apparent ill effects from being stored over the winter. It seems to me that the car still sounds and drives as it did the day I drove it off the dealer’s lot in 1988. I’ve stored the FC in my own garage (unheated), in a storage site (one of those self-store sites that permit cars to be stored in their units, the size of one-car garages, also unheated) and in underground parking garages (not heated, but warm). I’ve never had any problems with any of them. In Ottawa, where I have been storing the FC and FD in my unheated garage, we can get weeks of -35 C temperatures, followed by a thaw of above zero temperatures, then weeks more of -35 C weather.

You can probably do more to prepare the car for the winter than what I’ve described above, but the above seems to be all that is necessary, in my experience. Your experience may be different, depending on where you live, your storage location, your car, etc.

One thing to note is that the FD’s battery will run down more quickly over the winter than the FC’s, so you may want to periodically charge the FD’s battery.

Hope this helps.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

I'm amazed how many times this question comes up. Never thought it was such a hot topic.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

That's not storage. That's just driving the car on an irregular schedule.

If a person knows that the car will be driven again, then much of the storage stuff in my writeup isn't necessary. But the philosophy that all storage should be treated as long term has the potential to save a lot of people a lot of headaches when life gets in the way and the car ends up spending 3 years in the garage instead of 3 months.