I have to store my S-type for the next 3 months in the UK.
Any advice?
If I disconnet the battery will it wipe the main ECM codes?
car is a S-Type 2005 2.7D
will be in a garage I hope! but it gets cold in England
Thinking of buying a trickle charger
my main concern is the electonics...very finicky on my car
do I need to add something like sea-foam (never seen that in the UK) to the diesel?

any advice?

Stan

 

You can disconnect the battery and nothing terrible will happen but most folk reckon leaving a trickle charger connected is better for car and battery.
If you filled the car up recently you will have got 'winter' diesel.
Always store with a full tank to minimise condensation inside the tank.
Is the car to be abandoned in the UK or can you start it now + then?
Obviously if no-ones around leaving electrics connected is a bad idea.

 

Something I do every year with my "summer time" Porsche.

I wouldn't disconnect the battery, stored in the cold will do it no good, get a battery conditioner from Ctek - this would be ideal:

CTEK MXS 5.0 Car Battery Charger - the smartest battery chargers in the world!

Will keep your battery in tip-top condition...battery on my Porsche is 11 year old and still starts the car perfectly regardless of temperature after being connected to the conditioner.

Either get the weight off the tyres (leave it on axle stands) or inflate the tyres to around 50psi to avoid flat-spotting them.

Change your oil especially if you're close to a change.

Make sure the bodywork and undersides if possible are given a wash down. A coat of wax on the paintwork too. Make sure the car is dry especially the brakes before storing. Leave handbrake off!

Fuel - top it off. It shouldn't go bad during a 3 month storage period.

As you rightly point out, a winter in UK can be very cold and damp. I put a plastic bag over the exhaust and the air inlet and tape them up. Idea being it'll prevent damp/moisture entering the engine...if it works I don't know, the idea sounds good and is probably a belt and braces measure that'll do no harm.

Spray electrics - connectors and components with something like WD40 or Duckoil

Finally, I have a small electric fan heater that has a frost thermostat...if temp drops to around 2 deg C it kicks in (not good for the electric bill!) but it does the job and more importantly gives some circulation to the air.

Not a great time to be storing a car, but the above is the regime I follow and the car has survived plenty of Scottish winters

David

 

Ditto to Steve and David's advice. Leave battery connected with trickle charger, winter diesel fuel and stabilizer (if there is such a thing), and have a trusted person start and run for 20 minutes each month. Otherwise, betting a garaged S-Type with a full tank of diesel and nothing else will start when retrieved three months later.

 

I would not start & run like that. Store as others have said and do not start it.

 

Start/no start is one of those arguing points like the right grade of oil.
I think the important thing is if you're going to start it then drive it 'til it's hot.
That does good. Leaving it ticking over for a few minutes is bad but, probably, 20 minutes will warm things through OK.
Didn't know I was a Diplomat did you ??

p.s. DON'T leave the handbrake on.

 

I'm very much on the side of the no start camp. The need to start an engine once a month is a carry over from decades past where vehicles became difficult or impossible to start when actually needed, sometimes due to fuel evaporation in the carburetor or occasionally being seized due to corrosion.

No such worries are known to exist on moderns cars. I routinely let my summer toys sit for six months over the winter and conversely the winter toys sit for six months over the summer.

I'd attach a battery conditioner as mentioned by Jack, inflate the tires to maximum pressure as indicated on the sidewall and not worry about it. No fuels additives (and especially not Seafoam ) are required

Three months is not a long period at all.

 

I left mine outside unused for 7 months only thing I did was remove battery and leave handbrake off. Started on first turn of the key then passed the mot next day.

 

Nah, if a buddy can start and let her warm 20 minutes each month: cylinders are oiled, belts can turn the alternator to lubricate it as well as charge battery. Water, power steering, transmission, and fuel pumps are turned as well as circulate their fluids. The turbo/supercharger are lubricated as well. The preceeding, along with putting her in drive to rotate the tires; is how I maintain my STR during the NY winter (Dec.-March). I'd strongly suggest the same.

 

hmm, being a 2.7D it would benefit from a real burn to keep the turbo vanes from sticking - a common fault on the 2.7D

Just ordinary driving can fail to be enough, unless you drive it like you stole it!

 

But if it is consistently demonstrated that cars do not suffer if not performed- why bother?

 

This is not what I heard/read, nor experienced. IMO, and most engineers would certainly concur; environmental factors must be accounted for prior to laying up a "machine". And that's what we have hear...a "machine". Let's take the OP's diesel; in an unheated garage during an English winter? Monthly operation will both lubricate internal and external motor components, and allow the a/c to mitigate mildew by drying the air. Expanding on jagv8's "sticking turbo vanes", has anyone seen what happens to electrical motors when left unturned for extended time? The atmosphere within precipitates moisure that reacts with similar and dissimilar metels. This electrolysis can cause corrosion, like what you see on the positive terminal of batteries. Heck, I admittedly layed up past cars for months without operation and they "appeared" to survive, till a few days or weeks down the road when either a mechanical or electrical system failed, likely due to dryrot, gumming, seal shrinkage, tires with flattened chords, and corrosion. Look at it this way, even if one disagrees, warming her up can drive mice, rats, and insects from out under the hood, exhaust pipes, and a/c/heat vents. Place insect and vermin control nearby too.

 

OK, my background is 31 years with an aircraft engine OEM- the company logo has a blue circle with an eagle in it and the motto 'dependable engines'. At one point I was responsible for a fleet of over 1000 company-owned engines deployed around the world as loaners and rentals. Each of these had to be tracked in the minutest details to keep the regulatory authorities happy and maintain the on-going airworthiness.

I'd be happy to bore you to tears with long drawn out examples, but the bottom line is DO NOT START THE ENGINE WHILE IN STORAGE.

Putting everything else aside, the thermal cycle of an engine being operated may cause it to rise above and fall below the dew point. Not a concern in the desert, but an almost certainty in the OP's case. Each cycle invites a fresh layer of condensation- exactly what should be avoided.

I had to opportunity to witness the teardown of some engines that had been left unwanted and unloved for a period of three years in the back of a warehouse located in a similar climate to the OP. To everyone's amazement- no signs of corrosion or lack of oil anywhere. The materials used and type of oil was very similar if not identical to what is found in our Jags.

All this to say that most engineers do not concur. The sky is not falling.

 

LOL! Relax Mike. Thought we're having a discussion, not an argument? Though it's likely no one here would take the argument "You didn't maintain aircraft engines", you fail to mention wether the aircraft engines were new, without continuous operation or exposure to outside elements? Were they jet or internal combustion engines? Normally aspirated or forced induction? Were the aircraft engines stored in a climate controlled warehouse? What was the conditions of the external and internal environment? Regardless, we're discussing an automobile engine, electrical motors, and interior decor that's isn't wrapped in protective material. Were the interior of the planes considered during storage, or were the engines divorced from the planes? I'm in agreement with you on avoiding repeated atmospheres within the cylinders and combustion chamber. However, we're only contemplating three months of inoperation. Originally, my sentiment was to fill the tank and leave all alone until the safety of the carpet, leather, and potential growth then damage of mold and mildew to the interior and within the ac/heat vents came into consideration.

 

No 'arguing' on my side- just debating platitudes such as 'most engineers would certainly concur'. I've never met a single one who would agree that intermittently running an engine for a short period does it any good, irrespective of environment, new or used. Let sleeping dogs lie, so to speak.

BTW- a 'jet' engine is an internal combustion engine.

 

Thanks Mike. Aside from engines, what are the sentiment of yours and engineers in maintaining electrical motors, a/c/heat vents, and interior decor? There are jet engine designs that don't utilize internal combustion.

 

Oh dear, back to the 'best oil' scenario.
Let's not worry too much about a 3 month layup.
OP should dismantle the entire engine and wrap all components in red flannel soaked in snake oil and keep them under his mattress.
Honestly chaps, if the tank's full of diesel and the battery is charged it will start no matter what.

 

Not my field at all, but would imagine that constant temperature and low humidity would help.

 

Mmmm... I guess it all depends how much for a quart of "Snake Oil"?

 

Winter grade snake oil from SteveinFrance LLC is the best but, obviously, you gets what you pays for.