Well it looks like this coming Saturday I'll finally be putting my Cat away for a long winters nap. I've done all the research and have a good game plan put together on how I'm going to store her - until I spoke with my brother-in-law. He asked a pretty simple question which I didn't have an answer for -"What are you going to do to prevent your rotors for rusting up?". Ugh. I didn't have an answer. The reason he asked was from an experience he had storing one of his cars during the winter (no not a Jag). When he brought his car back out in the spring, his rotors had rusted so bad he had to have them replaced.

So the question I throw out to everyone is - what the heck do I do to protect my rotors?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can lend!
Rob

 

Well, as someone who keeps a car "in storage" right next to a daily driver (the Jag) that parks in the same garage covered in slush and salt. Actually the Dodge 600 only does a couple hundred miles a year at the most. The rotors have not rusted.. In fact the only brake problem I've ever had with the car was when I actually did a brake job on it back in 2001. Since it still had the original brakes the calipers and bolts were all frozen.

I've toyed with all the philosophy regarding long term storage and have found that the best thing to do is just "leave it alone". You aren't going to the extreme that I do. I would just air up the tires (hope you have a compressor) and put the battery on a trickle charger (Sears has one that is only $30). http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...7&blockType=L7

I liked the fact that it has ring terminals that you can bolt to the battery clamp and just leave them there. I would check if the battery charger is OK to use with the Jag though, given the sensitivity of all those darn modules. I think a little one like I listed should be OK since it doesn't deliver a bunch of AMP's like a jump charger does.

Back to the rotors, I don't know why your brother-in-law had such problems. I've never seen it and it isn't like my car is protected from moisture in the air. It may have been some bad rotors to begin with. I do notice that "cheap" rotors will show signs of rust a lot sooner than higher priced rotors. There is hardly any corrosion on the hub sections of both sets of rotors on my two cars.

Hope it helps.

 

Rob, will she be stored indoors on concrete? The reason I ask, did your brother-n-law store his vehicle on dirt, gravel etc.. If the vehicle is stored on mother nature even under shelter, the ground moisture will eventually work its way up to the rotors and any unprotected metal.


Addition, I found this website kind of interesting for "putting up vehicle" for winter storage. http://www.techguys.ca/howto/winter.html

When the above states to jack vehicle up "to relieve preasure" on suspension, I see this part is debateable.


BTW, I used to feel your pain for 5 months out of the year, but alas no longer!

 

Hi Rob,

Let me start with a preface. Prior to my retirement, I was responsible for the engineering and maintenance on a fleet of over 1,000 aircraft engines owned by the OEM and leased short/medium/long term to airlines all over the world. As the engines were used in every imaginable climate, off-wing storage to avoid corrosion was a huge factor. Operators had very strict and explicit instructions to follow, failure to do so would result in mandatory tear down for inspection or repair at their expense. The repair bill in a few cases of neglect amounted to $1.5 million USD. The cost to store properly would have been a few hundred.

If your BIL's rotors rusted to that extent, the reason and cure is simple. The car was stored in an unacceptably humid environment and simply should not have been left there. If the rotors corroded, so did every other piece of unprotected ferrous metal elsewhere on the car. The rotors are a simple indicator of what's going on with the rest of the car- but can't see. Coated/plated/painted metal has some degree of protection, but the long term effects will eventually be the same.

If you were planning to store yours in the same type of place, forget it. It's just too humid.

Some of the on-line or magazine articles about storage just horrify me with the bad science- they get confused between human comfort and preservation of a machine, all compounded with a good dose of myth to make it sound complex.

What is needed is a dry and stable environment. Of utmost importance is avoidance of the ambient air going above and below the dew point. Each 'cycle' allows a fresh coat of condensation to form on every surface, leaving behind a film of surface corrosion as it dries.

Finding a place that's dry is important. A closed, insulated garage with a hard floor is a good start. Laying down a film of water barrier (plastic sheet) will help, but if the door to a warm garage is frequently being opened and closed and a snow and salt laden car is being moved in and out, this will create the fluctuations and condensation reference above.

If choosing another location is not possible, lowering the temperature of the garage or even letting it go to ambient would be beneficial. Cold air means lower absolute humidity. In extreme cases, I know of people in my 'other' car club that close up their cars in a sealed bag and leave 20-30 pounds of dessicant inside. Very effective but expensive.

With respect to the other details of the car, disconnect the battery and use a battery tender. Here's what I use:

http://batterytender.com/

Standard trickle charges are not a good idea as they can overcharge a battery even at a miserly 2 amps.

Two other points- do not put the car up on blocks. That's old school, left over from nylon cord tires. Do not start the engine- the engine doesn't 'need' to be run and each cold start just puts more wear and tear on the engine.

I've been storing my toys this way, some of which I've owned since 1975, and have yet to have corrosion or any other storage issue.

 

Nice post Mikey..

Yea, the whole "up on blocks" thing is not good. It puts the car and suspension under loads that it isn't supposed to experience.

I guess I should have mentioned that the charger I have and linked to is indeed a battery tender and not just a strait trickle charger.. Yes, just hooking it up to a "charger" will toast the battery.

As far as the rest...My garage is not heated.. It does get plenty cold in there. I use a heater only when I plan on working on something. The thing is, my car has been in that environment for 15 years with no major adverse effects. Since I can't afford a designated garage for the toy, a daily driver uses the other side of the garage all year round.

Back to your post... Very wise suggestion about not starting it.. I totally forgot about that.. Yes if you start it up, say, once a week, you are actually wearing it out faster than if you just left it alone.

So, for some strange reason, not going crazy about "protecting" my Dodge has not caused me any greif..Maybe it's just luck..I doubt it since Murphy's law seems to follow me everywhere...

 

Some one here posted that inflating the tires (tyres) to 50-60 psi for long term storage is a good idea is a far better idea than up on blocks..

 

Jeff,

It's probably because the car gods smiled upon you and blessed your storage location with good karma. Uhh, I meant low humidity. Well, same thing. My garage at home doubles as a lagering chamber for massive amounts of homebrew so I have double incentive to get it right.

I'm curious to hear what kind of spot Rob has chosen for his car.

 

Rob, heres another way to go as well:

http://www.carcapsule.com/ORDER_the_CarCapsule.htm

 

What do you guys think about storage of a car that gets driven say maybe once a week or every other week.

Basically I plan on storing my 500sl over the winter. It will be in a similar situation to Jeff's where the car will have to share a garage with a daily driver that will be exposed to the elements. I am thinking of putting the hard top on it, so it can serve as a viable winter car, and plan on starting it and taking it for a drive every weekend or so, just to keep everything working... weather permitting. I don't want the car to see road salt or rain.

Now except for January - Feb where if we get a good snow, it lingers for a month, our climate is cold, but not that bad. My garage is not heated, and as a matter of fact I don't even have a space heater in it (although that is on the list for this year).

Should I bother with the battery tender? - That sears one seems fine for $30, and my local sears has it in stock.

Would you fill the tank before you get it to this semi - stored state? Or leave it low. I will probably go through a tank of gas all winter with the car.

George

 

If it may cycle through the dew point and especially if it has a rustable tank, I'd fill it. If you have the battery tender, I wouldn't drive the car so often.

 

Why would you avoid driving it If I may ask?

George

 

I thought the idea was to lay it up for the winter. So lay it up. Every cold start is wear and tear plus a chance to get it salted.

 

Cars don't NEED to get out for exercise and fresh air now and then, they're not 'people'. Starting them for the sake of starting them is uneccesary and does more harm than good. The WORST thing to do is let it idle for a few minutes in the drive way- the engine might warm up, but everything else will still be cold or only partially warmed up. Condensation in the exhaust system is a killer. Putting a cold car back in a warm garage starts another condensation cycle on the entire vehicle.

Buy a battery tender, fill the gas tank to the normal full mark, put it away and forget about it till spring. Add some Stabil if you're a Nervous Nelly.

 

Rick,

Those bubbles are bad science and hocus-pocus at it's worst. They require that a blower be kept running 24/7 to keep the bubble inflated. Putting aside cost and noise, the air inside the bubble will be the same temperature and humidity level as outside. There is no provision for heating or dehumidifying the air. There's no gain if the car is in a damp garage to start with.

They're good for keeping the rug rats from touching but that's about it.

 

Mikey interesting observation, one I hadn't thought of.

 

LOL... That darn Dodge I keep mentioning has the original exhaust, including the muffler...Yes...Just leave it...fiddling with it will, in many cases, just make another problem..

 

How much time are you willing to put in to take it out of storage? Cosmoline was used in WWII to keep metal like guns from rusting during storage and its used to coat parts of cars as it transits across the atlantic - its that yellow waxy crude found on the S-type differential, transmission, etc. Its MIL-C-11796C Class 3 compliant - not sure what it means but may explain why removing it is a big PIA.

 

What a great response to my question guys - I really appreciate the feedback!

Well it looks like the Jag will be running the roads for another week or so. My wife's sister has totaled her car, and Tanya has offered her one of our mini vans until the insurance company sorts things out. Fortunately her sister and daughter weren't injured in the collision.

From the responses, I don't think I'm going to worry too much about the rotors. I'm not entirely sure how my brother in law stored his car, even whether it was indoors or outdoors. Regardless, I'm surprised there isn't a spray on product for rotors that puts a nice thin protective coating on the rotors that won't damage the pads in the spring. Maybe that's a million dollar idea for someone.

Friends of my parents have a large, insulated but unheated garage that I'm going to be storing my Jag in this winter. The floor is concrete so I've got a sheet of heavy plastic that I'm going to park the car on for the winter.

Here's a list of my storage plans :
- plastic sheet under car
- battery removed for the winter. I purchased the Ctek battery tender that was suggested in another thread and I'll keep the battery hooked up to that in my basement for the winter.
- fresh oil change
- all fluid levels under the hood topped up
- full tank of gas containing Stabil
- full wash, wax and detailing inside and out including engine
- tray of kitty litter in trunk and passenger compartment
- steel wool in exhaust tips
- tires inflated to max pressure. No suspended Jag for me.
- Bounce fabric softener sheets all over engine compartment to keep away the critters.
- close all air vents in car
- still deciding on product to use on leather to help protect it during storage
- purchased a premium car cover
- I will not be starting the car periodically during the winter

I think that pretty much covers it. I spoke with my insurance company the other day and it's going to cost between $50-$60Cdn for storage insurance during the winter so that was a nice surprise.

Rob

 

Looks all good Rob, bummer about sis-n-laws vehicle, maybe you can turn her onto a Jag!

I am sure you know this but I'll toss it out here, while storing battery in basement, do not let it rest on the concrete floor, place a piece of 2x6 or someother type of wood between the two.

 

Rob,

That looks good. Why the kitty litter? Won't the kitty get hungry and bored locked in the trunk all winter?

If it's to keep things dry, you'd be better off with actual desiccant. I think crappy tire sells it.

Why yes they do:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp;jsessionid=MKhThPpCFW3v0L6FjJ1q 6LsfV9y9tJ5nKQ0hmzyhyhVwbCHm4cnG!1381581070?PRODUC T%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443211461&bmUID=1288362543410

Edit:

There are tons of products out there that would protect the rotor surface from corrosion, but none that would do the job and not possibly contaminate the pads. The surface corrosion that does accumulate during proper winter storage (if any) is a visual blemish only and will disappear the first time you apply the brakes in the spring.