Hi All,
I am indecisive with regards to winter storage, it gets down to -35c here during Jan /Feb, colder almost than the Mother-in-laws kiss!

I know it's just a lump of steel and it doesn't care about cold, but have you ever seen a more beautiful lump of steel...?

Do I start the engine and let it warm up to operating temp once per month or leave it alone until the spring? (I may have more than my fair share of of nikasil paranoia)

It will be stored in a un-heated garage for the winter, driving around is not an option due to the snow so what do you guys think is best?

I have changed the oil which will be replaced again in the spring and checked the anti freeze for temp range, tires are pumped up a little extra.

I have heard from a friend that stores his Camero to park on carpret as concrete will deteriorate the tire rubber over time, anyone else heard of this?

Also heard about Bounce dryer sheets so I will toss in a few here and there and wire wool in the tail pipe to deter mice.

Any other tips would also be appreciated, I have only driven this baby around 25kms since I picked it up so I determined to make sure it runs next spring and have some fun.

Thanks,

Karl

 

Welcome to the forum Carl!

Personally, I would not start the car during storage unless I was able to drive it for an hour.

The tire/carpet issue is probably referring to flat spots. My car gets flat spots on the tires if I don't drive it for a week or so. Takes 10 miles to get them round again. Thankfully, I do not have to deal with storage but I would consider a set of jack stands to get the car weight off the small patch of tire if I did.

 

Hey there my friend, I should say I'm no expert on cold winter car storage, but here's some tips I've seen along the way from others who have......

Topping up the gas tank to deter moisture forming and possibly the use of a fuel stabilizer.

Lubricate the weather stripping and door seals. This will preserve these seals over the storage period. Also, make sure you lubricate the door hinges, door latches, door locks and the hood and trunk latches as well. If these latches lose their lubrication, they will become difficult to open.

Place packets of silica in the interior and trunk of the car to keep the areas free of moisture

Placing carpet over the concrete will keep moisture away from the underside of the car. Concrete holds plenty of moisture and the carpet will help keep it away from the bottom of your car. It is suggested to at least cover the length of the car, but you can also carpet the entire concrete floor. Another option is to buy a plastic sheet or tarp and use it for the same purpose.

Leave the parking brake off, perhaps roll back n forth inside the garage even every few weeks or so

Thats about as much as I can think of

 

Greetings from equally frozen YHU. Do NOT start the engine- it doesn't need it and as the old adage goes, 90% of all engine wear occurs during start up.

 

Thank Guys, The gas tank is full, I forgot to mention it.

Jim, have you looked at a clock lately? It must be 1.30am over there...get to bed man...

 

Lol....I'm a night owl what can I say

 

Thanks Mikey,
I love Montreal btw, I haven't thought about St. Hubert Rotisseries since I left Ottawa 20 years ago, now I have a craving. Looks Like a sping road trip may be in order.

Karl

 

Luckily enough it's about as dry as the desert for us here during the winter so don't worry too much about moisture. Did you take the battery out? Crappy Tire sells a decent "maintainer". I actually got this little Schumacher unit at Walmart & it's worked fine.

Don't start the car unless you can actually drive it around a bit.

 

+1 on not starting your engine (Google 'idling engine' to see why). As for tyre flatspots, you can get tyre shoes which help maintain the shape. I must admit I am slightly skeptical, but apparently they do work. Battery conditioners are a good idea.

 

I live on the East Coast of Canada. I store my car under the same circumstances as yours. When I owned a XJS I used to start it once per month in the winter and run it for 15 minutes to get all the moisture out. I don’t do that with the XK8. I do top it up with premium gas. I do put cardboard or wood or something similar under each wheel. I put cardboard under the car to prevent moisture. I do over inflate the tires to 40 PSI. The best investment I made was a battery tender. It safely keeps the battery topped up to maximum all winter.

 

Tony-

If the engine was hot when the car was first put away, there would be no accumulation of moisture to get rid of over the winter.

By pulling the it out into the cold then back into a warmer garage, the rest of the car would have gone through another condensation cycle. Nothing gained.

 

I don't use mine during winter months, but always start it and move it around once a month. It will do no harm if you get it fully warmed up. As mentioned, letting it sit at idle isn't good, so I will run it up the street and back a few times, trust me, it's plenty hot when it goes back in the garage.
Steering, brake and other systems with flexible parts can become perrished when not used.
I'm not considdering only the effects on the engine, but all the systems which i think benefit from the excercise.
I operate every system and accessory, every switch and dial. I feel with electrics, the longer something is left idle, the more reluctant it is to operate again.
One thing I do know as fact is the aircon compressor does need to be run up every couple of weeks to lubricate the seals and prevent them from drying out.

 

Just curious- how many -35*C days do you get in the UK?

 

They're few and far between Mikey, 1947 may have been the last.

Actually Wikepedia says that -27.2 is the lowest ever and it was in Braemar (the queens Highland home) in 1895 and 1982 and Altnaharra in 1995.

1947 was a guess as we had a **** load of snow that year and the old timers always like to go on about it.

 

X100, I agree 100%. I do use my '98 XK8 conv. all year. Even put the top down to keep the seals on the Hydraulic Cyl. lubed. Lost the power steering seals in a '87 Pontiac that had to sit for 6 weeks while I was rehabing from surgery. If you don't use it you lose it. Jack

 

Thanks to everyone for the replys. It looks like the general consensus is to leave it the hell alone for the winter. Anyone out there fog the cylinders before storage?

Thanks,

Karl

 

Yep, with all the problems with the hydraulics on these cars, thats another validation to keep things operational as much as is possible.
Below is another-
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...45/#post445384

 

Came across this in the Jaguar 2003 All Model Vehicle Storage Manual

If the vehicle is stored for one month, the engine should be started, run at 1,000 revolutions per minute for one minute from cold, and then 2,000 revolutions per minute until the coolant temperature gauge shows normal.

This procedure should be repeated monthly and following completion with the engine still running at idle speed, the air conditioning should be operated and cycled for a further 10 minutes (see page 8)

Jaguar must consider the procedure preferential to totally decommissioning / not starting regularly.

 

Karl,

You've had some extracts from the Jaguar new car storage handbook. Here's the whole document.

JAGUAR - New Vehicle Storage.pdf

Pages 7 and 8 list and describe the procedures.

 

I would leave the steel wool out of the tailpipes. I think it would be fun to see the mice come blasting out when you start the car.