Hey everyone, I'm going on deployment April 5th and won't be back til mid-October. I'm driving home to NJ in March and want to know ahead of time a few things:

Should I leave my car at a storage garage facility? Or should I jack it up, put it on blocks, drain every fluid out of it and take out the battery and cover the car until I get back?

I just don't know which is a better option. Nobody can drive my car. My parents don't drive stick. Please help

 

Can you just park it in your parents garage for 6 months?

 

wouldn't that be bad if it sits there and doesn't get started or driven for 6 months? Would that be safe as long as I take the battery out? Just go home on empty and get an oil change the day I get back? My parents have their cars in the garage and they have an SUV as an extra vehicle in the driveway. I'd only be able to park in the driveway or grass.

 

hrmmm. As far as I know it should be okay. Most likely your battery will die from sitting for so long without being started and you should definitely get some fluid changes when you get back but it should be ok. I personally wouldn't leave it out on the grass or in the driveway tho. Well maybe in the driveway if you can put a cover on it. I am no expert so I could be wrong about battery and fluids idk...

 

I could have my dad start it once or twice a week and roll it back and forth a little bit to get the weight off the part of the tire that contacts the ground? Grrr I dunno dammit lol

 

I store my summer car for 6 months during the winter. Here's what I've been doing every year for almost 15 years, and the car is in great condition (plus it starts right up in the spring with no problems).

1) change the oil/filter before storage, and run the engine to get the fresh oil circulated through the engine.
2) fill the gas tank all the way and add Stabile. Run the engine enough to circulate the Stabile through all the gas lines.
3) put on scrap wheels/tires or pump up your tires to 45-50psi. They will get flat spots, which will go away eventually, but your first few drives will be bumpy.
4) remove the battery. Recharge it before you start the car again.
5) Depending on where you store the car: cover the intake and exhaust so mice don't go in and make nests. I use a few layers of aluminum foil. I also surround the car with mouse traps. Have someone check them for you frequently.
6) It's best to cover the car with a quality car cover and store it inside. This isn't really necessary unless you really care about the finish of the car.

Don't have anyone start it while you're gone. It'll just make a lot of moisture in the exhaust, which will just speed up the rust process.

Good luck on your deployment.

 

Just have your dad drive it to the grocery store once a week.

 

good points, john. i hibernate my hobby cars for about 3-4
months in the winter time and do pretty much the same.

only difference is i change the oil come Spring, not that it would
hurt anything if it's new oil in there while it's hibernating, but kind of
a waste since it won't be driven anyways. (i use synthetic motor oil).

and i don't use stabil. i just fill the tank and leave it. come spring,
i drive gently until the gas goes down to about 1/2 full and refill.
repeat, and by the 2nd tank the octane levels are nice and high
again.

i turn the tires every 3wks.

completely agree about NOT starting the car unless you drive it for
a good 30min or so until the moisture inside the pipe is dry. as long
as you're running synthetic really no reason to start the car as it
wont' usually go dry.

 

thanks guys! I'm going to fill it up with gas, get an oil change, fill the tires to 50psi, remove the battery, put some foil around the exhaust pipe and intake using painters tape to make a seal, and cover it and let it sit there in the driveway.

Upon return, remove cover and foil, reinstall battery, drive carefully, get the tires back to 35-40psi as normal, get an oil change, fill the gastank and spend some deployment money on the best tires money can buy!

Sounds failproof? I love you guys lol

 

hey i don't know too much about storing cars but good luck on your deployment and thank you for your service to our country!

 

^x2 come home safe

 

Don't bother with the oil change when you get the car back on the road.

Change the oil before storage. Run the engine a little to get that fresh oil on all the internal parts in the engine (at the same time, running the engine will get fresh gasoline/Stabile mixture throughout the fuel system). Used oil has contaminants (mild acids from combustion) that can be bad for the bearings (crankshaft and connecting rod bearings, mainly...acids ruin metals). The lubrication properties of old oil are also not as good as new. You want to get the old oil out of there.

When you take the car out of storage, the oil that is in the engine is essentially new (it doesn't deteriorate with time), so no need for another oil change.

I have always used Stabile, so I assume it works. Kenchan may be correct in not using it. Stabile may do nothing at all. It's cheap (at Walmart), so I use it. The important thing is to fill the tank with gas, so there is little air in there. That way, there is less chance for condensation (water) and less evaporation of the gasoline.

 

awesome, I'll check into the Stabile and decide if I wanna go for it. Everything else sounds good. I appreciate the help guys, and thanks for the kind wishes :P

 

where you going bro?

 

which ship are you on? I'm from HSL-42, and one of our Detachments are going out in april they just might be on your ship.

 

What is the max time this procedure allows? If I go for a year or 1 1/2 year do I need to anything extra?

 

If you are going to store the car for over a year, definitely flush the brake fluid out and replace it with fresh fluid (before storage). Brake fluid absorbs water. If the old fluid has any moisture in it, and it sits in a stored car for a long period of time, rust will form in various parts of the brake hydraulic system. A fresh brake fluid flush will protect your calipers, ABS system, etc.

 

When I went to Iraq I covered my s2k in my apartment lot. Had my buddy, or GF go out and start it up every once in awhile. When I got back got all fluids changed and was just fine. Was gone for a little over 6 months so..

 

Honda lists their preferred "mothballing" procedures in the owners manual. I think they want it put on stands if the time is going to exceed six months.

 

what if it's not going to exceed 6 months lol I'll have to check the owners manual. And I'm not sure which HSL is coming with us, but it might be 42 lol. I'm going to South America, just like I did from Oct 07 to April 08. Same exact deployment Europe was a better deploy of course lol