Opinions on winterizing

SlickArrow

Hello folks,

Let me start by acknowledging the fact that there are at least three other threads that cover winterizing your Z, and i have read them all.

I am posting this topic as I have heard (and read here), some conflicting information on what is best to do.

There seems to be two overall approaches for those of us that do not intend to drive our Zs in the winter.

"Leave battery in and start Z up every week or month"

"Take battery out and leave on a battery tender"

Both schools of thought seem to encourage filling the tank to the top with Stabil. Other recommendations were a bit more thorough, and included not using the parking brake, leaving a cement block on the clutch, covering various openings to avoid critters, filling the tires to the max and jacking up the Z..

My major concern is with the battery, although all recommendations are welcome in any replies.

Here are the two conflicted ideas:

I have heard some say that continually starting up the Z in the cold weather to charge the battery every month or week puts unnecessary friction on the engine since the oil is very cold and basically you are continually exposing the engine to the worst conditions (first starts in cold weather).. also the idling engine may not really be providing enough to charge the battery sufficiently, while guzzling gas and reducing the fuel level over the course of the winter thereby increasing the risk of condensation entering the fuel tank / system.. also the heat caused by running the engine could cause condensation inside and outside the engine.. causing rust/deterioration/re-freezing damage etc..

I've also heard from a Nissan Service Manager that removing the battery will cause the Z to need to re-learn the throttle and it may need to go back to the dealership for that process if it doesn't re-learn it correctly.. He had suggested just starting it up monthly.. and I do know that ideally you want to keep the internal parts lubricated which means running the engine..

Here are the details of my situation:

- I do not have a garage
- I am located near Boston ( to give you an idea of the weather that will be experienced)
- My Z is in a self storage garage, that is NOT heated
- I do not plan on using her again until the salt and sand are swept off the road in the spring
- the self storage garage has no power outlets for me to plug a tender into
- The tires are filled with nitrogen, so I do not wish to inflate them to the max using air.
- I wish to do what is best for the engine considering the limitations.
- I would like to avoid unnecessary purchases and service visits/repairs.

now the ask:

I would appreciate any feedback and thoughts on this specific situation.

What would you do?
What have you done?
What worked and what did not?
Any good or bad stories you can share?
Any good web resources (other than google) you could share?

Thanking you all in advance for your thoughts, opinions, and feedback. It is much appreciated!

Thanks,
J

Modshack

That is Pure BS. Put stabil in the gas, inflate the tires, park the car and remove the battery and put on a maintainer at home. There is nothing special that has to be done after a battery disconnect. Periodically starting the car will NOT charge the battery sufficiently and will result in a shortened battery life as well as additional wear on engine components.

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kenchan

OP- in your situation go drive it on a nice dry day once every 2wks.

If you had a garage i recommend you plug the battery to a battery manager.
Place car on flat stoppers.

ProfessorDave

I am in a similar climate and the only garage stall is filled with my wife's Mazda6, I plan to my plan is to drive the Z for 15 - 30 minutes every couple of weeks. Rarely do we have snow/salt covered roads here for that amount of time. Of course, I don't know circumstances of your parking (other than the now garage).

I worry more about flat spots on the tires than the battery, although the point made about ECU relearning could be a factor.

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IDZRVIT

Park it and forget about it until spring. Option - take the battery out, bring it home, store in a cool, dry place and use a battery tender. I store two cars and two Harley's every winter. I don't do anything more than what I just stated. They start up each spring and every spring with no issues.

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SmoothZ

I live in MN and winterize my car. In fact, I've had 2 Z's in the past 15 years so I think I'm somewhat knowledgeable about storing the Z.

First thing I usually do is clean the car inside and out. If the car is going to sit for 6 months, I would invest in wheel dollies and store the car that way. Otherwise, jack the car up and leave it on stands. Store the wheels in a dry place.

Take the battery out of the car or leave a trickle charger on it. I guess it depends on whether you have outlets where you store it.

If you're worried about moisture, place rags in your exhaust tips (after your car is completely cooled off) and then wrap sandwich bags around the tips with a rubber band. Keeps the moisture and the mice out of your system.

I've read about fabric softener sheets being placed in the engine bay to keep out mice. I've never tried it, but I don't have problems with mice. I've been known to use hedge balls in the corners of the garage.

I definitely use Stabil with a full tank of gas. It's never hurt the car as far as I can tell. In fact, I can get over 400 miles to a tank on a good road trip. I highly suggest doing this process.

I've read about how people don't recommend starting the car every two weeks. I used to do that, but I don't do it anymore. I just leave the car off for the whole winter and then some.

I have a car cover. I wash, clay, wax and cover the car for the winter. It's just a nice touch to taking car of the Z. Come Spring, it's an awesome feeling to pull the cover off and see a fresh Z ready to be driven.

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daleks

Disconnecting the battery for awhile may cause the computer to lose the learned idle RPM. Once you reconnect the battery and start it up the car may die once or twice, but the computer should relearn the safe idle RPM by doing so. I wouldn't call this the "throttle" though.

SlickArrow

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It seems that taking the battery out and putting it on the battery tender is the best idea. I suppose it's a gamble with the idle re-learn, but I can't imagine it would seriously do any damage to the car's computer. It's going to the dealer for a service as soon as the spring hits anyway.

Tire dollies are a good idea too I suppose seeing as how the tires are way more expensive than the battery..

As far as moisture goes, I found this after talking with a buddy:

Carbag - Protective jackets for your car or motorcycle

I figure I can slap a car cover on, and then this. The desiccants should keep the car dry and rust free.. I just have to be sure not to eat them... good thing they put that on the bags..

really appreciate the responses and feedback!

- J

kenchan

tire dollies? you mean Flatstoppers?

i need to order another set for my G.

SlickArrow

yeah yeah, that's what I meant.

Do you think the tires will go flat after 5 months in the winter without these?

kenchan

yah, 5months at 35psi (or lower) will probably flat spot.

i pressure up to 42psi and put them on flatstoppers. even so, i turn them once a month by about quarter of a turn just to be safe.

nicknick

What?! WTF, get your wife's Mazda 6 out of the garage and put in your ZED. your Z is better and costs more. That is like putting in an old Datsun 120Y in the garage and leaving out a Ferrari. does not make sense.

kenchan

if you have amazon prime you can get it for $233 shipped.

Jeffblue

i already bought some base 18's and i'm getting some winter tires... no winterizing here should be fun