Z storage and maintenance during Winter

Gadgetech

Ham hocks in vegetable soup...

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Upstate Z Club

mishuko

i just don't want to come back in spring to the tire with 0 pressure and it's been resting on it for so long... lol i'm OCD like that i guess...

atleast i'll know if there is a slow leak or not! but then again new tires in te spring soooooo F-IT! lol

b15

No, not really. Most people here have two newer/nice cars. Why do you assume the second car is a beater? Is it because you don't have two cars? I see you're also in Missouri. I don't think you have really experienced a real winter. We get can get 5-7inches of lake effect snow in a matter of hours, I don't think you're going to enjoy driving your Z very much.

SouthArk370Z

If your tires were not leaking when you were driving it, they probably won't leak in storage. Still a good idea to take a look at them periodically.

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kenchan

Yep

b15

Agreed. I'm plenty happy driving my 'boring' Toyota in the winter. It has blizzaks and is a beast. Sure there are nice clear days, but when temps are subfreezing and roads are covered in salt, there's no reason the drive the Z with it's performance summer tires. Putting blizzaks/all seasons on a sports cars defeats the purpose of a sports car. Sure you can still drive it, but it's performance isn't the same.

mishuko

I saw a frs get snow banked turning off a semi-plowed road to residential road. let's just say the clearance is about the same, he has a lot less power, but all he did was spin his rears. I do not want to get into that position. Ever.

MacCool

Nah. I pump the tires up to around 40 psi when I cover the car for the winter and hook up the battery tender. I always glance at those tires every time I head back to the storage garage to fire up the tractor/snowblower. If they looked low, I'd check the pressure and if it was low, I'd likely pull the tire and try to find the source of the leak. I've never had to do that - never seen them go down.

b15

Yeah. In the winter, it's all about safety and practicality for me, especially when there's snow and ice. Both of which my other car does better.

Back on topic, I also overinflate my tires and I change the oil. I know some like to do it in the spring, but I like leaving fresh oil in there all winter. Whatever moisture that may have aaccumulated will be burned off after a good drive in the spring. I also give it a Full tank of gas, good detail, hook it up to a battery maintainer, put it under the cover and leave it alone until spring. She fires right up. Don't over complicate it, it's only 4-5months

mishuko

yea that's the plan right now, pump teh tires to 40-45psi, get the oil changed, give her a wash and wax (assuming it's not freezing) possibly clay depending on the weather, shove some wire gauze into the pipes, unhook the battery.

first time storing it as i es noob owner. actually first time storing a car period so i want to make sure i cover my bases.

SouthArk370Z

If you disconnect the battery, the ECM will forget all the tuning data and go back to the factory defaults. It will take a while for the ECM to relearn. In earlier models, you will need to reset the windows and you may also lose radio presets. Not a big deal but battery tenders are pretty cheap.

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kenchan

i put 45psi in there at 60F ambient last weekend and the weekend before for my G.

considering my garage can get to 15F in JAN (loss of 4.5psi in addition to natural air pressure loss from tires) i will be pressuring up the tires end of year to ensure that they are 42psi+

some basic science involved in tires pressure..but this all comes from actual experience too.

mishuko

yea i had to reset my windows, alarm beep, radio and clock this weekend after doing intakes... not a big deal. I might get a tender though since they are pretty damn cheap and my battery is getting on in age.

no tune yet... but that's also good to know that the tune may reset since i was considering it next year.

kenchan

btw, i have an ip camera in the garage and monitor humidity and temperature off my digital thermometer/hygrometer. it has night vision so i can see it any time. this helps calculate simulated tire psi, and also to prevent dew build up on my cars and tool cases on days when temp & humidity is significantly higher outside than inside the garage.

at sub 50F, cant run dehumidifier effectively (machine would freeze) so best not to open the garage door on those days, or run a fan and quickly close the garage door on trash days, etc. this also comes from experience over the years.

ive already posted about these things on this site though...

mishuko

HEY NOW no need to shoot fighting words =P i stalked your posts via google winterstorage and you said nothing about your camera!

problem is my garage is actually my parent's and i have taxed the spot of the older car so there will be in-and-out. Garage will be opened on a daily basis but i'll keep some baking soda in the car and keep an eye out for the moisture buildup inide the cabin.