Greeting 440 A-Body folks. I`m in MA and with winter coming I have a question. Since I don`t have a climate controlled space for my `71 Duster w/ low comp 440 Torqueflite I`d like to keep the car running (not on the road but enough to keep the motor going and the tires moving). Brad Penn 10w40 green oil in it now. Should I switch to a light oil for winter and if so what grade? How often to start it up? Other ideas? Help! Thanks in advance. BTW any Mopar people in Eastern MA/ RI area please feel free to friend me on this forum.
Winter coming, need advice for this newbie...
- Thread starter bakertodd
- Start date
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440outlawdart
Well-Known Member
i would think that oil should be ok,at least start it up every 3 weeks or sooner,also put it on stands too
1968dartman
life is getting better!!
Also a good ides to treat your fuel with a stabilizer or you may run into problems. the oil in the car if fine but you should change it in the spring after sitting over the winter. Also make sure you check your antifreeze to insure that it will protect your motor in the cold of winter. I do not start my 340 all winter but I fog the motor before I put it away and I have not had any problems yet.
roadrunnerh
Well-Known Member
My winter process since owning my Road Runner since '93;
I change the oil (10W 30) and fill the tank with fuel. I never added any stabalizer. I keep my cars in a detached, non heated garage. I keep both on a Battary Tender. I start the cars about once every three weeks or once a month. Also, I put them in gear and back out the garage and back in a couple times. Do NOT start your car is it's super freezing, I usually wait until it's been in the high 30's or 40's for a couple days. Think about how thick the oil must be when it's 5 degrees. Anyways, hope it helps.
I change the oil (10W 30) and fill the tank with fuel. I never added any stabalizer. I keep my cars in a detached, non heated garage. I keep both on a Battary Tender. I start the cars about once every three weeks or once a month. Also, I put them in gear and back out the garage and back in a couple times. Do NOT start your car is it's super freezing, I usually wait until it's been in the high 30's or 40's for a couple days. Think about how thick the oil must be when it's 5 degrees. Anyways, hope it helps.
If you start it up and let it run for 10 or 15 minutes you will
be creating moisture in your engine. You will need to let the
car run for a lot longer so that all parts in the engine are
up to operating temperature, not just the coolant.
I was doing this same thing when WildCat here on the forum
had me take off my oil fill cap. It had milky condensation on
it. From that time forward I quit starting it unless I could
take it out and drive it to warm it up.
Hope this helps.
be creating moisture in your engine. You will need to let the
car run for a lot longer so that all parts in the engine are
up to operating temperature, not just the coolant.
I was doing this same thing when WildCat here on the forum
had me take off my oil fill cap. It had milky condensation on
it. From that time forward I quit starting it unless I could
take it out and drive it to warm it up.
Hope this helps.
roadrunnerh
Well-Known Member
What if you start it and run it for 30-40 minutes?
moper
Well-Known Member
I'm close - Eastern CT anyways... Last winter my '65 was in the weather all winter, and it's not garaged over the summer. Same oil. No problems. What you do want to make sure of is the car is washed and waxed. I don;t like car covers myself, but a good coat of wax will keep the crap off and let the wind blow things dry. Try to store it on rock, concrete, or pavement - wet grass/earth isnt good. I unhook the battery. I left mine outseide in it because I had to plow the area, but if the car can be stagnant remove it. Fill the car cabin, cowl, engine bay, and trunk with drier sheets - mice hate them, they last all winter, and the car doesn't smell like moth balls. When you do run it - let it warm up completely. Preferably drive it for a few miles. If you can't drive it, let it run for a while an not just at idle. Lastly - the gas you can get now will be sour in 4 months. So use a stabilizer and fill the tank. When it's 10 % ethanol it evaporates very fast - much faster than it used to.
1968dartman
life is getting better!!
I agree with moper exceopt for the battery. Do not bring a bettery indoors for the winter if possible. Make sure it is fully charged, unhook it and leave it in the cold. The worst enemy of a battery is heat, so keep it cold. The only reason I kinow this is I used to work for a forklift company and was told this by the company we bought our batteries from. Ever since then that is what I have been doing with GREAT results.
My car has a kill switch under the battery; will keeping it off do the same thing as disconnecting the battery? thanks
I`ll be backing up Eastern CT`s "First lady of Jazz" Pat Mitchell along with the area`s top Jazz pianist Kent Hewitt at the Steakloft in Mystick this Sunday night 10/28 6-9 pm.....and thanks for the info.
inkjunkie
Well-Known Member
Care to explain why when I would leave the bike battery in the cold over the winter it was only good for one season yet when I stored it inside I would get several out of them?
1968dartman
life is getting better!!
Was your battery fully charged and unhooked?
adriver
Blazing Apostle
Sounds like a lot of work. You said you were going to keep it running, but why?
Are you not going to drive it?
You know, if it was me, and I was not going to drive the car for a 6 months why not just treat it like a boat.
Fog the cylinders and pickel it? Fuel treatment and battery care would finish it out.
But I'm lazy.
Otherwise, like he said, can't you take it out and run it on a salt free road or something?
Short runs are not desireable. The world won't end, but that's not the best thing.
They also say in the oil ad, that 90 percent of engine wear is on start up.
Who knows about that one.
Are you not going to drive it?
You know, if it was me, and I was not going to drive the car for a 6 months why not just treat it like a boat.
Fog the cylinders and pickel it? Fuel treatment and battery care would finish it out.
But I'm lazy.
Otherwise, like he said, can't you take it out and run it on a salt free road or something?
Short runs are not desireable. The world won't end, but that's not the best thing.
They also say in the oil ad, that 90 percent of engine wear is on start up.
Who knows about that one.
Driving the car is an option; I live in a hilly area - the highest elevation between Boston and Providence so the roads drain well. Driving on a totally dry day with temps solidly above freezing is possible. Thanks for the help!
95teetee
Well-Known Member
after I bought my Stealth, my '73 Scamp sat (outside) for four years (due to lack of interest). When I decided I had to get it going again, I put a battery in it, added some fresh fuel, and fired it up.
So, my opinion is, shut it off and come back to it next spring lol.
So, my opinion is, shut it off and come back to it next spring lol.
Mopar to ya
Well-Known Member
I fill the tank and add a bottle of Seafoam. I change the oil with the same 20W50 Amsoil I always use. I park it in a cold, unheated storage unit. If the weather is warm and no snow, I may get the car out and drive it a bit. Otherwise, It sits in storage on it's tires until spring when I pull it out and drive it home. Let's face it, it's going to be five months tops. What do you really need to do for that little time?
Mopar to ya
Well-Known Member
Ooh! Ooh! I can! Batteries slowly lose their charge. A fully charged battery will not freeze, but a low or undercharged battery will. As the battery slowly loses it's charge it becomes vulnerable and will freeze. That can destroy batteries, or at the very least shorten their life. And small motorcycle batteries are especially vulnerable because they don't have a large charge to start with. Keep them warm and they last a lot longer than leaving in the cold.
moper
Well-Known Member
I don't really care about a battery. I care about being able to start the car when I need to, and I care about the condensation around the battery that rusts out the tray and fenderwell. That's not big problem in many places - but here we can go from the 20s to the 60s in the same day, and the parts get so wet they just drip with condensation. It rains inside my portable garage...lol. The battery gets soaked, and the water washes the acid vapor residue down the sides, onto the tray. That's why I remove it much more than battery life.
On the heat -too much heat will harm a battery. My garage is 65°. I don't leave it on the wood stove...lol.
Constant cold - above freezing temps - slows the chemical reaction that produces energy. That's why the plates and acid last longer in the cold and why cold cranking amps are important in terms of a battery rating. But once you get below freezing - expecially with small batteries like tractors and bikes - the electrolite can contain frozen water, which totally kills the checmial reaction and it cannot be "fixed". Every try to charge a batterythat completely froze? They never take a good charge. That's why. I pull my lawn tractor battery and the battery from my trialer brakes and stick them on a shelf. If I owned a bike I'd pull that too.
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