How often do you guys start your car over winter storage?

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I add Marvel Mystery Oil + Sea Foam, fill the tank, drive home, and disconnect the battery or put it on a maintainer for the winter.
 
Some years I have left them sit through the winter, but when it gets into the 50 degree range, I see nothing wrong with starting them up, been doing it for years and no problems. If I had heated storage then I would not bother with it.
 
How many folks start their boats throughout the winter? LOL....And I don't mean Georgia winters either Rusty.....
 
CFD244 said:
How many folks start their boats throughout the winter? LOL....And I don't mean Georgia winters either Rusty.....
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Only in December... 'till Musky closes on the 15th. Breaking ice is too hard on the boat after that anyhow....
dec82009muskiehunt 002.jpg
 
I put mine away when they start salting the roads and don't touch them until it's rained a good 2 weeks to wash all that salt away.
I just let them sit. I've never had any problems and most of the time the battery is still charged also.
 
I'm just outside Chicago and I don't start it till April/May. Battery pulled in the basement since Nov 1st and on a tender. Full tank with stabilizer and fresh oil change since Oct 31st.
 
I usually run mine every 7-10 days. The rear-end is up on jack stands so I "drive" it about 5 miles each time. Slowly up through the gears (to about 35 mph) brake to a stop and do it a few more times. Usually about 30 minutes or so.

However, this year I'm not running it at all. My buddy is rebuilding the engine (if it ever gets out of the machine shop)

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Post #32 has it correct. I may charge my battery once over the winter, as long as it's at 12.7, that's float charge. I am straight west of Chicago on the Mississippi. If you are starting your car up and running it till the thermostat opens, you haven't gotten the oil hot enough to get rid of the moisture. Think about it.
 
Sounds like all of this is acceptable advice. My cars are stored inside, unheated and uninsulated. Temps don't get lower than 17 degrees, an then only for a short time. I start mine about once a month. But what is also important to me is to avoid flat spots in the tires. I jack up the car and spin the wheel about 45 degrees at least once during our 10 weeks of winter.
 
3forty said:
Does he own a boat?
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During the Indiana winter months I get the lawn tractor out every couple of weeks and start it and drive it around the yard, the same routine with the snow blower, Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day I have the snow blower going and running it up and down the drive.
Not the exact same thing, but I fire up the furnace every couple of weeks in the summer and get the house up to 80, then in the winter I set the AC on and get the house down to 60 at least once a month.
I have an alarm clock that I don’t use since I retired, but once a month I set it to some random time in the early am hours just to make sure it will still wake me if needed.
 
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Once my cars are sleeping I do not touch them until the spring thaw, I disconnect the batteries and have never had a problem after the winter sleep.
Joe
 
Hello all, that has been a question here in Ontario among friends. We have kinda agreed on, but not everyone, that if you start your Auto up, keep it running till its well warmed up. Condensation causes problems. I just crank mine over a turn to move pistons, valves, springs etc.
Wish the old doll was that easy.
 
All you are doing by cranking a turn is scrubbing oil off surfaces to help them rust. Either run it or forget it, just like storing a float plane over the Winter you NEVER touch the prop, as the rings and lifters will just scrub oil off.
 
I agree with either start it up and at least get it to full operating temp or better yet drive it around, or just leave it alone until winter is over. Short cold starts that don't let the oil get up over 212 degrees to boil off contaminants is doing more harm than good. On that note it's more difficult to get the oil warmed up when the engine is spinning slowly and isn't under any load.

I'm lucky here in the Rockies region, we have snow and salt but in between snowstorms it gets sunny and melts most/all of the snow away. So I just drive my Duster once every week or two when the roads are dry and there's minimal salty snowmelt runoff. I get withdrawal symptoms going much longer than that without driving my Duster anyway lol.

As I type this we had a storm a couple days ago which just mostly melted today but this morning my phone said it was 2 degrees out so that was a "No thanks" to driving the Duster (car does fine but heater just ain't that strong). Aaand we're getting another storm tomorrow, grrrr...
 
I start mine every couple of weeks get to op temp shut her down and put her to bed
 
I start them a couple times, but mostly just to hear them rumble and smell the shop up with good smelling exhaust LOL....I’m in central MN and it gets cold, but some cars are in my insulated shed, usually stays above freezing in there. Also a few in the heated side of the shed so they stay warm
 
my68barracuda said:
During the Indiana winter months I get the lawn tractor out every couple of weeks and start it and drive it around the yard, the same routine with the snow blower, Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day I have the snow blower going and running it up and down the drive.
Not the exact same thing, but I fire up the furnace every couple of weeks in the summer and get the house up to 80, then in the winter I set the AC on and get the house down to 60 at least once a month.
I have an alarm clock that I don’t use since I retired, but once a month I set it to some random time in the early am hours just to make sure it will still wake me if needed.
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Don't forget to open the heater valve during the summer. Like other things, "if you don't use it, you could lose it". I also at times only start my car once a m onth, to keep things in working order, but I always add a little fuel, for a quick start, instead of a ongoing cranking, until the accelerator pump decides to give a little squirt (while sitting, the pump seal seems to lose its sealing capabilities).
 
For the past 35 years I have stored my Dart in an unheated garage. Stabilized the fuel, disconnected the battery, attached a trickle charger and left till spring. Never a problem starting once the fuel hits the carb after several pumps.
 
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