Winter Storage Maintainence Prep Etc

[aerowise]

I can't drive my 2002 in the winter, I live in Colorado, tons of snow and only have summer tires for her. I drive my '91 Saab 900 in the winter.

I know it needs t be driven when possible and it will be on occasion, but when not possible should I at least start her up and idle her to a good temperature? Or will this only tease her and piss her off?

Also, should I do anything to prep the brakes and tires for the idle cold months? Car cover or not?

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks

[M3M3M3]

one of the many threads on this topic found with quick search on "winter and storage"......

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,57/page,viewtopic/t,376533/highlight,winter+storage/

[wegweiser]

I try to fire mine up (and get it up to temperature) at least once every two weeks. Maybe rock it back and forth to make sure the rear drums haven't stuck to the rear shoes. I don't park my car with the hand brake on OR the transmission in gear, if it's going to be long term. Wheel chocks!

I don't worry too much about stabilizing the fuel in the tank, if it's only a few months. Others may disagree. Check for leaking fuel at O rings (on the carb, or if it's a tii, on top of the fuel pump) if they get too dried out. Running it in the driveway every two weeks seems to do the trick for me in Western PA.

Whatever you do - don't drive it in road salt. It'll wait patiently for the right dry, salt-free and rain rinsed day in the spring.

[Nicad]

I have always heard to avoid starting it unless you bring it up to full operating temp (OIl). I use Stabil gas treatment in mine. I recently heard that the Stabil does not like the Ethanol in today's gas. Not sure if this is true or not. Clean the car inside and out, make sure fluids are fresh. Plug up the exhaust and intake in case rodents decide to make it home (Happens quite often).

Have a fire extinguisher handy if ever you are using Ether or raw gas down the carb to get things started.

[landon]

I had a 1600 years ago that i used to start up when in storage. I let it go a couple of months at one point and when i started it the distributor housing gasket leaked - i attributed it to drying out for lack of use. Also seemed to have more electrical gremlins show up the longer it sat. My daily driver now sits the garage for about 3-4 months because of snow. I start it every 2-3 weeks, let it warm up to temp, run the A/C, all the lights and drive it around the driveway. Maybe I am causing more harm but it is ready to go in the spring and everything works.