Drive car 150 miles a yr.How to store ?

[greeneyegi]

I want ideas on how people deal with their cars if they only run it a couple times a yr.
Im in N cal so weather is nice. Im sure different areas have different degrees of weather so
its different.

 

[WE4REAL]

Mine gets driven more than that but not too much. I don't really how many miles in a year it gets driven. Less than 1000 I'm sure. Mine stays in a normal non climate controlled garage year round. I change the oil once a year. When I do drive her, it's usually for 30-45 mins or more to get it warmed up good and burn off any condensation. Nothing special really, other than routine maintenance for me. I could use a battery trickle charger but don't currently have one.

 

[greeneyegi]

Ive had car 8 + yrs and have only put 2500 miles on it. Yellow top just failed after 7 yrs.

 

[BEATAV8]

de-pressurize the powermaster brake booster if it still has one. No reason to park it for extended periods with 800psi stored in the accumulator.
just key off and gently pump the brake pedal until the accumulator is evacuated. You'll know because the pedal will change from normal to rock hard.
(Make sure the pass side reservoir isn't overfilled otherwise you'll have a mess!)

 

[Jerryl]

Oil type does impact "how/what to" imo.

 

[greeneyegi]

Oil type does impact "how/what to" imo.

explain a bit more? Ive got a roller motor and use vr1 oil.

 

[Jerryl]

I don't have data so, it's an opinion.

I ran the brown test in my garage one time, and used two identical metal rods dipped in conventional and synthetic motor oil. I let them hang and went back a week later to evaluate the oil film on the rod. That's when I made my decision: Cars that tend to sit for long periods at a time, should be using conventional oil.

Cars that got driven very frequent, "daily", can get away with running synthetic oil.
However, my buddy ran Royal Purple oil in his car and it was leaking everywhere. This is on a motor that the intake has never been off. He switched back to conventional oil, and the leaking stopped.

Hope that helps.

 

[Frederickdav]

de-pressurize the powermaster brake booster if it still has one. No reason to park it for extended periods with 800psi stored in the accumulator.
just key off and gently pump the brake pedal until the accumulator is evacuated. You'll know because the pedal will change from normal to rock hard.
(Make sure the pass side reservoir isn't overfilled otherwise you'll have a mess!)

This is the first I've heard of this. So what do you do to it when it comes out of storage?

 

[BRAD_PADGETT]

This is the first I've heard of this. So what do you do to it when it comes out of storage?

You simply turn the key on and the powermaster pump runs and fills up the accumulator ball. That's it. This technique of depressurixation and yearly repacing brake fluid in the reservoir extends the life of the powermaser greatly and precludes alot of failures. I am three years into a new powermaster unit using the technique and have no issues.

 

[BEATAV8]

What Brad said

 

[BEATAV8]

My powermasters are 15yrs old. Simply de-pressurize when not in use and fresh brake fluid in the reservoirs every year.

 

[Nick Micale]

My first special order T was at the dealer in Dec. 1986, and it now has 9500 miles on it!

The fuel pump died in the late 90's, and since then I have only used 110 octane race fuel which contains lead. The current pump gas will start loosing octane in 3-4 weeks, and will turn into junk in a year or less.

It is started a few time during the year, and maybe one or 2 short trips across town a year.

Oil is always Valvoline ZR-1 with 1/2 bottle of ZDDP, and RMI-25 and water in the radiator.

Of course the PM accumulator has been replaced.

 

[Dialtone76]

I drive my car only in the spring/summer. Put on about 600 miles this year so far. I depressurize every time I park the car and not planning on driving it the next day. For sure I do it when putting away for the season. I oil change twice a year usually, and do the brake fluid 2-3 times a year too. I want both to be clean when I park it for the winter. It sits in my garage with a full tank of gas and I typically don't start it all during winter. The battery is out on a tender for the duration.

So far I haven't had any issues when I have wanted to drive it.

 

[marcus jul]

We both need to drive more!