Long-Term Storage Tips?
 

I'm going to garage my car for about the next 6 months.

Any tips on protecting it, eg using penetrating and fogging oil into the spark plug holes?

How about moving it back and forth a few feet every month to prevent bald spots on the tires where they touch the ground?

Thanks!

What is your climate like, dry, humid? Will you be able to inspect the car from time to time?

Suggest washing the car to remove debris more easily now, then in 6 months. Some folks then wax the car. If the car was exposed to road deicing chemicals, hose down the underside of the chassis.

Make sure the car is DRY before parking!

Clean/vacuum the interior of the car to remove debris plus food that might attract rodents. Rodents can damage wiring so beware.

If you have rodent, they can nest in the climate system via vents and engine air intake filter area. Can put steel wool in tail pipe and some type of screen over the vents and intake. on't totally seal the engine intake or exhaust.

If using rodent traps make sure someone is watching them!

Change oil/filter.

Fill gas tank and fuel stabilizer. If your area sells non-ethanol use this. Operate the car long enough to circulate the new fuel and stabilizer.

Aluminum parts such as the valve cover and alternator housing can corrode over time. A spray of WD-40 can help prevent this.

On engine pickling. There are anti-rust oils such as STA-BIL Engine Fogger which will work much better then engine oil (suggest not using WD-40 in engine). Suggest removing the valve cover and spraying any steel parts with anti-rust oil.

There are dehydrator engine desiccant spark plugs that replace the normal ones for storage. These plugs absorb moisture.

Check the coolant for the last time it was changed. While the antifreeze chemicals don't degrade, the corrosion chemicals do.

Park the car with the emergency brake off.

For a car with A/C, prior to shutting engine off operate A/C for 15 minutes to lube seals. Would also operate all climate controls.

A battery will lose approx 3% of its charge every month. Disconnect battery. If possible charge it up once a month.

Tire flat spots can happen. Push the car one way or the other every few months to have it sit on a new tire spot.

When starting the engine. Suggest removing plugs, then cranking the engine over until the oil light goes off.

If having the time, remove valve cover and pour engine oil over the valve train and cam gears.

Might make sure the hood release system is working and lubed at the latch. Don't want to return and find the hood will not release.

Thanks.

Humidity is about 64% and bare metal rusts in my garage.

I'd like to spray something down the spark plug holes. Must I use Defogger, or can I use PBlaster or something similar (and cheaper)?

Should I crank the engine, spark plugs out, every month to prevent engine parts from seizing?

The desiccator spark plugs have 14mm threads. Is that the right thread size for my Camry?

Will you be away from the car for 6 months or just not driving it?

PBlaster is a penetrating fluid, you don't want this.

STA-BIL is $5.95 a can. Check sporting goods stores having a boat section, Cabela's sells it.

Threads 14 mm X 1.25.

Thanks.

I found and used the Sta-Bil Fogger you recommended.

I also ordered the desiccant spark plugs.

Not driving it. It will sit in my garage until my other car dies or gets totaled.

I use desiccant for my cameras and lenses which I store in plastic bags. The humidity is so bad I have to change the 5gm x 3 desiccant bags almost every other day.

If available might start the engine every month and warm it fully up. Operate all the controls including A/C. If auto trans move shifter though gears, back car in/out of garage and use brakes.

If not going this route, could crank engine every month. First remove any spark plugs. When complete fog cylinders again.

The odds of the engine seizing in 6 months are nil. More likely is cylinder surface rust caused by moisture.

Many desiccants can be baked in the kitchen oven for a time at a set temp to drive out the moisture, then reused. Some will change color when reaching their moisture limit, then change back once dry again. Do some research here.

Thanks
 

What are the pros and cons of starting the car once a month vs just turning the key without the ignition system activated?

The experts state just warming the engine up leads to excess unburned fuel, moisture, acids, etc. in the oil and that this is bad. They state the car must be driven on the road to burn all this out of the oil.

If concerned here, just change the oil in say 3 months.

The pros here are you don't need to do much to the engine towards storage. This being to fill the tank and make sure the battery is charged when running.

The engine running (with higher RPM once warmed up) will assure that all areas of the engine are covered in oil to prevent rust.

Engine running can operate trans/diff, A/C, power brakes, etc and back car frd/bk.

If going the crank over only route. Best to fog after each crank over operation as the rings will do a great job of scrapping any oil off the cylinder walls.

A crank only is not going to get the oil to all areas of the engine. You will need to keep the battery charged by some means.

Will still need to do the rest of the storage items.

Thanks.

I just received the spark plug desiccators today. However, they require a 13/16" spark plug, but even that's too loose. Above the 6 point (which is 3/4") are is a rounded area that blocks the socket from connecting to the plastic on the desiccant. I'm reluctant to file it down, because it might create a hole, exposing the desiccant.

Looseness is a problem, because I have to have a grip to remove them from the deep spark plug well.

I contacted Amazon, which couldn't help.

Any suggestions?

Link to product?

How about returning them for the correct size.

Thought Amazon stated All sellers must now abide by Amazon's own return policy on products they fulfilled.

Good news, bad news. 4 spark plugs fit perfectly in my old Volvo. As to the Toyota, I filed down the top circular area and a 3/4" deep socket fits. However the 3/4" socket is too thick to go down the spark plug hole. I'm so close to getting this right. Any suggestions?

Do you have a link to the product for a photo?

Strangely, they raised the price to $63. I only paid $27 for a set of 8.

That's a pretty BIG price increase!

Does the socket have extra thick walls or is the issue the plug designer used a 3/4 inch hex drive and the socket diameters are just too wide?

A few ideas:

Have ground sockets diameters down to make fit.

There are "thin wall" deep sockets available. What the real diameter they are is unknown.

The plug has a nipple on top. Perhaps can attach a stiff hose, flexible hollow rod, etc. that would slide firmly over nipple. Use this to install and screw in the plug. Leave the hose, rod in place to remove plug.

Can you cut a slot into the nipple for use with a blade screw driver?

You don't need to torque down these plugs. Apply a little silicone grease to the plastic threads to aid in reducing thread friction and seal the thread contact area. Then screw in best you can without damaging the plug or making it difficult to remove.

Thanks.

I believe that cutting a hole in the nipple will expose the desiccant to room air.

I'm thinking that a 7/8" or slightly less rigid cylinder, like a hose might work.

In addition, I found these thin wall spark plugs:

https://www.toolnut.com/hand-tools/s...ocket-3-4.html


Amazon describes it a 1.1 x 2 x 4.5", but the 1.1 and 2 don't make sense, the shape being cylindrical.

I just measured the width of the spark plug hole: 7/8", so I don't *think* that those thin wall sockets will fit.

Thanks!

Could try to glue a plastic pipe as a handle to the plug. Assume the plug is made from polycarbonate or acrylic.

Find a thin wall PVC pipe OD (white water pipe) at a hardware store that fits snuggle over the hex socket area and inside the spark plug tube. Or a pipe OD that fits snuggle over the plug nipple.

File the plug or drill pipe to get it to fit snuggle. Then glue parts together using a multi-purpose cement.

The pipe now serves as an extension of the plug to install it.

Thanks. I'll try them out.

I tried flexible PCV tubing, but it would not fit over the spark plug desiccator and be < 1" in outer diameter.

The problem with gluing something to the spark plug desiccators is that I need to put them into my microwave to renew the desiccant, so size and lack of metal are important.