Car storage question?

[rayg]

I will be leaving my car in the garage in Florida for about 5-6 monthss. Will have a trickle charger on the battery and a neighbor will run the car once in a while. My question, should I leave the A/C on and let it run for that short time once in a while, or tun it off? Don't know if any seals in the A/C would dry out in the car if not run.
Rayt

[togor]

If the charger is going to be connected to the battery and plugged in continuously, then it's a good idea for it to be one that can switch itself on and off. Some people call those "maintenance chargers". I have a 2/10/50A charger, and I'll use it in the winter on the low setting for a day or so to bring up the battery on vehicle that I'm not using, but I wouldn't leave that charger on continuously all the time.

If someone is going to get in there and start the car periodically, then yes I would have them run the AC as well. And when they run the engine, I'd suggest a good 20 minutes or so to dry things out. A running engine generates moisture, and in a cold engine some of that moisture goes into the crankcase oil, for awhile. It's important to get that case hot enough so that the oil drys out. And probably not a bad idea to put some fuel stabilizer in the gas tank as well, since that gas is going to be there for awhile.

The other one that crosses my mind (more of a northern car thing) is whether you have tires that bleed down air. Steel wheels are pretty good, but sometimes cast aluminum rims can leak at the bead because of salt corrosion. It sort of is what it is, and in this case there probably isn't a lot you can do about it except maybe have a small portable compressed air tank when you return. Farmers sometimes use these small tanks (say 7gal) to lug air from the shop to the field.

[barretcreek]

If you can get non-ethanol 100% gasoline, run down the tank as low as you dare and put in five gallons or so. Bloody ethanol decays so fast I'm not sure stabilizer works well.

[togor]

Good point on the Ethanol. Stabilizer works in my small engine tanks but I'm putting premium Ethanol free gas in them.

[Roadkingtrax]

Id do an oil change before you leave, and after you get back.

[noslack327]

Jeep says to run the A/C for 30 min as winter approaches, keeps seals ok.

[Allen]

Long term storage would require completely draining the fuel tank, changing all other fluids and putting the car up on blocks. For 5 to 6 months it would be best to just drive the car around for 30 minutes or so every couple of weeks. This will lubricate everything in the trans, differential and engine along with circulating the Freon/oil mix in the a/c system, engine coolant system and power steering. It will also get rid of any minor corrosion and surface rust on the brake rotors, starter and alternator internals. The longer your car and any part of it sits idle the less dependable it will become.

[Roadkingtrax]

Jeep says to run the A/C for 30 min as winter approaches, keeps seals ok.

I thought that was one reasoning behind the cycling of the compressor clutch during defrosting of the front windshield?

[togor]

I thought that was one reasoning behind the cycling of the compressor clutch during defrosting of the front windshield?

I think he means putting the jeep away for the winter.

[Mark in Ottawa]

Friends of ours were telling us the other night that they lost both their cars and part of their garage when their trickle charger started a fire in one of the cars while they were wintering in Florida. Apparently this was a not uncommon problem with some chargers. It might be safer to just back the car into the garage so that it's easy to give the battery a boost when you come home, if that's necessary.