idling car in wintertime?

[argniest]

I have heard different opinions about this, and have been giving it some thought. I have a 78 280Z that I have running but needs some TLC. Its wintertime here in the midwest and I have my Z car in a heated garage during the winter. The temperature generally never gets below freezing in the garage since its insulated and heated during the day when I am around, and can get up to 65 or 68 degrees when I have on the heaters full blast for a little while.

So anyway, I put fresh gas in it in december 1st and also add some seafoam because I heard its good to stablize gas in the winter. I got to drive it a few times this winter after all snow melted. but that was pure luck. Usually we have snow all year or enough to make me never want to drive my baby on the salted chemical filled roads.

Soooooooooooooo that means I want to back it part of the way out of the garage and let it idle till it gets warm. I am doing some electrical work, and also new custom stereo in it. So I am using up the battery too some nights. I have let it idle a few times this winter for about 20 minutes, which is about how long it seems to take to get warmed up.

To me, it doesnt seem like it should matter if I am driving around 20 miles an hour, or letting it idle or goosing it while in park to rev up to 1500rpm or 1800rpms while its warming up. Does the car really know its not being driven while its warming up??? No. it doesnt know.

So what is the school of thought about letting an old z car sit and idle once every few weeks during the 100 days of winter?

Thank you

[cygnusx1]

The oil does not get up to temp at idle, or revving in neutral, and while it warms up slowly, it runs rich. Extra hydrocarbons make their way into the oil and don't burn off like they do when the oil gets very hot from driving. Basically it contaminates your oil, which in turn, can do damage to seals and possibly bearing shells. It's not a huge deal, but you should know the facts. Also, your exhaust might not heat up all the way to the tail pipe, which allows condensation from the exhaust to wet the insides of the system, leading to rust. It's best to let it sit with a fresh oil change. Put it on a trickle charger or a solar charger if no power is available.

Search for Winter storage tips.

Edited January 13, 2011 by cygnusx1

[gnosez]

Don't start it up, period. Remove coil wire, put more air in the tires, top off all fluids and leave the key alone.

Restart the car with the coil wire off until you have oil pressure. Then reconnect, bleed the tire pressure back down to normal and start. Now change the oil.

[cozye]

Yeah, same question comes up with motorcycles all the time. The general consensus is to not start it unless you are going to drive it, pretty much for the reasons above. No good can come from it.

[FastWoman]

+1

Idling is hard on an engine and especially the exhaust, counterintuitive though that might be. An occasional drive during the winter is a good thing. It's even better if you do a little bit of hard accelerating (pedal to the metal) after the car warms up. This is different from revving the engine in the driveway.

[SteveJ]

For the battery, get a trickle charger to maintain its health in the winter.

[argniest]

The oil does not get up to temp at idle, or revving in neutral, and while it warms up slowly, it runs rich. Extra hydrocarbons make their way into the oil and don't burn off like they do when the oil gets very hot from driving. Basically it contaminates your oil, which in turn, can do damage to seals and possibly bearing shells. It's not a huge deal, but you should know the facts. Also, your exhaust might not heat up all the way to the tail pipe, which allows condensation from the exhaust to wet the insides of the system, leading to rust. It's best to let it sit with a fresh oil change. Put it on a trickle charger or a solar charger if no power is available.

Search for Winter storage tips.

I know this is a generalization, but how many times idling a car will end up screwing it up. One time, 10 times, 100 times? Just wondering what kind of scale we are talking about here. Rusting out a tailpipe doesnt bother me as much as contaminating the oil...which leads to other bigger problems as you eluded too.

If the problem from idling in the wintertime is contaminated oil, then a fresh oil change after winter and before serious driving would sovle that problem, no?

PS

How long does it take, do you think, to recharge a battery if you were idling the car?

Thanks for the clarification of this topic.

Thanks

[cozye]

It would take hours to recharge a battery running at idle if the battery was significantly drained. If you held the car at 3000 rpm's you might get it done in 30 minutes.

[DatsunZsRule]

Many people are against running it during storage for reasons listed above.

This is what I do and I have owned my current Z now for 8 years with no problems - I make sure the gas is filled up all the way, dump a can of Sea Foam in the tank and pull out the battery and put the battery in my basement on a battery tender.

Once in a great while during the 5 to 6 months it's stored during winter I will go out and put the battery in and run it good for about 25 min. I do this probably once every other month. Reason I do this is because I want to occasionally circulate the oil and get oil lubrication to the top half of the motor so the top half of the motor doesn't sit dry over winter storage.

I do agree that running it too much isn't good either as it can severely contaminate the oil but not doing it at all isn't great either because the top half of the motor remains dry for 5 to6 months. Thats why I only run mine just once in a great while to circulate the oil and let it warm up good then come spring before I take it out, I give it a fresh oil change. My Z purrs like a kitten every year with no problems what so ever. Never uses a drop of oil during summer driving

Just my personal opinion on the subject

Edited January 13, 2011 by DatsunZsRule

[sblake01]

That's the second mention of Sea Foam as a storage agent. Why wouldn't you use a product like Sta Bil which is made for storage. Seafoam is a cleaner/motor treatment (whatever that part of the description means) while Sta Bil is fuel stabilzer. It's made to be used in stored vehicles while Sea Foam is designed to be run through the system. Different products for different uses......

[doradox]

I know this is a generalization, but how many times idling a car will end up screwing it up. One time, 10 times, 100 times? Just wondering what kind of scale we are talking about here. Rusting out a tailpipe doesnt bother me as much as contaminating the oil...which leads to other bigger problems as you eluded too.

If the problem from idling in the wintertime is contaminated oil, then a fresh oil change after winter and before serious driving would sovle that problem, no?

PS

How long does it take, do you think, to recharge a battery if you were idling the car?

Thanks for the clarification of this topic.

Thanks

Combustion byproducts leave acids in your oil. Starting a cold engine and then shutting it off leads to water condensing in the engine and exhaust. Acid + water. They do their damage while your car sits waiting for the spring oil change. Rich mixture on start and poorly sealing cold rings and cylinders accelerate the contamination. There's no good reason to start your engine if you are storing your car. The parts car I bought a while back was "stored" outside and hadn't been run in 15 years or so. When I pulled the valve cover everything was coated in a film of .....oil.

Steve

Steve

[cygnusx1]

The top end of an intact motor will take years and years to dry out enough to rust, if the car is in an average garage space. No need to worry about top end lubrication. My 280Z motor sat on my garage floor for about 6 years, neglected, untouched. When I dropped it onto the 240Z, it was in great shape upon inspection, and turned over easily by hand. I squirted some WD-40 into the spark plug holes about 4 years into the neglect. Before I re-ignited the motor, I did, pour oil over the cam, and cranked the starter with no ignition to build some oil pressure.

Here is the motor firing after over 6 years on the garage floor.

Edited January 14, 2011 by cygnusx1