Benstang02

Since i go to school and have no need for a car (plus i can't afford insurance) i store my mustang 8 months out of the year. What sort of things do i need to do before i put it into storage and after i take it out. Everything basic including fluids and stuff.

badsp0rk

Just disconnect the battery, no?

Benstang02

I did that and put some fuel stabalizer in the tank (which was full) but what do i do other than that. should i do anything with the tires and do i have to change any of the fluids just because they sat for so long?

badsp0rk

For this winter I just disconnected the battery. I'd reconnect it every month or so and start the engine up, just to get the juices flowing. The tires went flat from sitting for so long; if they're visibly too flat I just put more air into them. As for the fuel, I didn't put anything into the gas tank aside from gasoline. I needed an oil change when I the season ended, so I simply put off changing the oil until in a few weeks when I put the insurance back on the 'stang.. at that point I'll change the oil, re-tune the car (I de-tuned it), and finish my mid-pipe re-installation (aka, fixing the leak I have because I quickly, when I was sick, installed the replacement H-pipe from JBA, and haven't seen the car since), probably rotate the tires (and obviously fill them back up), and then go out and drive it for a bit.

Dunno if that's what you're *supposed* to do, but that's what a few people told me to do, and it seems to be working OK..

Benstang02

The thing that i heard about the oil is that it should be newer oil when it goes into storage. this is because old oil can eat away when it sits for long periods of time

badsp0rk

Dunno about that, never heard of it. Personally, I change my oil every 3,000 miles, and I use all synthetic.. most things I've read said that you can really get more like 5,000-8,000 miles out of each oil change, especially if you're using synthetic, so I figured if I had gone just barely 3,000 and let the oil sit it'd be fine? I'll find out when I change the oil in a few weeks eh?

Grog

Yes, technically it is better to change the oil before putting up rather than after because oil becomes acidic as it's being used. Don't really want that stuff sitting around for months in your engine.

rbstang

car cover.

Grog

I've also found (just took mine out of winter storage), that if you pump the tires up to about 40psi before parking, it GREATLY reduces flat-spotting. And definitely use gas stabilizer, add it before filling up and let it run through the fuel system while driving to where you park it, that way it gets thoroughly mixed and gets through the entire fuel system. Hope this helps.

Endostu

8 months is a long time....another way to prevent flat spotting on the tires would be just to put it on jack stands. I use to store mine that long too and i learned the first winter to just put her up in the air.