Winter garaging tips

[SG007]

Originally Posted by Xenostalgia

Oooh the white icey stuff outside my triple frappamocha cappacino :/ why didn't you say that

[carbuzzard]

Originally Posted by Mr. Luos

I try to drive mine around the block once a month when it is garaged.

I hope you live on a biiiiig block. Better is to wait for a dry day, preferably a warmer one, and take it out and drive it until it is thoroughly warmed up and then some. The idea is to get the exhaust system completely dried out. If you just drive it "around the block" you're just putting enough moisture in the exhaust system (water is one of the products of combustion) to cause it to rust. Mufflers will actually rust out on the top side is you do that.

Don't run the car in the garage with the garage door open (and don't run it with the garage door closed either--duh--though I've been told that a modern engine won't make enough CO to kill you, but I wouldn't want to try). With the door open, there will be humidity added to the air inside the garage and that will mean your car is getting moisture added.

Moisture is a killer for cars. And not just rust. More likely these days is mold. The ideal situation is to keep your car in a warm (60 degrees or so) dry garage with little in the way of temperature swings. Every time you warm and cool a car, condensation can form.

Keeping a car in a barn is probably the worst thing you can do, that and keeping it in a dirt (or similar) floor. Think of the omnipresent damp.

Oh, and make sure your car is safe from critters. Got mice? I'd keep a baited mousetrap under the hood just to catch the critter before he made desert out of my electrics etc.

A slow battery charger is better than disconnecting the battery. And make that car cover breathable. You want one that will keep the dust off the car, not trap moisture under it.

If you're taking a car out in a salt environment, don't keep it in a heated garage. That will only speed up any corrosion (warmer means faster chemical reactions).