I own a 2005 tC and I live in Lake Placid, NY where the winters are cold and the roads are salty. I've decided to store it for the winter and drive around a beater for the winter. My main question is this: I am going to jack the car off the ground when it is in storage. However, I am not sure where I should place the jack stands under the car so that the springs do not sag. If anyone can help me on this it would be greatly appreciated. Also I would like to hear any tips that you guys have about storing this vehical and such. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

Personally I wouldn't bother storing it. I live more or less across Lake Champlain from you, but I'm not even going to bother storing my motorcycle for the winter, let alone my tC. If you don't want to drive it in the snow and slush, that's all well and good, but it's a good idea to take the car out for a drive occasionally when the roads are dry (make sure it's a long enough drive to get the engine and exhaust system thoroughly warmed up, or you could end up with condensation in your exhaust that might contribute to premature muffler rust-through).

But if you really prefer to just put the car away for the winter, follow the same basic procedures that you'll find for winter storage on a lot of motorcycle sites. Namely, try to avoid parking on concrete (if you have a garage with a concrete floor, it can be helpful to put a sheet of plywood on the floor to park on); use fuel stabilizer (and make sure to run the engine for a while with the stabilized fuel to make sure it gets into the entire fuel system, or you could end up with clogged injectors come springtime); disconnect your battery and put it on a tender; change your oil and filter; and a lot of people say it's a good idea to remove the sparkplugs, put a few drops of oil through the plug holes into each cylinder, then replace the plugs. You can get around some of this by simply starting the car once every week or two, running it for ten minutes or so, and rolling it back and forth a bit if you've got enough room in your garage in order to avoid flat spots forming in the tires. I wouldn't bother jacking the car up.

But like I said, I think the best policy is just to drive the car every so often. If you're worried about salt on the roads, just rinse the car off afterwards.

--mark

 

Hey mark, Thanks for the advice. The storage that I have is heated all winter. I will not be able to start the car or move it at all after the time that I put it in storage. Does the car still need to be started if the area is heated? As for the tires I ended up buying some tire savers. They are special mats that you put under the tires and they prevent the tires from getting soft spots. The reason that I am storing it is because I already own a 1998 Chevy Metro that i have had since it was brand new. It is starting to develop some rust so I figured the tC could go away for the winter. Plus I have many plans for it perfomance and suspension wise next summer. :D Thanks a lot for the advice I really appreciate it.



Elton

 

Okay, sounds like you've got a pretty sweet storage option; consider yourself lucky. That said, the very most important points are the fuel stabilizer, the tire savers you've got, and the oil change. Buy a bottle of Sta-Bil, add it to your tank during the last fillup before storage according to the directions on the bottle, then drive your car long enough to get the stabilized gas worked thoroughly through the fuel system (a few miles should do it). Do the oil change immediately before storing the car so the fresh oil contains as few combustion byproducts as possible (acids and such that can eat away at bearing surfaces, etc). And since you'll probably be storing the car for at least four months, I'd do that thing about adding a few drops of oil through the spark plug holes -- this will help prevent dry cylinder walls when you finally start the car back up.

Once the car is parked in its winter spot, remove the battery, take it home with you, and put it on a tender (or if you don't have a tender, store it on a shelf -- not on the ground -- and trickle charge it once a month or so).

At least your ride will stay in great condition!

--mark

 

Wow this is some great information, I'm planning on doing the same thing with my tC but I'm not so lucky to have my storage space heated. Where can I buy some of those tire savers?

 

how much is it going to cost ya?

 

gonna put this in M&CC

 

Hey this is all real interesting I'm glad I chose to read all this.. Hey btw to any that are storing their cxars if you need or would like a car cover I am selling 1 BNIB for $35. shipped.. let me know if it can help..

Tim

 

Hey amanda 776, my father bought the tire savers for me as a christmas present and I don't know where he bought them from. If you would like I can ask him and get back to you. They are super nice and I wouldnt recommend anything else for storing your tC. On an update, my car has been put away for the winter and the winterizing process went extremelly well and quick. If anyone else has any questions about what I did let me know and i'll gladly help you out.

 

Oh yeah I forgot you tell ya. The storage cost $13 a foot and the tC is 14 feet long so think it was about 185 for the whole season.