Hey Mustangers and Fordies,

About two months ago, I took delivery of an 07 'Stang GT. Although there are two or three quality control issues I'll addresss with my dealer, the car is terrific.
Yet , as I live here in the snow belt (Chicago), I was wondering if you(s) had any ideas for how to store the car.

So far, here's is what I 've planned: the dealer will install an engine block heater. This way, I can run the engine while the car hibernates in my garage. I was told to take off the rims, replacing them with temporary donuts, so the tires wouldn't develop flat spots.

Any Ideas?

Thanks,

Dan (in Chicago)

 

[sm=welcomesign.gif]Sound's good to me.[hr]Just start it up once and awhile and it should be fine.[hr]And you might want to fill the tank and use fuel stabilizer.

 

Hey '94 Ranger,

Thanks for the reply.

Dan

 

Also might want to look into a "Battery Tender". Keeps the battery charged and can stay plugged into it.

Also if you don't have teh donuts, you can put it on jack stands a few inches off the ground

 

oops

 

Actually it is better to store it on jack stands. Taking the tension off of the springs will help them last longer. Also, crack the doors and trunk, this will help the weather stripping last longer as it's not being pinched. These are two tips I read in the Detroit News Paper.... you know the motor city?

 

YES, I'd highly recommend jack stands - sometimes you can get them on sale at Pep Boys or Wal-Mart for $10 a set of 2, so that's $20 for a set of 4. I had 9 cars at one point, so I had to store them over a few years, cuz one person can't drive them all regularly, and found out what to do and not to do about storage from trial and error.

YES, the tender will definitely save your battery - just removing one of the battery post connectors won't do the trick. You can buy the "tender" at Wal-Mart for about $30-40- it's generically called a charger .... just look for one that provides a 2-5 amp charge - that'll give the trickle to keep your battery alive. You still need to start the car at least once a month to lubricate the valves and mix up the gasoline. Also, run the A/C for a couple of minutes, then the heat.

As far as the gas level, the less in the tank, the better. Gas will go bad. I don't know how long you plan on storing your car, but bad gas can clog your fuel filter and injectors and make your car run like shiotzu. It can also cause rust in the gas tank if the car sits for extended periods of time - it really depends on the acidity of the fuel and the coating quality on the tank itself. Fuel filters are not costly, but the injectors are extremely expensive.

Oil Change - change it every 3 months, regardless of whether you drive the car.

One more thing - I dunno about your warranty or whether your car has an interference or non-interference engine, but if it uses a timing belt, make sure you replace the belt every 60K miles or 3 years, whichever comes first. To date, I haven't found any dealer or manufacturer recommendation to replace the timing belt within a certain timeframe - only the mileage, but belts do deteriorate over the years, and those of us who don't drive our cars regularly end up with confusion. Manufacturers usually base their recommendations on an average of 20K miles per year on the engine. So, 60K on the engine at 20K per year would equate to 3 years - that's why I recommend replacing the belt (that is, if you have one) within that timeframe.

 

Hmmm, I bought a pristine '96 cougar w/ 76k miles in Jan '05 and it now has <79k miles.What's the chance the timing belt is parting dust? Also the stock shocks are like fresh french bread lol.