Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Conor wrote:
Nowt. Just disconnect the battery. I'd make sure there's feck all
petrol in it as well and pop in a couple of gallons of fresh stuff
upon return as it'll start to go off after a couple of months.

Better to fill it up so there's little air in the tank. And petrol
won't go off that quickly anyway, IMHO.

Agreed. We have an old A35 which is rarely used but quality of fuel has not
been a problem.

Nedavno Mrcheerful napisa:

What is the best (low budget) way for keeping
the car unused for a couple of years?

if the storage is dry and airy then the engine will not suffer till
many years have passed.


The car is outside under the tin roof (on four poles). So whatever
humidity is outside... But it is not as humid here as it probably is in
the UK.



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Personally I think it is all a waste of time, the
battery will be fine for three months, worse way it will need a jump start.

0.03Amps * 24 hours * 90 days = 64.8Ah = Deep discharge = Battery
ruined = Sued for bad advice.

In article ,
Clot wrote:
I'd be inclined to get a gizmo such as this:

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/i...rc=google-base

Google; there are cheaper alternatives.

Would beat farcked radio code and software plus the car would still be
alarmed.

Hmm. 'Up to 170mA in daylight'. If that is a max it actually means in
bright direct sunlight. And of course nothing at night. It may even
*discharge* the battery when the light level gets too low.

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*Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article
,
Arty Effem wrote:
Personally I think it is all a waste of time, the battery will be fine
for three months, worse way it will need a jump start.

0.03Amps * 24 hours * 90 days = 64.8Ah = Deep discharge = Battery
ruined = Sued for bad advice.

Indeed. A car battery left *fully* discharged for even a short while won't
be recharged *ever* by the car charging system so will need either a
specialist charger to *try* and get it going again (over several days) or
replacement.

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*Eschew obfuscation *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Mrcheerful wrote:
if the storage is dry and airy then the engine will not suffer till many
years have passed. starting it up puts lots of condensation and
unburnt fuel into the engine which leads to rusting of the bores, valve
stems etc. so if you start it every few weeks you are just encouraging
more damage.

If that were truly the case then it's no different from just using the car
for short journeys.

If I'm not using the SD1 and don't want to lose it's space outside my
house I start it once a week and run it at a fast idle until it's reached
full temp. Which takes a while. Then at least double that time. Bit boring
but doesn't seem to have done it any harm. But what you mustn't do is just
stop it long before the oil has reached working temperature. But this
applies to driving a car too if you want it to last.

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*I brake for no apparent reason.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:13:51 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Perhaps you missed the part that it will be parked in the street? Also
absolutely none of this is needed for a new car left for three months in
the summer. It's only the battery that's going to be the problem.

'Only' is IMHO an understatement. If you have a handbrake that uses
pads rather than shoes, and the handbrake is left on, and it rains,
like it does in some major cities in the UK for around 200 days a year
then the pad material will absorb moisture. Not a problem in
semi-regular use where there is some heat cycling, but leave it there
for a few weeks in close contact with the disc and the pad can often
remain adhered to the disc face, preventing proper release regardless
of what has been engineered into the mechanism in the way of a spring
or hydraulic seal geometry. The first time you drive off there is
reasonable chance that you'll rip friction material off the face of
the pad.

One week is enough for some cars to experience some stiction in
handbrake pads, three months almost guarantees it.

Preventing flat spots on the tyres by overinflating them and rolling
the car on a monthly basis makes a huge difference to wheel balance
when you commence using the car again although it's more of a problem
in cold conditions. It can take many miles for any 'set' the carcass
has taken to recover. In that time you'll have shaken fillings loose,
and sometimes bits of trim, and stirred up crap in the fuel tank etc.



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On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:58:39 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Conor wrote:
Nowt. Just disconnect the battery. I'd make sure there's feck all petrol
in it as well and pop in a couple of gallons of fresh stuff upon return
as it'll start to go off after a couple of months.

Better to fill it up so there's little air in the tank. And petrol won't
go off that quickly anyway, IMHO.

No it won't go off, as far as petrol is concerned 'summer fuel' lasts
considerably longer than 'winter fuel' before it goes stale.

But, if the tank really is 'filled up' ...then it gets interesting


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