Letting a car sit for several months....how bad is it?

9iron · 04-29-2016, 10:49 PM

My car ('08 328i) was affected by the airbag recall and i took the rental option. Who knows how long it will be until parts are available, but my car will sit in the garage until then. I have it hooked up to a CTEK 3300, but what else do i need to watch out for?

I have my summer tires on and i dont want to get any flat spots. Will moving it out onto the driveway every couple weeks be enough to prevent that?

Also, should i consider fuel stabilizer? Let the engine run(idle) once a month?.....i know this isnt good for the engine, but is it better than letting it sit for months at a time?

They gave me a 2016 Explorer Limited, so its not like im driving a POS in the mean time. Its nicer than my car, but i dont want to run into problems when i start driving my car again, whenever that may be.

Efthreeoh · 04-30-2016, 06:39 AM

I'd put Stabil in the fuel and run the car for a few minutes to make sure the fuel injectors get the treated fuel. Worst thing is if rodents move in and chew wires. Cars that don't move much are susceptible to rodent damage.

MightyMouseTech · 04-30-2016, 08:34 AM

Some advice from a Canadian that stores cars every winter. Battery tender, fuel stabilizer (Seafoam works very well), clean oil in the engine and pump the tires up to 50 PSI.

Do NOT start the car and let it idle, that will do nothing but damage the engine.

Then just park it somewhere it will stay dry.

04-29-2016, 10:49 PM	#1
9iron Second Lieutenant 69 Rep 262 Posts Drives: 04 WRX Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Louisville iTrader: (0)	Letting a car sit for several months....how bad is it? My car ('08 328i) was affected by the airbag recall and i took the rental option. Who knows how long it will be until parts are available, but my car will sit in the garage until then. I have it hooked up to a CTEK 3300, but what else do i need to watch out for? I have my summer tires on and i dont want to get any flat spots. Will moving it out onto the driveway every couple weeks be enough to prevent that? Also, should i consider fuel stabilizer? Let the engine run(idle) once a month?.....i know this isnt good for the engine, but is it better than letting it sit for months at a time? They gave me a 2016 Explorer Limited, so its not like im driving a POS in the mean time. Its nicer than my car, but i dont want to run into problems when i start driving my car again, whenever that may be.
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04-30-2016, 06:39 AM	#2
Efthreeoh General 19194 Rep 19,722 Posts Drives: The E90 + Z4 Coupe & Z3 R'ster Join Date: May 2012 Location: Virginia iTrader: (0)	I'd put Stabil in the fuel and run the car for a few minutes to make sure the fuel injectors get the treated fuel. Worst thing is if rodents move in and chew wires. Cars that don't move much are susceptible to rodent damage. __________________ A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."
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04-30-2016, 08:34 AM	#3
MightyMouseTech Major General 4348 Rep 6,196 Posts Drives: 13 135i 6MT LeMans Blue MSport Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Ottawa, Canada iTrader: (0)	Some advice from a Canadian that stores cars every winter. Battery tender, fuel stabilizer (Seafoam works very well), clean oil in the engine and pump the tires up to 50 PSI. Do NOT start the car and let it idle, that will do nothing but damage the engine. Then just park it somewhere it will stay dry.
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