Going into Hibernation

[Jay]

Hi all,
i'm just about to put my golf into long term storage,(sob,sob).

Does anyone know what i should do to prepare it?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jay.

[devonutopia]

disconnect battery
Lift off the 4 wheels
Close vents
Car cover over the top

Umm, and all being well it will restart when it's unsurfaced again.

[gresty]

Leave the handbrake off and stick it into first. Prevent's handbrake siezing on.

[onzarob]

Right, this is what i would do,

Change the oil to reduce deteriation in the engine, dirty oil has acid deposits in it.. change the brake fluild for the same reason.

Change the water and put in new anti-freeze.

Take the battery out, don't store it in the car, fire hazard

Get the car waxoiled underneath and injected into the sills etc.

Get some Big silica gel bags to keep the interior dry. I've seen them advertised in Practical Classics. Should be able to find them on the web.

I don't know the conditon of the car but if you have any chips or little bits of rust treat them.

The previous advice about the tyres is what i would do and the leave the hand brake off.

Make sure it drys when you store it.

Finally remember, if the garage appears to be dry, there is still humidity as we live in england.

Thinks that it, but cars do seems to go down hill without moving at all:aargh4:

Rob:D

[loki]

I'm about to do this to my '99 A3, and got another question -

will the alarm work as is when putting the battery back in after 6 months say? As in, I can disconnect and reconnect the battery in a few months time and not worry about anything electrical going haywire?

[zollaf]

i would also take the spark plugs out (once in position in garage), and squirt liberal amounts of engine oil into the bores. then turn over a few times by hand. replace plugs to prevent anything dropping down. when its time to restart it, remove plugs and suck out any remaining oil using an oil extractor, or spin over on the starter to squirt it out. replace plugs, turn over a few times by hand to ensure it wont hydraulic, then fire her up. it will smoke like crazy for a while, but you wont have rusty bores. also, whilst in storage, i would turn it over by hand every so often.

[NickPicks]

Why does it need to go into long term storage? Unless you're going away for a long time, can't you keep driving it? If you are going away, can you get a family member to drive it once a week for you?

[MalcQV]

Hi all,
i'm just about to put my golf into long term storage,(sob,sob).

Does anyone know what i should do to prepare it?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jay.

Long Term? Months or years? Onzarob's suggestion would be years I guess. For say six months just chock the wheels leave the handbrake off, put a Optimate battery conditioner (or similar on) and you might fill the tank to the brim and add a cover if you wish, mine is stored like that in the garage over the Winter, though I do not fill the tank.

Driving an old classic car I have read many ways to store them. I can only speak from personal experience.

[alicecat]

i would also take the spark plugs out (once in position in garage), and squirt liberal amounts of engine oil into the bores. then turn over a few times by hand. replace plugs to prevent anything dropping down. when its time to restart it, remove plugs and suck out any remaining oil using an oil extractor, or spin over on the starter to squirt it out. replace plugs, turn over a few times by hand to ensure it wont hydraulic, then fire her up. it will smoke like crazy for a while, but you wont have rusty bores. also, whilst in storage, i would turn it over by hand every so often.

I wouldn'd do that if it's got a catalyst! The potential problem which oil down the bores would prevent is rusting in the bores and piston rings. "Liberal amounts" of unburnt engine oil deposited on your catalyst could prove very expensive in future. Ideally just leave engine as run and turn it over a few times by hand every month. Otherwise use a small amount of lube as suggested and make sure you replace the plugs for storage or bore rusting will be certain!

[onzarob]

I wonder if the OP's car is now out of storage...he may have some tips???

My post was along time ago;)

[zollaf]

I wouldn'd do that if it's got a catalyst! The potential problem which oil down the bores would prevent is rusting in the bores and piston rings. "Liberal amounts" of unburnt engine oil deposited on your catalyst could prove very expensive in future. Ideally just leave engine as run and turn it over a few times by hand every month. Otherwise use a small amount of lube as suggested and make sure you replace the plugs for storage or bore rusting will be certain!

very good point. only worth doing this if you dont have a cat. this is what the military used to do with landrover engines, but old landys dont have cats.

[MalcQV]

I wonder if the OP's car is now out of storage...he may have some tips???

My post was along time ago;)

It was ooops missed that!

[loki]

I'm certainly only talking months, 6 months max I would imagine. All I plan on doing is giving it a very, very thorough wash, disconnecting the battery and putting it in the garage with the handbrake off, windows open a crack and a loose cover over it.

[MalcQV]

That will be fine.