1 Year!!!

[Unkillable2]

i know there is a very similar post like this but a litte different. i want to know how i can leave my car undriven for one whole year and come back with it's the way before i left. i am about to go to korea for a year and i can't take my car with me so i am thinking of putting it in a storage but i am afraid it might get mess up when i come back. i REALLY love this car and i REALLY don't want to sell it! and leave it with a friend is not an option even thru it would be a good idea. please help! (pissed) thx

 

[Alexsered]

i know there is a very similar post like this but a litte different. i want to know how i can leave my car undriven for one whole year and come back with it's the way before i left. i am about to go to korea for a year and i can't take my car with me so i am thinking of putting it in a storage but i am afraid it might get mess up when i come back. i REALLY love this car and i REALLY don't want to sell it! and leave it with a friend is not an option even thru it would be a good idea. please help! (pissed) thx

get some gas treatment stuff, but other than that, the car cannot just sit without ever being run and than expect it to be okay. Maybe you might have to think outside the box?

 

[Ketchup]

Put it in "storage", but have a TRUSTED friend or family member take it for a drive for an hour or so every other week or three.

Also, pay them to have the oil changed at the 6-month interval.








Or sell it.

 

[hilmar2k]

I honestly don't think you need to worry too much. Just change the oil when you get back and you'll be fine. Either disconnect the battery or put it on a trickle charger.

The gas stabilizer is also a good idea. Just make sure you drive the car after you've added the stabilizer. You also probably want to add a bunch of air to the tires to help keep them from flat spotting. I would fill them up to nearly the max they are rated for.

There really isn't much else to worry about. The engine, transmission, etc. won't care one iota that it isn't driven for a year.

 

[ElGaspo]

the tires may get flat-spotted. you may want to think about that one. how you would go about preventing it, i don't know. the best suggestion i've heard is having a trusted friend take it out at least once a month. that would solve all your problems.

 

[Unkillable2]

well i am planing on putting it in a storage and jack it up and let it sit on those 4 little stands thing whatever they are called so that would take care of the tires but they are the least of my problem. i don't know what to do... got 5 months to decide!

 

[mattj3636]

go buy some stabil gas stabilizer, use that and drive around 20 miles to get it into the cars systems, get it in the storage, disconnect and take out the battery just for a safety factor, get the car up on 4 jackstands at SAFE jackpoints. take the wheels off just cause.


when your back from korea, make sure first thing you do when you go to put the car back on the road, go to an oil change place and have them do a flush out, flush your entire engine of its oil which also cleans and all that blah blah, and then fill the beast up and your ready to go

 

[Sveivo]

Yes, but jacking points are not invincible, you know. I bet money they will bend if you let it sit up in the air like that for a long time.

I would waste a set of tires rather than damage the actual underside. And yes, I do speak from experience.

 

[mattj3636]

if you put them on the double pinch points, they wont, and if your that nervous about it, put a block of wood that fits on top the jack stand to spread the weight out along the frame

 

[hilmar2k]

Here is a helpful article.

http://www.digest.net/alfa/FAQ/164/p164_13.htm

 

[jon619]

Osan or Kunsan? I'm an A-10 guy and have friends over in Osan. Lots of good advice given, but here's my suggestion. Sell it. By the time you get back, the new 2010 Mazdaspeed3 will be out with possibly 300 hp and AWD. I'm kinda pissed at Mazda because I thought they'd be 2 yr runs for Mazdaspeeds, but oh well. If you really want to keep it and can't let someone drive it around once in a while, put it up on jackstands, disconnect battery and gas stabilizer. Oil change when you get back and have it looked at.

 

[Unkillable2]

Osan or Kunsan? I'm an A-10 guy and have friends over in Osan. Lots of good advice given, but here's my suggestion. Sell it. By the time you get back, the new 2010 Mazdaspeed3 will be out with possibly 300 hp and AWD. I'm kinda pissed at Mazda because I thought they'd be 2 yr runs for Mazdaspeeds, but oh well. If you really want to keep it and can't let someone drive it around once in a while, put it up on jackstands, disconnect battery and gas stabilizer. Oil change when you get back and have it looked at.

i'm going to Osan. isn't there a thing where the Air Force got a storage to keep your car and have someone to start it for you once a while... that's what i heard. and yeah i heard about the 2010 speed 3 but it's a possibly right now so i can't really decide yet.

 

[pointysticks]

sounds like a great one year adventure!!! wow.

i stored a 911 for 14 years. i was a young kid. i jacked it up, changed the oil, lubed everything. door hinges...everything. washed, waxed it, put gas treatment into it, disconnected the battery, toss a car cover it and walked away. little did i know, 7 years into the thing, my stepdad drove it, and just parked it. he gave it to me at the 14 year mark, and i went thru hell getting it running. if it was untouched it would have been cake. oh well, it was his car.

 

[hilmar2k]

sounds like a great one year adventure!!! wow.

i stored a 911 for 14 years. i was a young kid. i jacked it up, changed the oil, lubed everything. door hinges...everything. washed, waxed it, put gas treatment into it, disconnected the battery, toss a car cover it and walked away. little did i know, 7 years into the thing, my stepdad drove it, and just parked it. he gave it to me at the 14 year mark, and i went thru hell getting it running. if it was untouched it would have been cake. oh well, it was his car.

What year 911? I had a '76 that I ironically gave to my Father.

 

[ZyrehT]

Disconnect the spark plugs and shoot some oil down the cylinders and crank it a few times.