I have to leave the country in November for 6 months or more. I was planning to rent a storage place and put my car there. My house is listed to sell so I cannot put the car in the garage. Is it OK to leave the car for 6 months and beyond 1 year without any trouble?

 

Do you have anyone you can trust to run the vehicle periodically? That is quite a long time for it to have to sit around. If you have no other choice,I would put in some fuel stabilizer,(and run the engine to circulate it through the fuel system)disconnect the battery,putting it up on jack stand`s might be a good idea too,but maybe not necessary for only 6mos. Problem is I never personally had to store a vehicle that long before,I do remember one time while I was in the Army,we went to California for desert training (back in 1987) for 30 day`s.I had a one year old Mercury Lynx at that time ,and when I started it up after sitting for only 30 day`s,it was clicking,and miss firing,and all beside itself. It took quite a few minutes for it to straighten out.And that was only sitting for 30 day`s. One thing that may have helped to cause that is I was using 10W-40 motor oil in the car (Cause I was stationed in Louisiana) and it recommended 5W-30 motor oil.

 

Good tips from lexus114! Fill the gas tank to minimize water adsorption and as lexus114 said, add Sta-bil or some other fuel stabilizer. Check and fill the fluids as needed, remembering to winterize now if you won't be coming back until late next spring. I'd change the oil (not necessarily the filter) if it has had more than a couple thousand miles on it since the last change, then drive the car a few miles to circulate it well.

If the plugs were more accessible, I'd consider putting a squirt of Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder, then remove the FI fuse, and turn the engine over for a few seconds with the starter, then replace the fuse, and the plugs without restarting. But for only 6 months storage, struggling with those back plugs probably isn't worth the effort.

Whether you remove the battery or not, put it on a GOOD trickle charger (not just a cheap low-amperage charger, but one that will shut completely off when the battery is fully charged). Putting the car up on jackstands will help keep from flat-spotting the tires in your absence. Since you will only be gone 6 months, this may not be critical, but if the car isn't going to be moved, it might be a good idea.

Put a good coat of wax on the car, buff it out, and treat the wiper blades, door seals, and other accessible rubber parts with a preservative like Armorall. Cover the car with a bedsheet just to keep bugs and bird poop off the finish.

Finally, if you are leaving the car in a storage facility, check their insurance against fire, theft, and natural disaster. Check your own insurance too, to be sure it doesn't expire in your absence. Your agent can be helpful pointing out any special coverage your situation might require.

Having taken the precautions, relax and don't worry about your RX.

When you return, uncover the car, disconnect the trickle charger, start it up and drive it for a day or two before changing oil again. Change the filter too this time. When you have run the fuel pretty low, refill with a fresh tank to clear the preservative and any water that it may have accumulated. If you use a fuel with an ethanol additive, you probably won't have problems with moisture to begin with, as ethanol will help trap any water that condenses in your tank.

Happy trails!

 

Lastly, if you are able to jack it up, it would be good, if you were leaving it for 6 months.

 

No real need to jack it up for 6 months.
Just adding an extra 10-12 lbs of extra air to each tire tires is good enough.

 

No flat spots, in a year's time? I have not experienced this, so just asking.

 

You'll get flat spots.Especially if you have Bridgestone tires.Many Bridgestones have nylon cords.
The flat spots will dissapear after driving a few miles.
Try and fill the tires with nitrogen if available in your area.Nitriogen holds air pressure 5X longer than regular air.

 

good advice guys thanks. I will try to arrange someone to run the car routinely, but how frequent should I tell him to start the car. Once per month or weekly?

 

Weekly is good. Take it out for at least a 15 minute ride, too. Then you have nothing to worry about. Good luck. Send it to me in Atlanta, I will take care of it....LOL!

 

If it was me, I'd change the oil as soon as I got back. Even if the engine isn't running, you could get some condensation over the course of 6 months to a year.

 

If someone is going to run the engine,don't idle.
It must be driven long enough for condesation to burn off in the oil.
You're better off not starting the car.Let it sit for the 6 months.
Follow the directions posted above.
I recently sold my '69 Corvette and did the same 6 month store routine for 10years without any problems.

 

agreed, the longer you keep it before starting (1 month time), the longer you need to drive it.

if it is for a month at a time, then 15 minutes should do it, but yes, it must be driven. a lot of people just start the car for 5 minutes and then turn it off without moving it. that does more harm than good.

 

I've been storing a vehicle for three to four months a year for the past five years. I change the oil with synthetic and put a Battery Minder on it. I also put down several sheets of 10 mil. Visquine on the garage floor to serve as a moisture barrier. I use Stabil in the fuel and make sure the tank is full for storage. I cover the car with a flannel car cover too.

I've not had any issues with this seasonal storage.

 

I agree with that. There are volatile corrosive elements in used oil, and if you just run the engine for a few minutes, they just distribute themselves thru the engine and rust it out. You have to run it long enough for the oil to really heat up and boil off the bad stuff.

As far as the battery, I heard it was a standard safety practice to disconnect the battery on long storage cars. With the battery disconnected, the fire hazzard is much less. Not sure what a long term battery disconnect would do to the computers onboard--do they have backup batteries that would fry?

 

Shouldn`t hurt anything,it will just resort to initial programing.