Salemgh

Hello all,


unfortunately, all my plans suddenly collapsed: I was going to sell my '99 2.3 CL and get an '06 Civic Si.
I got my driver's license suspended last week... for a good 3 months. I was clocked on one of Detroit's main freeways at 121mph.

No jail, no fines. I managed, after getting a hefty and expensive lawyer and the fact that I work for the State Department, to only get the 3 month suspension and a 6 month restricted license thereafter (drinving only allowed from 7AM to 9PM!).

Anyways, my 2.3CL has 68k on it. It has been parked for a week now. And I obviously won't be even risking driving.

Now, when this car is stored for so long (especially during winters were temperature often dip to single digits), are there any special treatments, additives I have to take care of?

A friend of mine told me to get the car running once a week and drive it in the parking structure (it's stored in a secure, private parking structure) for 5 min, and get the engine running.

Thank you all for your insights and advice on how to keep the car in good mechanical shape. Also, any advice as to paint, tires, brakes, etc... Please consider the brisk winter coming up..

Thanks a lot!!

ekim121

Starting the engine for such a short period really isn't good for it...mostly it'll just drain the battery. I'd have a friend drive it for you and go to the gas station to fill it up and put in some fuel stabilizer. Aside from that if you want to go all out I'd park it where its going to sit, pull the spark plugs, squirt some oil down in the cylinders, and put the spark plugs back in loosely. Ideally you'd also want to jack it up if it literally won't move for that long. But, in this case I suppose sitting will do. And obviously, when you start driving again, I'd replace all the fluids. As a caveat though, this is all stuff you'd ideally want to do. In reality, aside from some dirty gas, your car probably would be fine if you just parked it.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

At least let it run for 15-20 mins and drive it around like say once a week. Also, you may wanna have your coolant flushed if the car's gonna sit that long in winter.

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

you could just sell it and get a 10speed bike.

clabberty1

My mechanic stressed, when he did the safety check, that these types of cars need to be driven at least around the block about every other day. He told me that the brakes may rot out quickly if they're not used regularly. He emphasized this as he knows that I usually only drive on the weekends because I can walk to work and the shops easily from home. He is a wonderful mechanic. He can't figure out how I drove my last car to his shop without any brake suspension whatsoever and parked it. Cars like me.

strawb3rri3

I have an 86' 6 series bmw. I had to drive it around AT LEAST 2 times a week to keep it in the shape it's going now.

You can't really keep it sitting there that long. I've kept my CL sitting there for almost 3 weeks with out starting n it started up just fine. Just make sure u drive it around once in a while.

Fushuman

At least run it every week, just to make the fluids in your car active, specially engine oil. The oil may drop entirely to the oil pan within a couple of weeks, drying the valves, making it harmful to start the car and could create other problems

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Thanks for reminding me to start my CL tonight when I go home