Prepping Your Vehicle for Storage: Automobile (Part 2)

Aaaand we’re back! Last time on the Albuquerque blog we spent our time discussing how to get your automobile prepped and ready for a long-term storage. We covered a few points but there is a wealth more to cover so without further ado, let’s get back to it. This time you’ll be spending lots of time under the hood. If you are a car enthusiast this is probably no problem, if you’re less knowledgeable well you can always have a mechanic help or find a detailed guide online.

Tune Up

Remove your spark plugs, and spray oil into the cylinders. Take all the necessary measures to prevent rust and corrosion in all the places it can crop up. Speaking of oil, change that filter out and replace with fresh oil.  Get the fresh oil circulating (use a wrench on the crank pulley). Replace the spark plugs.

Next, you’ll want to address the battery. Disconnect the cables and remove it. Clean that battery up well. Again, anything that can retain moisture has got to go. Get yourself a float charger and keep it connected to maintain the charge for the long duration it’ll be stored. When you’ve taken the battery out, look for any corrosion in the battery box and tend to it.

Lubricate the latches and hinges, close it up and then prop those wiper blades up.

Critter Defense

As we mentioned last time when it came to vacuuming out the vehicle, you don’t want to entice any pests to make your ride their new home. In that aspect, you’ll want to make sure there is no entrance for rats or mice to dig into. Use clothes in the tail pipe etc. Empty a container of mothballs on the floor to deter pests.

Past that you may want to consider jacking the car up entirely off the ground to avoid flat tires, otherwise you should be in much better shape than just driving it into the unit and leaving it. If you are storing your car outdoors (and you should really try to find something indoors instead!) well then you have an entirely different set of circumstances to account for. Next time on the blog we’ll look at the steps needed to prepare a different type of vehicle for storage: a motorcycle.