Winter storage - battery

[Limelight]

Sadly the Z will be going into hibernation in the next few weeks. I’m wondering if it’s best to remove the battery or keep it connected and hooked up to a trickle charger?

It will be stored indoors in a temperature controlled facility inside a Car Capsule.

I will also be:

Putting carpet under each wheel
Putting a baking soda pack in the cabin and trunk
Filling the tank and adding fuel stabilizer
Topping up the tire pressure

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[ZMEnow]

Originally Posted by Limelight

Sadly the Z will be going into hibernation in the next few weeks. I’m wondering if it’s best to remove the battery or keep it connected and hooked up to a trickle charger?

It will be stored indoors in a temperature controlled facility inside a Car Capsule.

I will also be:

Putting carpet under each wheel
Putting a baking soda pack in the cabin and trunk
Filling the tank and adding fuel stabilizer
Topping up the tire pressure

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

On original battery, made August 2012, Ctek trickle charger, just add distilled water every year. It stays on the car all year when not being driven.

[LevonH]

CTEK trickle charger. May have to check the fluid. Never done that.

[snowcatter]

Non-ethanol premium, battery maintainer, fresh oil change.

[Limelight]

Thanks. Would the CTEK 40-206 MXS 5.0-12 Volt Battery Charger work fine? I saw this on Amazon but it says it’s not compatible with a 2013 Camaro for some reason so thought I’d ask. Never heard of CTEK before but it looks to have some good features and gets excellent reviews.

[JB'sZL1]

Also, remember to move the vehicle a foot every week or two to avoid flat spots.

[Limelight]

Originally Posted by JB'sZL1

Also, remember to move the vehicle a foot every week or two to avoid flat spots.

I thought about that too but I’ve also read that it’s not advisable to start the car unless you get it fully up to operating temperature because otherwise you’re introducing moisture into the exhaust system. The idea of inflating the tires to maximum cold temperature is to avoid/minimize flat spots.

[JB'sZL1]

That won't eliminate flat spots. If you're afraid of starting/running the vehicle, then throw it in neutral and push 1 foot every week or two.

[snowcatter]

Seriously? Flat spots? These aren't bias ply tires on a 55 buick. I store my car every winter and have never had an issue with developing flat spots in the tires. You guys are filling his head with nonsense ����

[Juiced1]

I usually just start mine once a month in the winter and let it get to operating temp and try to drive it around the neighborhood once or twice a winter when it's nicer out. If it's in doors and away from the sub zero stuff the battery should be fine. What you're doing is above and behind. That's the kind of used Z everyone would like to pick up in the future.

[lbls1]

Trickle charger and your good. It will help the battery sustain itself; However, it doesn't make the battery invincible. A battery can fail with a trickle charger after its a few years old when a cell inside the battery fails. Its better than not having a trickle charger, but beware that its not the end all of making a battery invincible.

[JB'sZL1]

Originally Posted by snowcatter

Seriously? Flat spots? These aren't bias ply tires on a 55 buick. I store my car every winter and have never had an issue with developing flat spots in the tires. You guys are filling his head with nonsense ����

Yes. Seriously. Wow. Either you're a 95 year old that belongs in an asylum, or a 15 year old that hasn't been around the block. If you believe flat spots are a myth, excepting a '55 Buick or bias plies, rant on...or spread your myths on the M6 boards.

And my opinion is it is better to run the vehicle every now and then, rather than let it sit dead for half a year. Unless you absolutely must.

[snowcatter]

Originally Posted by JB'sZL1

Yes. Seriously. Wow. Either you're a 95 year old that belongs in an asylum, or a 15 year old that hasn't been around the block. If you believe flat spots are a myth, excepting a '55 Buick or bias plies, rant on...or spread your myths on the M6 boards.

And my opinion is it is better to run the vehicle every now and then, rather than let it sit dead for half a year. Unless you absolutely must.

So keyboard warrior that thinks he knows it all because you trotted down to your local dealership and purchased a car. I build cars from the ground up. I have completely disassembled a ZL1 and put it all in a 69 camaro. I don't claim to know it all but I'm pretty sure I got more experience with cars than the average person. And yes flat spots are a myth.

[ZMEnow]

Originally Posted by snowcatter

So keyboard warrior that thinks he knows it all because you trotted down to your local dealership and purchased a car. I build cars from the ground up. I have completely disassembled a ZL1 and put it all in a 69 camaro. I don't claim to know it all but I'm pretty sure I got more experience with cars than the average person. And yes flat spots are a myth.

Flats spot do exist, but it depends on the tire and the weight of the vehicle. I keep a separate set of rims and Michelin AS3's on my Z and yes I did all those crazy things back in 2013/2014, and finally came to my senses. I don't even air up anymore, and have NEVER experienced a flat spot on this car and it can sit for 6 months at a time. Now back to flat spots, I have a 2019 Genesis 5.0 all wheel Drive that weighs almost as much as my F150. It has a great all season Continental, but it flat spots almost everyday because it sits outside.



The key here is is drives off within a few miles and is common with big temperature changes. My F150 has Michelin's and can sit for months at a time, again same thing if it has a vibration after big temperature swings its gone in a few miles. I think it's worth noting, flat spots are not the same as a high spots on a tire where when you spin it you will see a high and low spot on the tire. In some cases a great balancer might get that tire balanced which would depend on the tire size and vehicle, but in most cases its trash. Summary, crappy tire, flat spots, good tire not happening. Tire tech today is most will drive back to balance.

I did use stabil for a while but after adding horsepower, my tune at 93 doesn’t like it come spring, so for the last 3 years I just fill with the freshest gas and forget it. And I don’t have to drive around spring with a tank full of stabil.



For the comment about trickle chargers don’t prevent a battery from going bad, you need to have a charger that is capable of doing a refresh of that battery and should perform it once a year at minimum to clean up the battery cells, this is why I am a fan of CTEK.



Starting or not starting, your a piece of metal sitting in a garage at 30 degrees, you all of a sudden start warming up and this thing called CONDENSATION starts to form as the metal begins to warm, its now in your oil. Unless you bring that oil temp up enough to dissolve that water, you just keep rinsing your motor internals with a water bath. Yeah new toy, I cant stop playing with it, your choice play and pay later or cover it and just walk away.