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MG TD TF 1500 - Winter storage advice

This is my first year with my TD and the first winter I'll have to store the car. I've been following another stream about winter storage and it's raised some concerns for me about mice problems.

Rather than use my unheated garage, I now plan to cover and store the vehicle in my mother's heated condo underground garage(very safe, secure seniors' building) from about late Nov to mid Apr. As I see it, I have a few options. Any thoughts on which is best?

1)Every few weeks I can take the cover off the car and drive the vehicle around the garage for 10 minutes or so until the motor gets nice and warm.

or

2) Properly shut it down for the winter and store it with a full tank of gas (and stabilizer), disconnect and store the battery attached to a trickle charger and perhaps periodically, roll the car in the condo parking space to prevent flat spots on the tires.

Any thoughts on what's the best approach?
Phil Atrill

Phil,
You'll never get the moisture due to heating and cooling the engine out of the engine with running it only 10 minutes. You will also introduce unnecessary moisture into the exhaust. Your very best bet is to just not start the car at all until it is time to drive it in the spring.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

In addition to Dave Bs advice, use a battery conditioner rather than just a trickle charger. A trickle charger charges all the time and will over charge the battery, where as a battery conditioner keeps the battery at a full charge without overcharging it. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Hi Phil, I am fortunate that I can store my TD in a semi-heated garage with a concrete floor. Over many years, I have followed the same precedure in preparing the car for it's winter sleep.
[1] fill the gas tank.
[2] disconect the power to the fuel pump.
[3] run the engine until it runs out of fuel.
[4] drain the radiator and block while still warm.
[5] change oil and filter while still warm.
[6] turn engine over until you get oil pressure.
[no ignition]
[7] put car on blocks so no weight on tires or
suspension.
[8] put up the top.
[9] cover car with breathable dust cover.
[10] think about all the good times past, and what you
can do on it for next spring. Shed a few tears.

The car should be put away as clean as possible.
Around the first of each month, I put the battery
on a charger [2 amps] for 3 or 4 days.

I hope this is of some help to you Phil. Good
luck with your new toy.

George Raham
TD 4224




G. L. Raham

Phil

I store both my TD and my MGB in an unheated but insulated garage. Both cars are kept in a car caccoon. It keeps the cars dry and dust free and keeps the mices out (not to mention the cat).

I also put the cars on jackstands under the axle and under the A arms, but Dave brough up in another post that if I have to get the cars out in the event of a fire, having them on stands may make it much more difficult to do this. I am pondering this one.

No need to run the car. Change fluids as George recommends. I use a battery maintainer and love it. I normally don't drain my cooling system, but have to replace a freeze plug on the TD, so probably will drain it this year so it is easier to work on it. I do make sure the antifreeze is at a concentration to cover 30 below.

One item that has not been mentioned (I know this is going to revive a well discussed issue). I switched my break fluid to silicon over 20 years ago. Prior to doing this, the piston in my brakes would rust up evey winter during storage. I had to take the brakes apart almost every spring. Since the silicon change, Have not done a thing with my breaks. If you have coventional break fluid, I would work the breaks a couple of times while it is in storage.

Car can sit for 3 or 4 months without any issues.
Bruce-C

Dave (Braun),

I'm curious about your comment that "You'll never get the moisture due to heating and cooling the engine out of the engine with running it only 10 minutes. You will also introduce unnecessary moisture into the exhaust."

Running the engine for approximately 10 minutes does get the engine up to temperature, as recorded on the gauge on my TD. I'm no expert on this, so I wonder how long the engine should run to insure moisture is evaporated and driven out of the system. I look forward to comments.

It is especially desirable when starting the engine rarely to first operate the starter with the ignition switched off. This pressurizes the oil system and insures at least some lubrication to moving parts before the ignition is switched on and the engine is fired. [I operate the starter a couple of times until the oil pressure displays normal running pressure. I do this every time the engine sits for a day or more without running.]

Larry
Larry Shoer

Larry, on a modern car with electronic fuel injection, the fairly complete combustion of gasses is pretty assured. Even so, we are talking about by-products of combustion mainly soot, i.e. unburnt hydrocarbons and pollutants like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide as well as nitrogen oxides.

The problem comes with the steam that is created as a by-product of the combustion process (both from the process and from water in the engine from the heating and cooling cycles) because this combines with the carbon and nitrogen oxides to form acids that act on the exhaust system and also condense on the cylinder walls and contaminate the lubricating oil. On a modern car if the engine is allowed to come up to operating temperature, it will become hot enough to prevent these acids from forming and so force the vapours out through the exhaust pipe by way of the catalytic convertor.

On our TDs, even with the fairly efficient SU carburetors, our combustion process is less efficient at idle than a modern car. You may come up to operating temperature, but you likely will be producing more contaiminents than the 'steaming' process can handle. Driving is required to get the engine into a more efficient power range that offers a more complete combustion, and to maintain the temperature. Also, operation at idle does not remove the contaminents from the exhaust like a higher power drive does.

So, how much time to completely clear the engine of contaminents? On a TD Probably not possible at idle, maybe possible at a higher engine speed. So, basically, I see no benefit to running the engine at idle, it is better to let it sit if properly prepped for winter.

It's ok to turn the engine over without starting to lube the bearings, if done on a regular basis, otherwise if the oil gets too thin on the bearings it would probably be better to do so when you are ready to wake up the vehicle.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Sounds like I'm not doing the best thing for my car, but in the middle of January, or February...I'm out there once a month going 'Vrooom....vrooom....' I close my eyes and its July and if I turn a fan towards my face, I can almost feel the bird poop as it hits my head on a summer's drive'




gblawson(gordon)

Gentlemen, thanks for all the good advice. The learning process continues!! Perhaps some day, I'll not be as green as my car.


Phil Atrill

One thing Phil, that so far hasn't been mentioned.

Be sure to put up the top, and side-curtains.

I made the mistake of not doing so and the rubber between the canvas layers took a set over the winter, and it was always difficult to put up the top thereafter.

Whether you have a canvas or a vinyl top, the problem is the same.

In my present case, now with a vinyl top (thanks to Larry Shoer's father, Paul), I put the car into a friends heated garage, put up the top, and apply a vinyl top preservative, and then put it away for the winter.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A. Clark

This thread was discussed between 07/10/2008 and 09/10/2008

MG TD TF 1500 index

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