Properly storing the Camry?

[CamBOT]

Hey guys,

I haven't been on TN for such a loooooong time.
School's getting too hard and I'm sick of commuting everyday and decided to move closer to my school.

That means I will have to leave my beloved Camry at my parents. I'm going to take off the insurance and park the car at least until April of next year.

I need some advice on how to store the car properly. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thank you,

[DAMON]

I would either put it on jackstands or throw junk tires on it so they wont flatspot, hook the battery up to a battery tender so it doesnt die over the winter, cover it if possible, make sure everything is clean, full tank of gas, fresh oil and filter, etc... if someone can start it or drive it around once in a while I think that would help too. good luck!

[midnightmach]

^ Exactly what he said

[AJRK]

I'd also run a fuel stabilizer through the system

[DAMON]

^thats also not a bad idea. When you get the car out of storage it is also wise to roll it then slam the breaks- I have heard that will slosh the sediment in the fuel around so you dont put a lot of wear on your fuel filter when you first start the car. Im not sure how much truth there is in that, but I had a discussion with my shop about storing my car a few days ago...

[BlueFusion6851]

Flush out all fluids, put the car on jackstands, cover, remove the battery. This was coming from my instructor the other day, so trust me, it's good advice, if there's any contaminants in your systems, having the car sit will only make those problem present themselves that much faster.

[ghettosled]

will you ever go back to your folks house and take the car out for a spin? if you just let it sit for 4 weeks at a time and someone takes it for a quick spin, i wouldnt do anything to it.

[Unco]

if possible, try not to put it on jackstands. just throw some crappy wheels/tyres on as dysk8forlife mentioned. this will avoid the possibility of damaging the suspension bushings and getting squeaks later on. you really don't want to get flat spotting on the tyres you're going to be driving on as the only fix is to replace the tyres altogether. trust me, my LTD has flat spots on the back tyres and it is extremely painful to drive on the highway... so much that it gives you a headache, literally. i'll be getting new tyres for it soon

[AJRK]

I leave my car for about three months and all I do is fill the gas tank, add fuel stabilizer, make sure the oil was changed recently, and fill the tires to about 40 psi. When I come back, the tires do feel a little "square" but that only lasts about 5-10 miles then its fine.
If you have a spare set of tires it certainly wouldn't hurt to put them on.

[CamBOT]

Thanks for the reply guys!

Unfortunately I don't have a spare set of tires. But I will be around to drive it around. I'm going to miss my car, esp. in the winter.

On the flip side, I can get to my school in 3 minutes walking.


: )