Winterizing Question

I will soon be putting my C2 away for the winter.....is there any consensus as to the best amount of fuel to leave in the tank? I mean, should I fil it up and add the Sta-Bil or is a half or less tank more desirable. I'm thinking condensation issues and that a full tank would minimize this issue. Also, along with this question, is there any tried and true methods to minimize the risk of mice getting at my P-car. There is currently some mice activity in my otherwise dry/safe garage. I have placed several bait stations around the perimeter of the garage in hopes that they'll go for that rather than my delicious P-car wiring or leather bits!

Before I can advise you on winter storing tips, do you know how much fun you and your Porsche would have in the snow? I use Sta-Bil in my boat and have done it with a full tank and a partial tank and have had 14 years without fuel issues. I also use a fuel/water separator. Depending on your bait, you may be attracting vermin.

Cat

At least he doesn't drive a MDX SUV wanting to store it for the winter while he drives a "beater". OH GAWD... First rusty lug nuts, now this.... http://www.mdxers.org/forums/2-gener...r-storage.html

You want your tank at least 3/4 full if not 7/8ths. This is to minimize the air that is exposed to the fuel. Put your stabil in based on the instructions on the side of the bottle. Those mice are going to be living good this year in that stainless steel exhaust tip! ;-)

7/8??? Why not fill it all the way up?

Top off the gas tank.. Inflate tires to 50psi, plug in your battery chargers and you should be fine.. I never put stabil or any additive in the gas tank and never had a problem... The mice concerns me way more.. A friend had mice feast on his wiring in a Boxster and he spent $$$$ on a complete new wiring harness. Sleep tight

I am guessing this is not your first car ever. So I suggest following the same winterizing routine you have done for past cars

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Full is better. I like to keep as much of tank internals that are at some point submerged in fuel submerged during long periods of non-use.

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Full is better. I like to keep as much of tank internals that are at some point submerged in fuel submerged during long periods of non-use. You can use Stabil if you want. I do not know if it does anything. Condensation is not a concern because the tank is not vented to atmosphere. The fuel will get to a temperature and remain at a rather stable temperature unless the garage temperature goes up and down over the period of several days. Use good traps. This is the only way you can be sure there are mice about and you are getting them. Try to get as much stuff off the garage floor as you can. Put the stuff in metal cabinets. Plug any holes in the sheetrock, around where water pipes go through the walls with steel wool. You want to provide as much distance between the car and the contents of the garage. You want the mice to have to zip along the base of the wall where it meets the floor. You can place baited traps along the wall. Place some under the car. Note which traps have the most success and add more if you want. Change the traps every so often. Wear leather gloves when handling the traps to avoid leaving any of your scent on the traps. Do not use poison. You do not want a poisoned mouse dying in your car.

I have 2 vehicles that I store during the winter from mid November through 1st of April each and every year. I always over inflate the tires as well as fill the tank with a fresh tank of fuel, all the way to the top. I then add Sta-bil as per the instructions on the bottle for long term storage and run the vehicle for a minimum of 5-10 minutes. This year I'm going with a new product, "Sta-bil 360" as it sounds promising and worth a shot.

home depot sells an electronic mouse trap that zaps the mouse. It works great, better than any other trap I tried I used fancy feast dry cat food for the bait. works better than cheese and peanut butter

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Why not try something even newer and don't put ANYTHNG in the tank? Just fill it all the way up.

Thanks for the suggestions guys....ya the mouse problem bothers me more that the actual winterizing of the car. Full tank, over inflated tires and a battery tender. Done a little more research and it seems, mint oil extract works well to thwart mice, i'm gonna give that a try.

The best way to treat you car is to drive it all year round. During the winter months I do several mountain treks for skiing, or just to get over the mountains. And of course the mandatory ice course rally in the midst of winter with PCN (Porsche Club Norway). Have not ever had a problem, the car is quite a good winter drive, done several inspections and no rust. Except some nuts on my ageing exhaust system. Only thing you need to do is to have the underside properly washed with a water jet car machine every week or so. I do not even do that that often.

HD and Lowes sell devices that make a noise that drives away rodents. I have one in my garage.

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I've often thought about this. I've used it before and also not used it. I know some cars ecu is more finicky than others when it comes to stale fuel. My take is it might've had greater effect with the older gases and cars that were carbureted or cars in extremely long storage. Dunno so much on modern cars. I've stored various cars over the years up to a year and never noticed any adverse affects. I've even drained the fuel to see if it's changed any visually. Nada. YMMV depending on the car.

I keep my cars outside for the winter, no rodent issues at all.

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Everybody seeks the magic elixir. Seems like every year there's some new chemical, or sound device, or a certain wall paper pattern that is supposed to repel mice. You do not know if the mint oil keeps mice away or brings them in. Even if it does work to keep the mice away unless you fill the car with the stuff the car won't be protected. You have to use traps. This is the only way to be sure. By trapping you do not drive the mice away or drive them to enter the car from the side furtherest away from the mint oil but instead you destroy the creature which removes the immediate threat but it also removes future threats because the animal can't produce more offspring. Even if the initial pair is discouraged they'll reproduce and their offspring will be under more pressure to find a suitable nesting site. If the mint oil loses is potency then the car will get mice.

I hear what you guys are saying about fuel stabilizers... but what about the ethanol added fuels that we have out here in the Midwest? I had a car in storage for awhile and when I went to start her up the fuel pump was dead. After draining out 16 gallons of bad fuel and replacing a rusted out fuel pump she fired right up. The bad fuel was sitting in some buckets while I was working on the tank and I actually saw that it was separating into three distinct layers! I had a oily water top maybe (5%), a weird looking middle (80%) and some strange thick fuel sludge at the bottom of all three buckets (15%)! I was told that�s what happens to gas when the ethanol blend goes bad during storage! What do we do about that?

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Add Sta-Bil at 1 ounce per 2.5 gallons. Fill tank with fresh fuel. Very full. Run in for 10 minutes. Top off by hand. Store car. In April take road trip and refill with fresh fuel. Been doing this for many years with multiple Porsches. No issues.

I have a car in storage. In addition to making it very hard for rodents to get in to the unit (steel wool in all cracks and gaps), I put down unscented glue traps to catch any mice. Mice have a strong sense of smell, scented traps and bait can actually attract rodents to your storage area which is exactly the opposite of what you want. They're always looking for something to eat... They only mouse I ever found was in a baited trap. Since I went to the unscented glue traps - I place them along the walls and near the tires of the car - I have found zero evidence of rodents in the last two years.

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My takeaway is with you using unscented glue traps is they don't work.

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I knew the previous owner of my 996 who kept it each winter in something like this (indoors, of course) I'm putting snows on it and we're going skiing.

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I hear you on this...I have no doubt it would be a hoot to drive however, the amount of salt and sand they coat the roads with every winter, would find it's way into every nook and cranny of every body seam and my P-car would be changed irrevocably and....I have a couple AWD cars that are better suited to the nastiness that is our Canadian winter!

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Those are sweet!

Spammer was deleted

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Probably a spammer. I reported to mods.

They use salt here as well. I enjoy the 2 hour drive to the White Mtns. where I ski in the winter and usually find more snow there than in southern Maine. I'll be taking off the summer tires soon and put on the Blizzaks once it gets a little colder.

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Good god. Unless it's an NSX, your Honda doesn't need to be pampered.

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Well, as I'd mentioned, I haven't found any evidence of rodents anywhere in my storage unit or the car. The only time I did find a (dead) mouse was one caught in a trap with bait (peanut butter). There are definitely rodents in the nearby field and plenty of baited, poisoned traps throughout the storage facility. I do a regular search of the car and unit for mice, nesting and droppings - none so far. When I was searching for various traps after the mouse was caught the sales guy at the supply place recommended unscented traps so as to not attract rodents to your area. It's working for me very well so I'm not going to go against an expert's advice. As sealed off as I have my unit, that first mouse somehow must have smelled food and got in. I'm sure we've all seen pictures of cars stuffed with acorns, dog food, etc. they're looking for food and a home. Others have had varying degrees of success with all kinds of traps and techniques, use what works best for you.

I've heard the smell of "Bounty" clothes dryer sheets repel mice, if spread around in passenger area, trunk, etc. Plus steel wool in the exhaust pipes as mentioned earlier.

I use glue traps at each corner of the garage, behind some fixtures, in the wheel barrels, in the trunk and next to the carbon filter. I buy the rat size traps as they are better at catching mice. I typically find mice in the corner placed traps.

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The problem with these magic elixir repellents is who knows if they work or not? And the cost to find out if one used the wrong repellent is huge. I have come upon several cars in the shop with rodent damage and the bills are so high the owners have to fall back on their homeowner insurance. Regular car insurance doesn't cover this kind of problem and warranties do not cover it so then the owner has to pay for it out of his pocket. The bills can run into the the thousands of dollars. You can put steel wool in the exhaust pipes if you want but the mice are not going to go into the pipes. The pipes are toxic to them. They want in the cabin where the nice carpet is to scrape the pile away and use it for nesting probably on top of the engine or on top of the tray under the engine or some other part of the underbody of the car. They'll use the rest of the car for moving about without exposing themselves and the nice plastic/rubber bits to gnaw on to help keep their teeth from growing too long.

So, still a new c2 owner and learning a lot from you guys. Regarding winter, I plan to keep driving mine but this time of year in New England brings out the mice. I learned from my Toyotas to cover the fresh air intake with 1/4" mesh screen from HD. Works great and saves the cabin filters but now the mice are going after the pcar. This weekend I fashioned a screen to cover the actual filter since it is in a wide open area. That and a few traps around the garage. We'll see how it goes. I would be absolutely livid if mice started eating my car after saving for it for the last 30 years.

Yup i had mice chew some wires on my Toyota truck, started it to go on a first date and it barely ran, opened the hood and found the chewed wires, thought it was a wives tail, I guess not. Fuel stabilizer will keep your gas alive and car will run better in spring until stale gas is gone and its better to run car for a while to get it in your carburetor if you had one, I'm sure you know this stuff

Steel wool in exhaust pipes Inflate tires to max, park on pieces of carpet Battery tender Full tank Moth ***** in engine, trunk, interior.

http://www.porschenet.com/wp-content...6noreaster.pdf Page 7 has a good write up...although I prefer the "drive her" winterizing method.

The remains of Typhoon Nuri are pushing up into Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, pushing a vast amount of cold air into the lower 48 and subsequently lowering temps 15-20 degrees. Get your winter tires on ladies and gents! (for those of you that are driving this winter) Winter is coming.