Out of Storage Today

Well, today was the day! Finally getting it out of storage after 6 months in a well maintained 18C storage warehouse. Prior to storaing, I added fuel stabilizer and it had a fresh oil change with a full tank of 93 octane. For startup procedure, here is what I did: Car cover off Battery maintainer disconnected Tire pressures adjusted to spec (32F/37R) Fuel pump fuse pulled (D1 @ 25A) Turned motor over a couple of times for 5 seconds Reinstalled fuse and let sit for a few minutes and started engine Result was a very rough chugging sound. Sounded wrong. Some water spitting out the tailpipes, and then once I engaged gear and under light load, all the engine lights came on with warning for service and engine issue etc. Needless to say panic set in, and I guess I didn't give it quite enough gas, and it stalled. I let it sit foe a minute, and it started easier and no warning lights at all. Slightly better idle but not "pretty" sounding. Attached is a video of the slight clicking noise from the rear of the car. I went for a mild-to-spirited drive and taking note of any odd sounds or "feelings." Seemed to improve as I went along, however I was stationary at a light and I heard an increasing higher-pitched whine and once I set off after second gear the car "jolted" and the noise went away. I am guessing perhaps the belt has slipped and regained grip, or a pulley was slipping? I didn't mange to get a video of that sound. Once home, it seemed to sound normal. Sooooo...this being my first winter storage starup of a P-Car...is this pretty "normal?"

Okay, I am not sure how to upload a video clip. I have an MP4 and MOV version.

Post the video on YouTube, then copy the URL for the video (in their player) directly into a post here, and voila! The video will appear in your post and can be played here without having to go to YouTube. EasyPeasy..

Let's hope this works!

What was the purpose of pulling the fuel pump fuse and turning the car over? I previously owned a 987 CS for 10 years that was stored every winter. When taking it out of storage I would start the car normally. I would get some white smoke from the exhaust but all else was normal. No weird sounds at all, no warning lights.

I had read from other members that it can aid in pre-lubrication before actually igniting the engine. Next season, I will refrain from doing so. I did get some white smoke, but was very little and went away pretty quickly (10-15 seconds or so even on rough idle).

Would it be beneficial (or ideal) to do an oil change since it has been sitting for 6 months? I had done one just before putting it into storage, so in a sense it is "fresh" as in not many mileage on the current oil, but is at 6 months in regards to time.

Makes no sense at all. Oil doesn't "age" just setting in the sump. Assuming the viscosity is proper for your driving/climate conditions, just drive it.

BTW, I've seen discussions regarding too frequent oil changes do more harm than good.

No need for another oil change , one before putting in storage is good and what I’ve been doing for 15 years for a 987 and then my current 718 .

Given I had that weird rough idle start, and albeit smoother operation once it had been driven for a bit...what is the general consensus on adding a fuel system cleaner/treatment to the next fill up? Last summer I added a can of BG44K, which was 4,000km ago. I do get some mild visible exhaust, but the morning are still quite cool (a little above freezing), so I can consider that normal warm up since most cars have that anyway...it's gone within 3 minutes or so once I get off.

Nothing wrong with some fuel cleaner stuff, though I have never felt any significant improvement on any car I've used it on. Current recommendation is to make sure whatever you use has PEA in it... Techron is one such brand, but there are others. At least from a testing/studied perspective, the PEA makes a big difference in the cleaning process...

There is a discussion on the 718 forum about these products also. Apparently there is a Porsche brand and also an Audi/VW which is the same as the Porsche brand but quite a bit less expensive. I’ve never used any at all either on my former 987 or my current 718 .

There was a BMW brand - for the E38 engines that had issues fouling up the intake valves. It was Techron with a different label on it (and more expensive.) There are several strengths of Techron. Get the strong stuff (forget which is which, but I believe it's the one with "clean" on the bottle.)