Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Winter Storage

I live in the Northeast and store my 49-3100 in my garage for the winter. I use a battery tender.
My question is should I start it up during the winter or just wait for spring?

Three of my four trucks are stored off site, so I won't even see them till spring. The other one is here, but I don't start it. I'd just leave it sit.

Take it for a run to get the oil nice and hot just before you store it. Then pull the spark plugs and spray some fogging oil in the cylinders. Then enjoy your winter without worrying about it.
Winterize it just like you would an outboard motor that you won't run till the water gets soft again.

Just make sure you don't let it sit with ethanol fuel in it. Fill it to the top with ethanol free fuel and Sta-Bil.

Had a request to move this thread to General Truck Talk (GTT).

We have a similar thread on Preparing your truck for winter that you all may want to check out also.



~Peg

Good advice about not storing with ethanol in the system.
Of course , that could be extended to avoiding that stuff altogether.
Fogging is a good practice. It can be done by spraying Marvel Mystery Oil into the carb throat for 30 seconds or so with engine idling , then shut down and store.
Regarding the original question, I would leave it dormant for the duration. Once cold , leave it cold. If you feel compelled to run the engine during winter storage make sure it gets up to operating temperature for a good amount of time.
-And there would be your opportunity to fog it prior to shut down.

I pretty much did what the gang suggests and had good results when we went to Japan for three years -- I left the Chevelle in my parents' barn. I set the engine on a mid idle and then started dumping a quart of transmission fluid down the carb (Holley 650 double pumper). About halfway, I increased the pour until the engine choked out. All the smoke cleared the swallows out of the barn for awhile ...

Three years later, I put new plugs in and a new battery, and it took a few spins to start, but it did. Ran good after it burned off all the tranny fluid.

I’ll bet that initial start-up produced quite a cloud.

Seal off the carburetor inlet and tailpipe with heavy plastic and duct tape to keep humidity from cycling in and out of the cylinders with the valves open due to temperature changes. I've seen cylinders get rust pitted in just a few weeks when the temp and humidity hit the wrong levels. No matter where an engine stops turning, there will be a few valves open. It also keeps mice from building nests in the exhaust system.
Jerry

Or you can just be like me and forget that winter is coming, do nothing about it, remember it about this time of year with the carb torn half apart, and hope for the best!