The Stovebolt Site 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!

Or move to the South and drive all year.

I don’t think the farmers in the Midwest let their trucks sit all winter, yet, here we are 60-70 years later and still fixing and driving them. That’s what I’m doing anyway. No garage queen or show truck for me in Illinois. However, with hip replacement in early December, 2022 it is sitting a bit this year. My nerves are a bit shot too from riding with the wife. 🥴

My condolences. Been there.

i put staybill in the tank run them for a bit shut them off hook up to battary tender cover cars , do nothing all winter .start up in spring even with enthanol ( thats all we have) never a problem starting. doing this for years..

I don't run Rec. fuel in anything, boat, jet ski, lawn equipment, cars, trucks, tractors, blah,blah. I use Sta-Bil in all of them and have not had any trouble.

What is Rec. fuel?

Otto,

"Rec. fuel" is usually called "recreational fuel". Also otherwise known as REC-90. Is supposed to be ethanol free, 90 octane rated and designed for use in off-road and marine engines that may be damaged by running ethanol content fuels.

Yes, sorry I didn't expound on that product.

Around here, we just call it "non-ethanol" ...

Otto Here in central illinois aim to drive all winter,fired up at 5:20 am went to coffee. 25 degrees well before daylight. Ran about 50 roads all clear.

Back in my working days, the coldest drive to work I did was 20 below. The most amazing thing was how thick the transmission gear lube got. Shifting was something else.

I'm a little more selective when I drive the '48 now that I'm retired.

I drove the '50 on Christmas when it was 12 degrees here in Atlanta. Fortunately I rebuilt the heater a year ago.

I didn't notice anything different about the shifting but I did notice the oil pressure was about 30psi until the oil warmed up and thinned out. After a few minutes it was back to 15psi.

That brings up the multi-viscosity oil discussion for driving, not storing, during the winter. Should we use 5w30 or 5w40 year round?

Here in Atlanta, I use 20W-50 or 15W-40 in my old cars year round. The 12 degree weather was a fluke. Mid 30s to 40s are the normal lows during the winter here.

The AD uses 20W-50.

I use 15W40 in my diesel year round and rarely have any issues with starting. Of course, the starter may have as much horsepower as a stovebolt 6.

The only reason that you'd use a 5W-anything is for starting issues, and I doubt a stovebolt (or any gas engine) would have issues in Illinois temperatures.

Otto My 51 with an insert bearing 235 has -.002 bearings thru-out,when I put those in couldn't see much wrong with the journals but it didn't lock it up. Now it keeps that 30 pound gage pegged summer and winter even at hot summer idle. Never had or saw one do it before,mine nor customer back in the day.

dougs Wouldn't hurt to round out the tires on sunny winter days,especially if you have a good heater and the roads are clear. I drive my 51 6400 all winter,go swig my coffee with the regulers.

Fixite - I see you are in Illinois. Rounding out the tires on a sunny winter day sounds nice , but up here in Wisconsin there is always some salt/brine residue remaining on the pavement , unless there has been considerable rain. Once my truck is in the boat shed it stays there for the duration , sadly.
Maybe the various maintenance agencies down your way are not so excessive in application?

We lived in Whitewater, WI for 3 years. Driving down the road would kick up a big cloud of dust. Except, it wasn't dirt dust, it was salt dust.

I didn't have my '48 back then but it was built in Janesville, not to far from Whitewater.

Waveski WWhere I am maintenance for winter driving is almost non-existant,we do get a little brine so stay in out of that. They have some bigger tools when it snows and drifts and my township will knock open my 1/4 mile of drifted road.

DES57 I don't know if I should do this but I top off my oil level with 10w40 used break in oil from a 4x4 540 pulling truck. I let it settle out for weeks then carefully pour off a quart (looks fine) now that racer is as clean as we can soap and water get it. The break in oil is full of zinc and so far over 11,000 miles cam is fine...I hope,haven't seen it since bearing change.

With the update in the "News Corner," just wanted to add here that we also have a great Tech Tip on getting your truck ready for winter. Includes some of our favorite images.

Another picture of passive winter storage.

On the subject of passive winter storage...

Looks like Illinois, and much of the US today. Minus 11 this morning. I’ll take a little more global warming please.
My daily driver ‘57 3200 is safe in the garage.

Our "Winter" storage.
Stay warm.