What's the best way to keep the engine in tip top form over the winter, making sure that it is in good nic for the spring. Apart from the obvious 1. Driving it every day 2. Keeping it garaged over the winter What else can we do to keep the van in the best form for starting etc
You dont need to drive it every day. Start it up and get it to a decent temperature every now and again and it'll be fine. I disconnect my battery if its going to be left for any length of time. I know others use trickle chargers to keep the battery in tip-top condition. Apart from that, not a lot!
You can just leave it, and not run it... but you need to do a hot oil change... run the engine up to temp (idle for 15/20mins) drain the oil while it's hot, leave the engine to cool, then pop 2.5ltrs of oil in and just leave it for the winter!! used oil contains carbons from piston blow by, and they can turn to acid when left for a long time, so clean unused oil, is the best thing for parking up over winter!! come spring/using the van, just chuck in a new set of plugs, check the points, and away you go!! 8)
And if you do remove the battery, don't leave it on a concrete floor, as it'll kill the battery... pop it on a block of wood if you need to leave it on the floor you can also get smart trickle chargers now... hook up the battery and leave it switched on 8)
Great advise thanks guys. Just out of curiosity what does the wood trick do? putting it on blocks over the winter will help prevent the battery from being drained???
It's one of those weird science things, whereby putting the battery on the block of wood insulates it from the ground, and it stops the magical electricity robbing fairies from stealing it!!
Low temperatures knacker batteries thats why car battery sales go through the roof in winter Ive worked on a few bmws that had insulating jackets wrapped around the batteries and i will be making somthing simmaler when my bus is back on the road
Sorry to be a retard but Paul Weeding you mention 'putting the battery on the block of wood insulates' I am right in thinking you are referring to ramping the van up onto wooden blocks rather than putting a wooden shelf in below the battery in the battery tray. Cheers
