Winter Storage for Your Porschee
By Wolfgang Rietzl
Reprinted from The Nor’easter
Northeast Region
How should a car be prepared for winter storage?
Every fall, the Porsche purist in cold winter areas asks himself this
question. Let me begin with a step-by-step procedure.
1. Clean your car thoroughly, including chassis and
engine.
2. Drive the car for about thirty to sixty minutes,
then change engine and transmission oils, lubricate doors, gas
linkage, carburetor linkage, and if you have a 356, the front axle,
etc. It is advisable to use the lubrication chart for each model. Use
dry gas for your gas tank. It is very important that the gas tank is
filled all the way to the top before the car is stored.
3. After the oil change, drive the car again, so
that the engine is at operating temperature.
4. Park the car where it is to be stored.
5. Remove air cleaner. Get a quart of the same
engine oil which you are using for the engine. Make two holes at the
top of the can (about a half inch in diameter) so that you can pour
oil easily into the carburetor air intake port.
(a) On all 356 models, hold engine rpm at about
4000, then pour half a quart of oil into the left side, the other half
into the right side of the carburetor intake ports. The engine will
probably stall when you are pouring oil into the right side. This is
completely normal. Let your engine stall. Don’t restart it. Just
shut off your ignition and reinstall your filter. Obviously there will
be a lot of smoke coming through the muffler for a couple of seconds.
Don’t be alarmed. Your engine is now completely winterized.
(b) On all 911 models except CIS, hold rpm at 4500
rpm and pour oil into the six intake ports regardless of carburetor or
fuel injection system. Make sure that you distribute the one quart to
your best ability equally to all six intake ports. If engine stalls,
proceed the same way as outlined earlier on 356 models. Do not
restart. Before engine stalls, however, each cylinder should have
received a minimum share of the quart of oil. Shut off the ignition
and reinstall your filter. Your engine is now fully prepared for
storage and in the spring you can start up your engine without having
your spark plugs cleaned.
(c) On CIS and 914 engines, the above method cannot
be used. On these, pull plugs, squirt heated oil (about 70°F) in plug
holes, crank a few turns and reinstall plugs.
6. Now you should jack up your car and release the
spring system on the front as well as on the rear axle. If you don’t
have any way to do this, have your tires pumped up to 50 psi and check
them every month during storage. Low air pressure will develop a flat
spot. Remove the wheels and spray the discs or the brake drums with
CRC-5-56, Part #05005, called ‘Mechanic’s Helper." This
product is available in all automotive stores. It penetrates, cleans,
lubricates, stops corrosion, and has many other features. The discs
and drums should be rotated when you spray them with CRC. Please keep
in mind that you spray on the drums into the brake adjustment holes.
This will give adequate coverage inside the brake drum. Don’t worry
if you should spray the lining or the pads with CRC. It will burn off
when you use the brakes in the spring. It would be advisable to make
yourself a reminder (put it on the steering wheel for reference next
spring), so that when you take your car out for the first time, you
remember to apply the brake pedal lightly for the first eighth of a
mile. This will allow the CRC coating to burn off your lining as well
as on discs and drums.
7. Disconnect your battery. It is advisable to
recheck the water level and recharge with a trickle charger overnight.
Every six weeks the battery should be reconnected. Use your dome or
interior light for about three to four hours and then recharge the
battery. It is important that you disconnect the battery again. This
time, the cycle should be repeated as long as the car is in storage.
The procedure prevents sulphating of the battery. Exercising the
battery is important.
8. Push down the clutch pedal and place a small
piece of wood between the pedal and dashboard. This will prevent your
clutch from sticking. This does not apply to Sportomatics, for which
the procedure is more complicated.
9. Windshield wiper arms should be lifted so that
the wiper rubbers do not get damaged
in the prolonged storage. •
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