Have not posted in awhile. Have replaced EGR cooler, radiator and AC condenser. Thanks God for extended Warranty........ Love the truck...68k miles.

Question. Staring to Snow Bird next year and truck will stay in Wisconsin Jan through April or so in barn. What should I so to prep it for storage? Thinking about battery tenders (I do that for everything else) but what else?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/ideas. I ave a good plan that works for STV's/boat and such but not sure about the truck.

 

More dolor. We will be driving RV pulling a wrangler back and forth and will have a car that lives in FL as well. So....

Any fuel treatment besides the ceatane booster I already do? Tank left full or not? To long of a time to leave it plugged in?

 

Several ideas in this recent thread...


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...sel-truck.html

 

Perfect, Thanks.

 

OK, read that thread. My barn has no heat. So I will:

- Fill tank and continue to use the Ford additive. I really don't want to have to drain the tank in the spring like mentioned on the other thread.
- Change oil
- Try to keep the mice at bay
- Unplug batterys and put on tender

Anyone know if having the batterys unplugged for 4 months will cause any issues?

 

I do it every year with batteries...which I keep in a cool basement. Can't say for 100% sure if pulling the batteries will bother something on the truck.

Since you don't have heat, might want to put a couple small fans on a timer under the truck as winter starts to warm. Cold night followed by relatively warm day can really make cold metal sweat. I put a fan under the back and another aimed up toward the engine. Only need to run them a few times during the day. Coat of WD40 on aluminum and certain metal parts will keep down the corrosion during the "sweaty" season.

 

IMHO, Fluid film is even better than WD40. Just discovered it thanks to this site and I've been doing some testing on it the past month. It's still on the hitch ball/receiver after over a month. WD40 would have been washed off by now - from previous experience with WD40.

Put winter anti-gel in if you are not able to get winter blend fuel before you leave. Even though I did that, I left my truck alone last winter until Feb. and I ended up reaching CFPP. Because of course it dropped to -20F out. put more arctic Diesel Kleen/ Power service, plugged he block heater in, and was got it started and after it warmed up I immediately drove to a fuel station and topped off with winter blend. Never had an issue after that. Sounds like you are coming back when temps will be warmer so probably a non-issue for you.

 

Last question here:

Will pulling the batteries for 4 months cause any other issue on the truck when reconnected?

Thanks for the help.

 

Is their anyway you could use a battery maintainer? That way your batteries will be good regardless of whether they are left in or not. If you do remove the batteries, put them somewhere warm. I destroyed some other batteries last year by letting them freeze... They were no good in the summer and had to be replaced.

 

Sorry, should have elaborated a little. The WD40 is for engine parts that normally stay dry during daily use...like alternator, water pump, intake, etc. These parts often aren't painted because they normally don't corrode. Long term storage, particularly during cold night/warm days make these parts look nasty. First time you warm the truck real good, the WD40 will evaporate.

I agree about the fluid film...use it where you want it to not wash off.

 

Thanks for the clarification '65Ford. I agree with that too.

 

You could get a 7day timer. Hook it to a trickle charger to come on once a week for 6 hrs. That should keep it charged while your gone.

 

My dealer's service manager suggested that I just disconnect the batteries on mine since it was to sit for 6 months. If the batteries are fully charged when disconnected, they should still be in fine shape in the spring.
Programming in the ECU and BCM should be unaffected as their programming is not held in volatile memory that requires a battery to maintain.
The only thing you may lose is your radio station presets and possibly your bluetooth pairing. All easy to take care of...

 

Cool, thanks. That is what I was looking for.

 

I handle medical imaging equipment and whenever I crate up a CT. System or an MRI or other x Ray system I just clean it up, wrap it with shrink wrap with a bunch of silica packs thrown into the insides.

I know it's easy since I have materials and do it regularly, but I'd be tempted to wrap the whole thing in heat shrink plastic with a dozen or so silica bags all over.

Just a thought.