Guys,

I will be shutting down my Ex for the winter and need your advice .... What are the manditory things I should do if she will be in my heated garage for about 5 months ... I have never stored a diesel before.

I will start it once every couple weeks to move fluids around.

Thanks for your help!!!

 

I would wish i could store mine in the winter. If i was storing it i would just start it up every morning and let it get to opperating temperature Mayb let it run for 20 mins?

 

I think its recommended for storing any vehicle, but especially with the weight of the Ex, I would block it and remove the tires and rims. Also not a bad idea to spray lube the rotors and hubs and bag 'em to prevent condensation and rusting, but where it'll be in a heated garage not as important.

Find something to keep the little furry critters from making a home in the truck as well...

Mice are an annoyance but squirrells are a nightmare!

 

Do not start it up as it will never reach full operating temp unless you actually drive it and you will just be promoting condensation to form on everything and inside the motor. The condensation will build and drip into your oil and with it never getting hot enough to burn off the water (212 degrees) you will be running water through your oiling system. Never a good thing!

Park it, put a heavy gauge plastic under it if its on concrete as the concrete wicks moisture, and if you can put it on some really heavyduty jackstands. Make sure the jacks arent gonna sink into whatever you have em on either! Ive had a E350 super duty van bury my 2 1/2 ton jack into some blacktop. Crazy stuff!

Dryer sheets in the exaust tip will keep the critters out of there. Also a few inside the truck will keep everything smelling fresh. A couple mothballs never hurt anyone either.

A trickle charger for the batteries will be needed also.

Theres more just cant think of em yet.

 

yeah, those squirrels are NUTS

lol sorry, yeah, i think the biggest thing would just be to start it up every once in a while. 20 min a day is prolly a little much though. I think maybe 20 min a week or so?

Im own a gasser, but I don't know if there would be a problem with fuel gelling or growing something? maybe some additive might not be a bad idea, but i'd check with a diesel dude before you did anything :-)

Isaac

 

Starting your vehicle often during storage is NOT good for it! Maybe once every other month to lube seals and run the A/C. Not once a week or daily!

 

Starting you vehicle while you're storing has its plusses and minuses. I am personally against it for the same reason as 1: The condensation that gets in the oil gets circulated through the engine and gets on all of the bearings, rings, valvetrain, etc. Believe me, this will cause damage much faster than you think. On a diesel, just starting the thing and idling it will never get the oil above the 212F required to boil off the oil.

Now, you may say "Well, my oil temp gauge only ever reads 180F and I never had condensation issues that you're talking about." That's fine, but where is that 180F? Over the course of going through a motor, oil will increase in temperature. While it varies based on the motor, 50F is a good number. So, that is plenty hot to boil off the water.

The beneifts of starting in storage, even if you don't get the water out of the oil, are that you boil off condensation in the exhaust, and there's also something to be said for it helping the air conditioning (provided you keep the compressor spinning). I've heard people tell me it keeps the seals lubricated. Also, it burns off condensation that's in the cylinders. If you were going to do it for that, monthly would be fine. I still wouldn't recommend it.

Here's my biggest question, though: Why are you taking it off the road for the winter? My Excursion IS my winter vehicle. I take my Jag off the road for the winter.

 

1, what if u sit there and rev the engine at like 3k? Or r u worreid about the transmission not warming up all of the way

 

if nothing else, running the truck @ 3k rpm all the time is just going to waste fuel unnecessarily.

I had forgotten about burning off the water in the oil. Now that I think about it, I had that same thing happen to my friend's 4wheeler and almost did some big damage b/c he never let it warm all the way up...

To be honest, if it were me, id just probably park it in the garage and not really do much of anything except maybe a battery tender. Im sure it will be fine

 

A lot of people swear by damp rid to keep moisture out of the vehicle while in storage.

http://www.damprid.dsiwebbuilder.com/index.asp?cat=173071

 

Issac, i am saying buy revving the engine u will let it get to operating temperature. That way u can burn off the condensation.

 

yeah, I got what your saying I just think that if it is unnecessary to start up the vehicle up often, then starting it and allowing it to rev up to heat up to burn off the water is just a waste of fuel, if it would be fine without running it at all.

I agree that letting it warm up fully is good if it is necessary to start it, but i don't know that it is necessary to run it at all. I'm pleading ignorance there

thats all

 

Reving an engine at idle like that is not good for it. Also, it will still never got to full operating temp like it would whiel driving it. An engine with no load doesnt produce the heat it would under a load. Ive questioned it myself honestly, but a lot of really smart people convinced me it would not. I forgot all the points they made right now to tell you the truth, but its hard to change my mind, and they did.

 

1, after reading ur post, u just convinced me. I never even thought of that to tell u the truth.

 

Revving the engine won't make a big difference as there's not a load being put on it.

In airplanes, revving the engine to let it warm up is a more common practice. With airplanes you're especially concerned with the oil temperature when you're getting ready for takeoff. However, the engine has this big spinny thing attached to the front of it, that provides a big load. So, taking it up to 1700 RPM for warm-up (if you haven't been idling long enough) is fine. That's what I had to do yesterday, as the plane had been sitting in the hangar and was cold, plus it's getting chilly out here.

To reiterate, I don't think it's necessary to start - when I store winter vehicles I usually only start them if they have to be moved for some reason, but when that happpens I then try to let them run long enough to get up to operating temperature.

Also to reiterate, why are you putting your Excursion away for the winter, anyway?