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Old 12th January 2005, 13:02   #1
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Long-term Parking : Do's and Don'ts

Hey guys,

I am going out of town for about a month and so both my cars (Xing and 800) would not be driven and stay in the basement parking. What things do I need to do to make sure that the cars are OK when I come back. First concern is the battery. I guess removing a terminal wire should ensure that the battery doesn't lose charge.... but which one(+ or -)? The cars would be cleaned occasionally (I hope so!!!!) as I am not telling my cleaning guy when I am going to be back. There's not a lot of dust in the basement so I am not covering the cars. Is that the right thing to do? What else in your openion should be done for long term parking?
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Old 12th January 2005, 20:29   #2
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Hey Mohit,
  • Pump up your tire pressure real high
  • Fill your petrol tank full (i guess this doesnt apply anymore since they arent made out of metal)
  • Disconnect the NEGATIVE (black) terminal of the battery first. Then to be safe disconnect the RED one next.
  • When reconnecting, reconnect the red one first and the black one next. Be careful when using metal tools near your battery. Never let anything touch both contacts.
  • Try parking on near a downward slope or ramp so u can push start your cars when you are back (u might just have to!)

Thats all i can think of for now.
cya
R

Last edited by Rehaan : 12th January 2005 at 20:32.
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Old 12th January 2005, 22:05   #3
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if possible u can place ur car on wooden planks or jacks on the 4 sides so that the tire will not get a flat spot due .

do remember to disconnect the battery,
and even if there is no dust,wats the harm in covering ur car.in this way u need not have to get it cleaned daily.
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Old 13th January 2005, 07:08   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rehaan
[*]Pump up your tire pressure real high
Rehaan, why do you suggest this?


Quote:
Originally Posted by speedsatya
if possible u can place ur car on wooden planks or jacks on the 4 sides so that the tire will not get a flat spot due.
As I know this is the right way. Long back a Dunlop production engineer told me this.
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Old 13th January 2005, 07:11   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudra Sen
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rehaan
[*]Pump up your tire pressure real high
Rehaan, why do you suggest this?
Hey Rudra,

Well i assumed jacking up both the cars would be too much trouble!

So by having a higher tire pressure, given that air will leak at a slow rate, the end pressure after a month should still be high enough so as to be able to drive, as well as so that the tire doesnt get so flat standing there as to damage the tires.

cya
R

ps - hey it looks like u finally got the hang of quoting!
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Old 13th January 2005, 07:31   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rehaan

ps - hey it looks like u finally got the hang of quoting!
You said it.

But one month stationary tyres are prone to get a dead spot.
And I do agree with you that it's difficult to get sooo many jacks..but we have somthing called BRICK. Not a problem to get a stack of them
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Old 13th January 2005, 07:45   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudra Sen
I do agree with you that it's difficult to get sooo many jacks..but we have somthing called BRICK. Not a problem to get a stack of them
Lol! that is true..... plus less chance of some1 driving off with your car that way ......but then you are doing half the work for some1 who wishes to steal your wheels.. hehehe

However, i think the best thing you could do for your cars mohit is to get a friend to come over and start them up and go for a short spin (maybe to the petrol pump for some air) about 15-20days after u leave.

cya
R
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Old 13th January 2005, 10:50   #8
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Topic moved to Technical Stuff.[i]

Rt
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Old 13th January 2005, 21:11   #9
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Give the keys to a trustworthy neighbour. Just incase the car needs to be moved at any time for unforeseen reasons, it's better to have it driven than towed or forcibly pushed.
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Old 14th January 2005, 10:21   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditya
Give the keys to a trustworthy neighbour. Just incase the car needs to be moved at any time for unforeseen reasons, it's better to have it driven than towed or forcibly pushed.

Now thats a great piece of advice, one not many people may think off.

Rt
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Old 4th May 2005, 11:54   #11
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what precautions to be taken?

hey guys i guess some people have this problem, while going out of the country or wherever for a holiday the cars remain off for a long time like mine i have left it for abt 2months while i vacation so wat precautions do we have to take while leaving a car like that so that when i go back it wont give me any problems???
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Old 4th May 2005, 12:01   #12
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Here are a few points you can use

1) Disconnect the battery
2) If you are out for over a month, jack up your car so that a continuos load on your tyres does not reshape them.
3) Make sure that there is enough coolant in the radiator, this helps prevent rusting.
4) Cover your car
5) If possible have someone come over connect the battery and start it up once a week and idle it for at least 2 mins.
6) Try and leave your car with at least 10 lts of fuel to stop the possiblity of your fuel tank rusting.
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Old 4th May 2005, 12:06   #13
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Well,
you could do a few things like,

inflate all tires about 15 - 20% more, disconnect the battery and if you have a trickle charger connect it.another thing you can do is use up most of the fuel in your car and then get a 2 stroke oil mixed ready fuel about 10 litres. Also get some good fuel additive and drop it in, put it in the car and run it for about 20 mins and leave it to idle for about 10 - 15 mins where you are going to park the car. This will prevent rust and other contaminants.
Also while parking for a long time use the reverse gear and not the parking brake.
i think this should cover it

Cheers
Dom
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Old 4th May 2005, 12:57   #14
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Dude

What the guys have told you so far should cover it. However, you will need to check out with your dealer/service point as to what precautions can be taken to prevent the silencer from rusting. This is the biggest problems I have faced so far when leaving the car idle for a while. If your engine is in damn good condition, you may be able to see water droplets from your exhaust - while this is a good sign, it also accelerates rusting when the car is not used. Exhausts can be pretty expensive, depending on the make of the car (probably because it contains the Catalysts for the Cat Con). The Accent's exhaust costs about 3.2 k but I believe its 5k+ for other similar cars.


I leave my car in India and since I do not want it lying around some of the older folk use it once in a while which is fine by me - as far as possible try not to leave it idle. You may be protective about your car, but you would be doing it a favour by allowing one other (known) person to drive it around occassionally. If your family is at home, ask one of them to start up the car and leave it idling for about an hour at least once a week.

PS: Put Vaseline on the battery contacts to prevent oxidisation
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Old 4th May 2005, 12:58   #15
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dont forget to cover your car and attach weights to the cover so they dont fly off.... you could also aply a gear box and steering locks for safety
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