1. Keep It Covered

The best place for long-term car storage is a garage. Garages protect cars from natural elements and keep them at a relatively stable temperature. When a garage is not an option, you may want to consider renting a public storage facility unit. In situations where you must leave a car outdoors, get a weatherproof car cover for it to keep it clean and dry.

2. Clean It Up

It may seem counterproductive to get a car washed before putting it into long-term storage. However, this is a simple, inexpensive step that you should not skip. Leaving bird droppings or water stains on a car compromises the paint. Take the time to clean the wheels and the fender undersides to clear away grease, mud, and tar. If you want to provide additional protection for your car, give it a coat of wax.

3. Change the Oil and Fill the Gas Tank

Are you planning to keep your car in storage for more than 30 days? If so, it is best practice to get an oil change and fill the tank with gas. Leaving used engine oil with contaminants can cause damage to the engine.  Filling the tank keeps moisture from building up inside the fuel tank and prevents the seals from drying out. Some people recommend purchasing a fuel stabilizer to keep ethanol from accumulating and to offer engine protection from varnish, gum, and rust. Additionally, a fuel stabilizer keeps the gas from deteriorating for up to one year.

4. Keep It Charged

A battery that is left unattended eventually loses its charge. Whenever possible, have someone start the car every two weeks, taking it for a 15-minute drive each time. Driving the car on a regular basis keeps the battery charged, helps the car “stretch its legs,” and keeps the engine and additional components lubricated appropriately. Have the person driving the car run the air-conditioner on a regular basis as well to keep its parts in proper working order and the air quality fresh.

If you are not able to have someone start the car, other options are possible. One option is to disconnect the negative battery cable to preserve the battery; unfortunately, you will lose your clock and stereo settings (i.e. radio presets). If you want to keep your settings and ensure that the battery starts immediately upon your return, purchase a battery or trickle charger. This device plugs into a wall outlet and hooks up to the car battery. It provides just enough electrical power to keep the battery from losing its charge.

5. Avoid Flat Spots

Before you put your vehicle in storage, check your tire pressure. If necessary, inflate the tires to the recommended level. When a car sits for an extended period of time, the tires may develop flat spots as the vehicle’s pressure weighs down on them. This is a heightened risk for cars with low-profile or performance tires and in cold temperatures.

Sometimes having a person drive the vehicle is enough to maintain standard operating temperature and thus eliminate flat spots. In more serious instances, a flat spot can turn into a permanently flat tire that must be replaced. Some people avoid the issue of flat spots altogether by removing the wheels and putting the car up on four jack stands. While this measure takes more effort, it ensures that the tires are in optimal condition upon your return, thus preventing the risk of needing a whole new set of tires. Removing the tires completely is appropriate only for vehicles that are stored for longer than one month.

6. Avoid Using the Parking Brake

Typically, best practice is to use a vehicle’s parking brake to keep it in one place. However, when the brake pads are in contact with the rotors for an extended period of time, they may fuse. Instead of applying the parking brake when putting a car in long-term storage, consider purchasing a chock or tire stopper to keep the car from moving.

7. Keep Up with Car Insurance

Many people give into the temptation to give up their car insurance when they put their cars in long-term storage. Although this measure may save you money on a short-term basis, there is a possibility that your insurance company will increase its rates during the gap coverage, which may result in larger payments than you would have had if you had maintained your original insurance payments. As rates can vary with different insurance companies and different regions of the country, it is important to contact your specific company to discuss your options.

8. Keep the Mice and Rats Out

A garage’s dry, warm environment is enticing for mice and rats. Plug any open areas such as air intakes and exhaust pipes with steel wool to keep critters out. Place cotton swabs or mothballs covered with peppermint oil all around the vehicle.

About the author:

Doug Climenhaga is president of SVI International, Inc., a leading supplier of parts for industrial lift equipment, including brake lathe parts. With more than 20 years experience in the hydraulic and automotive lift industries, he holds two patents and has designed scores of problem-solving products. 

The two biggest causes of car batteries failing is either leaving your lights on or alternator failure. One of these will probably happen to you at some point in your life.

So you have to know how to jump start a car safely and properly, so that when/if you ever do run into a dead battery in your car you can get back on the road quickly. You don’t always want to have to call out your car breakdown cover, particularly when it is something you can do yourself. Continue reading to find out how!

Preparing your vehicle to jump start a car:

First, you’re going to need a set of jumper cables. They are pretty common, so even if you don’t have a set you should be able to find someone who does. They aren’t expensive, so it’s actually a good idea to pick some up just in case anyways.

Move both cars so that the batteries are close to each other. If you don’t know where your battery is then pop the hood. Make sure that both vehicles are off, and have the parking brake on… you don’t want any accidents.

Make sure that both cars don’t have any accessories running. This means headlights, A/C, heaters, fans, cell phone chargers, radios etc. When you jump start the car it may cause damage to these accessories by pushing too much current through the car’s electrical system… so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Take a look at the batteries before jump starting. Make sure you know which side is positive (+) and which side is negative (-) before going further. The positive terminal is usually marked red and the the negative is usually black, but check the markings on the battery to make sure.

If your battery is damaged or is leaking… don’t jump start your car. You will need a new battery first, and if you try to jump start it anyways you may cause a lot more unwanted problems. Besides, a damaged battery is not going to hold a charge anyways.

Make sure there isn’t any corrosion on the battery terminals. The terminals themselves won’t hurt you, so you can clean them off with a rag or a brush if you have one.

Time to learn how to jump start a car

Step 1: Connect one of the positive (+) ends of the jumper cables to the positive (+) terminal of the DEAD battery.

Step 2: Connect the other positive (+) end of the jumper cables to the positive (+) terminal of the GOOD battery.

Step 3: Connect one of the negative (-) ends of the jumper cables to the negative (-) terminal of the GOOD battery.

Step 4: Connect the other end of the negative (-) jumper cable to any non-painted metal part of the engine block on the DEAD battery’s car. Why not put it on the negative terminal of the dead battery? Because this could cause an explosion… and explosions are bad.

If you jump start your car by connecting the jumper cables in this order you minimize the chance of the cables sparking and is the safest way to jump start your car.

How do you know if you’ve connected everything right? The dome light in the car with the dead battery should come on when the circuit is complete (all the cables are attached). If the dome light doesn’t come on then you probably either have something connected incorrectly, or your jumper cables are toast.

OK now to jump start the car

Run the car with the good battery for a few minutes and then turn it off. That’s right, turn it off.

Why? Because if you jump start a car with the good battery’s car running, you may actually burn out the alternator on the good car because of too much current being drawn from the electrical system.

So turn off the good car’s engine, and try to crank the car with the dead battery. Most times this will be enough and your car should start.

If that doesn’t work, then you have to start up the good car’s engine. Bring the RPMs just above idle (push the gas pedal just a little bit) to increase the current flow from the alternator. Then try to crank over the bad battery’s car once again.

It can take a few minutes to jump start a car sometimes, so be patient. If you’ve done the previous steps correctly you should have your car running quickly. If you still can’t get enough juice to start the car, try moving the negative (-) cable that is attached to your engine block to the negative (-) terminal on the battery. This should be your last resort, but it may just give you the extra boost you need.

Now to take off the jumper cables

After you’ve jump started your car you need to safely remove the jumper cables off of the batteries.

Disconnect the negative (-) cable from the exposed metal on the engine block first.

Then disconnect the other negative cable from the good car.

Then both of the positive cables.

So you’ve just learned how to jump start a car. As I mentioned above, it’s always a good idea to have a good set of jumper cables in your car/truck in case you have to jump start it. They aren’t expensive and they can really save your butt from time to time.

What if you don’t have jumper cables or can’t find another vehicle to help you?

This one can be tricky. After all, what happens when your battery is dead and you’re not near any other vehicles to help you out? Even worse, what if you’re stuck this way in the winter?

If you have a standard transmission (aka stick shift) then you’re in luck because you can jump start your car without jumper cables using your clutch.

Jumper cables in your trunk are pretty standard emergency equipment, but you may also want to consider investing in a jump starter for your car.

A jump starter will be able to successfully jump start your car without jumper cables. Essentially it’s a battery pack attached to one half set of jumper cables. You hook up your jump starter, flip a switch and hopefully there is enough juice to jump your car.

Be sure to read our reviews of jump starters however, as you don’t want to get stuck with a jump starter that doesn’t have the umph to jump your car. You can check out reviews and get a pretty damn good deal on jump starters over at amazon.com here.

Leave us a comment below about jump starting a car, or even a horror story… I’ve sure got a few, but that’s a different post.