Hey all, some of you may have remembered my post about moving to Athens Greece, well i did and it's awesome. The problem is i didnt have much time to store my vehichle. The battery is NOT disconnected.. It's covered, on cardboard which is sitting ontop of Gravel. The car is sitting inbetween two 10 foot trailers. Theres a minivan parked an inch from the rear bumper and a fence to the front. So i mean this thing is pretty well sheltered to a certain degree.
The car went in with codes 22 & 24.

The problem is this, i was only supposed to be in Greece untill feb15th but now looks like i'll be here untill July.

What sort of problems can i look forward to? In Calgary there are heavy winters with lots of snow. yes it's outside.

I've got a trickle charger for the battery... but that's about it... Anyone?


My webpage

 

GTA,

I know that you've heard it before, but I'll repeat it for those who might be reading this. It is usually a good idea to avoid addressing your posts to a specific individual or group. I stopped answering the "Hey, Vader" posts quite some time ago, and apparently it worked. There are email links for those sort of questions. Aside from that, you really don't want to discourage anyone from posting just because they don't fit your target group. That said, I guess I fit both of those criteria ("moderator" and "anyone really") so I'll give you my opinion.

Storing a vehicle with a connected battery is not the worst thing in the world, as long as the battery was fully charged when you stored it and there are no high-drain devices connected (like alarms). The standby or parasitic load of the ECM and other vehicle systems is really only in the milliamp range. There is a fairly low voltage tolerance by the ECM before the active RAM is erased. I understand that Calgary can get a bit cool, but a fully charged battery will not freeze unless the sustained temperature is below -60°F. Since the temperature may drop to that point but probably wouldn't remain there for any length of time, there shouldn't be a loss of sleep over the battery. As long as the battery doesn't freeze, it should produce an available voltage when the temperature rises again.

Of course, you should check the battery for signs of damage when you return to the vehicle and before starting it. Charging a battery that has freeze damage (usually shorted plates) can be dangerous,, whether you use a separate charger or the car's alternator. As for the trickle charger theory, it would keep the battery charged until all the water was boiled out, at which point the plates would likely sulfate heavily and short together. If it were my car, I wouldn't do it.

The preferrable method would be to have someone start and thoroughtly warm the engine at least every couple of months during the coldest period. Wait for a good warm day (-10° or so) and start the engine. If you can't arrange that, not all is lost. It just would be better overall if you could do that, both for the battery and engine oil.

In the interim, enjoy the weather in Greece. It shouldn't be anything like Alberta in late January.

 

Vader, thanks a lot for the post... That's pretty much what i was expecting to hear (except for the trickle charger part).
What i forgot to mention, and the main idea of the post was.. What about paint? and body i mean how much will it suffer? Is it sometihng that a good buff job could fx (paint is 1 yr old)

Thanks again.. I'm living la vida loca Vader