Winter Care

[manisandher]

Hi All.

I was going to ask about indoor covers, but this has already been addressed here: http://www.classicadditions.com (http://www.classicadditions.com/).

Over the winter, my car will remain mainly garaged and covered. (I've yet to order the cover, if anyone has one for sale...)

I'm assuming it'd be a good idea to start the engine up and maybe take the car for a very quick spin once in a while, just to keep the battery charged up. But is there anything else I should be doing?

I've never owned a 'weekend' car before and have never needed to consider these sorts of things. Any advice would be very welcome.

Cheers, Mani.

[AR]

One thing I will say is please be careful with cold tyres in the winter.

How long will the car be garaged for?

[TheSebringOne]

Get a battery trickle charger or conditioner for winter. HTH

[havoc]

If it's in a garage with power then definitely get a trickle-charger - if you remove the spare wheel then it's a doddle to thread the charger underneath the front bumper and rest it on the spare-wheel cradle - can connect / disconnect in seconds, esp. if you get a charger where you can permanently attach one part of it to the two battery terminals.

Engine / running - AFAIK not necessary if you're not going to use it. Running from very cold will just add a little bit of wear to the engine.

Only other thing I've heard of is if it's likely to be laid-up for months, consider either rotating the wheels every few weeks / month (some people say they can flat-spot if sat on the same spot for ages and ages), or jacking the car up and putting it on 4x axle stands so the weight isn't on the wheels. Hell, pushing it a foot forwards will do the job, if you've the space.


If you are going to take it out in winter, heed Ary's advice and drive as if the roads are wet - temps of <7C make a real difference to the grip of "summer tyres".

[manisandher]

Thanks for the advice guys - this was just what I was hoping for. I'll definitely buy a trickle charger and a cover. I think I'll get away with moving the car a foot or so forwards/backwards within the garage itself - will do this every few weeks. Meanwhile, I'll keep the engine totally switched off from Dec through to Feb or so.

On a final note, I'll be giving the car a wash 'n' wax before I cover it. Do such things as 'winter waxes' exist???

Cheers, Mani.

[TheSebringOne]

Theres an easier way to trickle charge and thats the rear fuse box on side of the engine, near the air filter casing.

Check out the driver's manual, much easier than removing spare wheel to get at the battery.

HTH

[NSX 2000]

Theres an easier way to trickle charge and thats the rear fuse box on side of the engine, near the air filter casing.

Check out the driver's manual, much easier than removing spare wheel to get at the battery.

HTH

Agree with James as this is how I do mine, much quicker than farting around under the bonnet.

[AR]

Very simple way of doing it and quick to disconnect if you need to drive the car.

[Senninha]

Hi,

My charger is hard wired into the battery and I fed the cables up under the black plastic panel bringing the plug out near the bonnet hinge. This enables me to plug in and out in o time at all ... Even quicker than via the engine bay guys ;)

As you're going to cover whilst laid up, then a good couple of coats of wax before wrapping up should be fine under a new cover

Regards,

Paul

[NSXGB]

Thanks for the advice guys - this was just what I was hoping for. I'll definitely buy a trickle charger and a cover. I think I'll get away with moving the car a foot or so forwards/backwards within the garage itself - will do this every few weeks. Meanwhile, I'll keep the engine totally switched off from Dec through to Feb or so.

On a final note, I'll be giving the car a wash 'n' wax before I cover it. Do such things as 'winter waxes' exist???

Cheers, Mani.

If you are still in the market for a charger, I just purchased a Ring 6a 'SmartCharge' from Costco at the bargain price of £36. Some good features and generous cable length.

[Tokyo-Joe]

Apologies for the hijack but what is the advice for leaving the car outside in winter? My battery has died and as I commute by train my car only gets use on a weekend. In summer months that seems okay but last night I didn't have enough charge to unlock the alarm which wouldn't stop going off..

I might add this is not an nsx exclusive issue, I have had this with my last four weekend cars.

I must surely be missing a trick here!

[manisandher]

If you are still in the market for a charger, I just purchased a Ring 6a 'SmartCharge' from Costco at the bargain price of £36. Some good features and generous cable length.

I ended up buying a CTEK MXS 3.6 from Amazon for £46 - this includes the 'comfort connect' cable that you attach permanently to the battery terminals. I haven't tried the charger yet but will report back with findings in due course. Oh and my cover from Classic Additions has arrived and looks good.

Think I'm all set for the winter. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions - very much appreciated.

Mani