Do I need to worry

[elau]

Since the weather on the East Coast has been less than cooperative, we have been getting plenty of snow days. In the past winters, I would take my SL out when the sun is out and the road is free of salt just to get all mechanical parts moving and strech her legs a bit. So far, I have not been able to do that and the car has been sitting ideal for a month without starting. I am afraid all the oil has been settled in the bottom of the engine and not sure what would happen if I start the car now. Any sugestion? I have been thinking to start it up and let her sit idle in the garage for 15 minutes or more, with the garage door opened that is

Or do I really need to take it out for a drive?

I have heard cars experience more damage by sitting than daily use. My car is definitely a garage queen, but not to this extend for a month without starting.

[kip Foss]

Aside from the possibility that your fuel may gum up a bit, sitting in the garage all winter won't hurt your car. A friend of mine here in Corpus Christi that collects olds cars tells me that if you are not going to use you car much you should either add 'Stay-bol' (a gas stabilizer) to the tank, or, as he does, run the car on aviation gas. Av-gas does not have the additives that regular gas has and therefore does not tend to gum up. Modern gas, I am told, has a life expectancy of about 3 months. Even if you could turn off the gas and run the engine dry, residual drops can dry out and gum up the small ports in the fuel system. I had this happen on an outboard engine and I nearly had to dynamite to clean the stuff out.

Secondly, unless, when you take the car out for a drive, you run it 30 minutes to an hour you are probably doing more harm than good. The biggest killer of an engine, and especially an exhaust system, is the moisture that is generated as a by-product of combustion. This is the vapor you see coming out of the exhaust when the car is first started on a cold morning. This water mixes with small amounts of sulphur in the fuel and makes sulphuric acid. The acid will eat out an exhaust system very quickly. The metal in any system, except a stainless steel one, is basically raw, unprotected metal and the acid will have a field day on it. Even galvanized exhaust systems are not immune. Put a galvanized nail into some bathroom tile cleaner like CLR that has acid as an ingredient and watch it eat the zinc.

The moisture produced by combustion, and the associated acid, also ends up in the crankcase. It is not as damaging to the metal as in the exhaust since acid doesn't really cut oil, you need an alkali to clean oil, but small amounts of acid add up and over time will pit the cylinder walls.

The above is why you don't ever want to buy a car that has been driven by 'a little old lady from where ever'. The chances are that she drove it to the store and back and never got the engine up to temp. This type of driving will kill an engine quicker than hard driving.

There are many web sites that will tell you how to store you car in the winter. I live in S. Texas and am certainly not an expert on the subject. Storage here basically just involves a car cover or a garage. I would recommend that you take the battery out, check all the fluid levels, wash and wax the car, and if you are real energetic, put it up on blocks (it will keep the tires from getting flat spots in them), although sitting 5 months on the tires will not ruin them.

Your concern about the 'oil settling' is valid, but, unless you can run the oil pump before you start, there is nothing you can do about it. You are right that starting a car probably causes more wear than x miles of driving. When I used to rebuild engines I had a old distributor drive shaft connected to a socket. After the engine was assembled I removed the distributor, put the drive shaft into the oil pump and ran it for a minute with the impact wrench. This flooded the engine with oil and checked that the pressure was up to spec. Unfortunately, the Mercedes oil jpump is chain driven and there is no way to do this.


Hope this helps a bit.

[cbdo]

If you didn't add fuel stabilizer in the fall, you might choose to do so now. Here in winterbound West Michigan, I did start my 560SL a few weeks ago and let it run for a half-hour, which is long enough to get the engine and the exhaust system both well warmed up; it will also work the injection system and freshen up the fuel that's sitting in there to some degree. Never messed much with my old '73 Mustang through winter storage, but then the MB's just a bit more complex!

[Eli (NJ)]

elau, I have the same concerns you do, unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about that initial start after sitting for a while. I just crank it and pray, and if I hear any weird noises initially, my stomach starts to knot up. But you still don't want to run it for just 15 minutes. I start mine every two to three weeks and take it out for an aggressive run once it's warmed up, to clean out all the deposits in there. Unfortunately again, my battery always dies in two weeks of winter, and I have to charge it first.
Eli.

[elau]

That is another concern I have. The battery. Mine is a relatively new one. Bought it last year when the original battery finally died. I have the car covered all the time so I cannot check the battery by opening the door to see if the internal lights come on.

Since my gagrage is not heated, I am afriad to even remove the cover from the car in fear I may tear something on the soft top, especially the rear window for the cold may brittle the material. I did not put my hard top on for the winter and now I regret for not doing so. As a matter of fact I have not put my hard top on for years. Wonder the seal on the hard top is still good (damn, another thing to think about )

[kip Foss]

Elau,
You can either take the battery out of the car if you are going to store it, or install a trickle charger to keep it charged. As the battery discharges (which batteries do all by themselves) the ph of the acid goes up. This makes the solution more water like and much more likely to freeze. Small chargers are very cheap compared to the cost of replacing a battery and esp. to the cost of repairing the acid damage that a cracked battery might cause in the car.

[den500sl]

Softtop and rollbar electronics somewhat sensitive to battery condition, battery being disconnected and reconnected and jumpstarts. May induce trouble code(s) and require resetting by MB dealer. No experience with trickle chargers and very interested in hearing from someone with does.

Driven in winter only when roads are dry, to work and back (60 highway miles) once every week or two.

97 sl500 triple black
Sport edition 1
24K miles

[Eli (NJ)]

The best idea I found is a portable jumpstart battery. It is clearly marked with the plus and minus and has an on/off switch to eliminate terminal sparking when the connection is made. It has just enough juice to start the monster, up to 3 or 4 times (which is all you need anyway). And yes, I agree about the constant jumpstarting (especially from another car with a higher voltage possibly) being bad for it, I blew my OVP relay fuse last year and ***** bricks when my top stopped working and my ABS light came on. Luckily I did no other damage but a 20 cent fuse. But it was enough warning anyway. Hope this helps.
Eli.

[cbdo]

I've used a maintenance charger for years, with no problems. My favorite unit is Guest's Battery Pal Magnum; it's a 3-amp unit with nice regulation, available for about $70 (sometimes less) at marine stores such as West Marine, BoatUS, etc. I've never had it overcharge or cause water loss, I've never had car electrics affected by it, and I've never had a battery freeze (unheated garage in Michigan). I leave the battery hooked up in the car and simply connect the charger. My 560SL has a pigtail (fused!) that I wired directly to the battery terminals in the trunk, connecting to a plug I installed on the charger wires; the pigtail is long enough to reach outside the trunk, and the charger sits outside the car. Its signal light tells me at a glance that it's on and that the battery is at full charge.

I do unplug the charger from the car before starting the engine; to do otherwise can be unfriendly to the charger and/or the car electrics.

[G-Benz]

Don't fret much about damage to your car if it's just sitting for a few months in the winter.

Kip brought up some excellent points regarding potential damage to cars rarely driven, and for that matter, driven for short trips.

In your case, trickle charging your battery and doing some extended driving when you do get around to it are probably the only things I would recommend for cars left idle for a season. Also, possibly an oil change before the spring season begins.

Most of the detrimental effects occur when cars are allowed to sit unattended for years.

I know of a woman with an SL500 that has had three water pumps replaced...on an 8K mile car! Lack of driving eroded the seals, and when she did drive it, the seals would blow and cause the pump to fail!

My VW sat in storage for 5 years at one time while I relocated for a new job and got personal things together. By the time I came back to get it, although it did run, I ended up having to rebuild the top end due to varnished fuel and blown seals.

Our SL is really the wife's car, and she RARELY drives (2-3K miles/yr). But I haven't had to do any over-the-top storage techniques, and it does just fine.