Laying up a Car....

[doomage]

You have a private road, a car, and some free time available?

Cut a hole in the bonnet, drop a massive V8 in there, do some drag racing!!!

[Lockhouse]

If the battery is a bit weak anything you can't switch off like burglar alarms will drain it over time. I don't think a 1 Km run at a time will be enough. Idling it for 10 minutes (or longer?) afterwards might do the trick. Come December cold weather will be with us again and a weak battery doesn't like the cold.

Maybe disconnect the battery between runs?

A CTEK trickle charger £35ish. CTEK Multi MXS 3.6 Car Battery Charger - the smartest battery chargers in the world!

[BolshieBastard]

As I can't drive for six months, and the missus won't drive my car, I'm faced with either selling it (Nooo!) or laying it up. I live on a private road, so I thought I would;

1. Remove the battery and keep it charged

Far better getting a 'leisure' type battery charger to keep it topped up. CTEK are excellent but pricey.

2. Pump the tyres up a bit to avoid flat-spotting

Far better to jack it up so its off the road and the tyres arent bearing any weight.

3. Every two weeks or so wap the battery back on and whizz up and down the length of the private road (200 meters or so)

Not a good idea. The engine wont get hot so you run the risk of some very short engine runs causing condensation in the engine (turn the oil to mayo!) and also puts a lot of vapour in the exhaust which will rot it very quickly. You'll need to run the engine for at least 30 minutes at 2000 rpm or above. Wont impress your neighbours though!

4. Every week fire it up and give it a rev? Bit pointless probably...

Yep, see above.

5. At same time give the leccy bits a work out - windows, wipers, headlamp washers etc..

No real need really. Might be better to drain the radiator, headlamp and screen washer bottles though.

Not sure what else, it's LPG, there's only a bit of that left in tank, and about a quarter of a tank of petrol left. Recently serviced so oils are new etc...

It's 2nd June since I drove it apart from the odd trip to end of private road, it's now SORN'd, insurance is still valid, MOT still valid, battery is sounding a bit farty now so I'm whipping it off later.

Petrol can go off so you may be as well draining the tank if its going to be unused for nearly 6 months. LPG should be ok though.

You need to keep the insurance current now it is SORNed. In short, it may be wiser to move the car on as unless its in a heated garage, leaving a car standing for more than a couple of weeks isnt a good idea.

Hope your health gets better.

[stek]

Well, conflicting opinions here...

I must admit I am of the old school, jack it up - cover it, cover it in beeswax....

But it's what, two months now and it's not really suffered apart from battery sounding a bit sick, so I am tempted to continue to keep the battery charged, fire it up once a week for 30-40 mins with a bit of run up and down, persuade the missus to take it for a blast (after un- sorning). In fact, I'm off out now to start it, bet it starts!

Watch this space....!

[stek]

Well, conflicting opinions here...

I must admit I am of the old school, jack it up - cover it, cover it in beeswax....

But it's what, two months now and it's not really suffered apart from battery sounding a bit sick, so I am tempted to continue to keep the battery charged, fire it up once a week for 30-40 mins with a bit of run up and down, persuade the missus to take it for a blast (after un- sorning). In fact, I'm off out now to start it, bet it starts!

Watch this space....!

It didn't - battery flat! Well, turned the engine but not enough to start - tmrw's job (not today's!) - need to build a pSeries Frame, bit of freelance work, don't tell the missus....!

[BS1397]

As I can't drive for six months, and the missus won't drive my car, I'm faced with either selling it (Nooo!) or laying it up. I live on a private road, so I thought I would;

1. Remove the battery and keep it charged

2. Pump the tyres up a bit to avoid flat-spotting

3. Every two weeks or so wap the battery back on and whizz up and down the length of the private road (200 meters or so)

4. Every week fire it up and give it a rev? Bit pointless probably...

5. At same time give the leccy bits a work out - windows, wipers, headlamp washers etc..

Not sure what else, it's LPG, there's only a bit of that left in tank, and about a quarter of a tank of petrol left. Recently serviced so oils are new etc...

It's 2nd June since I drove it apart from the odd trip to end of private road, it's now SORN'd, insurance is still valid, MOT still valid, battery is sounding a bit farty now so I'm whipping it off later.

3rd of Dec 2012 is looking like my D-Day assuming the defibrillator doesn't shock me, it hasn't so far, if it does it's six months from whenever it does it, apparently it's like a Donkey kick in the chest so it's somewhat noticeable....

I was just checked, via a laptop in the hospital, wirelessly...She said "Gonna slow your heart down......" then, "Gonna speed it up a bit now, you might feel this..." - and I did, weird, like giddiness and slightly disconcerting.....

At the moment, at home, benched, living off warchest, bored, feeling loads better, just occasional bouts of fatigue now, lost three stone which was nice....

NEVER take out the battery unless you are really sure your Immobilizer will NOT play up afterwards and you have the Radio Code. Check with Main Dealer and a Specialist forum dedicated to you model.

I keep my SORN car in the Garden and every other weekend I start the car and drive it forward & backwards to make sure the Clutch, Brakes, Linkages and Battery are still OK, and at least once a month I will let the engine run till it gets to normal temp to make sure the battery is fully charged and the Water/Oil is circulated.

[ctdctd]

I had a 1998 Fiat Bravo given to me by an elderly relative.

Driven into garage in July 1999, given to me 16 months later.

Replaced battery, started it, drove to a dealer for a service. Tyres, brakes, petrol etc were fine.

Sold it 4 years later, never missed a beat.

So IMO, you only need to take the battery off and keep it charged.

[Platypus]

So IMO, you only need to take the battery off and keep it charged.

Agree. Six months is not very long. All this bollux about tyres flatspotting is just bollux.