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Thread: Car parked for a long time - when to expect problems?

  1. #11
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Just to throw out another data point / opinion.

    If possible, try to start the car AND let it fully warm up at least weekly.

    DRIVE the car at least once each month, Ideally every other week. Get it warmed up, USE the brakes to get the rust off of the rotors, etc. etc.

    You can get away with less, but cars generally stay a lot happier when they are regularly driven. Taking it out for a drive will keep the battery charged, keep all the oil seals properly lubricated, and just a world of other things that we don't think about.


    Simplify and add lightness.

  2. #12
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    Mitsubishi controllers draw no more than .025A/H when parked.

    Your battery should be around 450AH give or take.

    Itll be fine.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 43.5 mpg (US) ... 18.5 km/L ... 5.4 L/100 km ... 52.2 mpg (Imp)


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    MetroMPG (04-09-2020)

  4. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark View Post
    It's always hard to compare prices (gallon to liter). Not going metric is a stubborn U.S. issue. I won't defend that. In my hometown gas has dropped over a $1/gallon. I don't remember a drastic drop of that amount before, & I have been around for some time. I've seen drastic increases over the years.

    Not sure what your parking/garage situation is, but I use trickle chargers on things that sit for some time. I put trickle battery chargers on my riding lawnmower and compact tractor about 2-weeks ago, because they sat all winter. I started them up yesterday to change oil in them and get them ready for spring/summer. They both fired right up. I prefer that over using jumper cables.

    Can't answer your FAST key question, but even vehicles without FAST keys are using something. When my Subaru Forester sits for weeks on end, a trickle charger goes on that, too. Trickle chargers are cheap. I own a couple of them, now. During the winter months, they are on my ATV & UTV for most of that time. I use my ATV to plow snow in my driveway.
    It's about 65 cents ($0.65) a Litre here in Canada currently. Costs something like $22.75 CAD for a full tank currently.

    Out of that 65 Cents, about 45% of that is taxes (29.3 cpl - Provincial, Federal Excise, VAT) sooo the cost of gasoline is crazy low with all that factored in.

    Shame there's nowhere to drive now because everything is closed or shutdown!
    Last edited by javensbukan; 04-06-2020 at 01:56 PM.

  5. #14
    Senior Member timw4mail's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nickels View Post
    Mitsubishi controllers draw no more than .025A/H when parked.

    Your battery should be around 450AH give or take.

    Itll be fine.
    Assuming the battery is healthy, and there's nothing with a phantom power draw.

    But likely, the battery won't be drained.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 33.6 mpg (US) ... 14.3 km/L ... 7.0 L/100 km ... 40.4 mpg (Imp)


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    Today my wife had to go shopping for an old lady who was discharged from hospital, 30 km away. The car started flawlessly, as expected. For the time being that lady won't be able to do shopping herself, so a weekly repeat is expected.

    2 problems solved.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2013 Space Star Cleartec Intense 1.0 manual: 55.7 mpg (US) ... 23.7 km/L ... 4.2 L/100 km ... 66.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Fummins (04-08-2020),MetroMPG (04-09-2020)

  8. #16
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    2 birds with one stone

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.2 mpg (US) ... 17.9 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.7 mpg (Imp)


  9. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by javensbukan View Post
    It's about 65 cents ($0.65) a Litre here in Canada currently. Costs something like $22.75 CAD for a full tank currently.

    Out of that 65 Cents, about 45% of that is taxes (29.3 cpl - Provincial, Federal Excise, VAT) sooo the cost of gasoline is crazy low with all that factored in.

    Shame there's nowhere to drive now because everything is closed or shutdown!
    It's $000000000000000000000000000000000000000.39/liter in Canada. Walsh,AB. They've been showing the cheapest gas prices on gas buddy for a while now. Might be a hoax to strum up business but it's probably correct. It's 55 cents at costco in Edmonton right meow.
    Mirage videos:

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


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  11. #18
    Senior Member MacClyver's Avatar
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    When I parked my 1995 Metro from September '17 until April '19 I tried to be sure to start it every 4-5 months for 20 minutes. Keeping the battery charged is #1 priority. After storage it ran just like it did before .

    If parking for two months or more consider to put a dryer sheet in the air intake and several throughout the cabin to deter mice. Give it a wash before storing, and vacuum the interior well too.

    From what I was reading if your not using it every other week the oil film drains away. So whether you start every month or every 5 or for the first time after 5 years it doesn't make much difference. Starting without driving too often is probably just going to end up trashing the oil with water and fuel, and that you definitely don't want. It takes 20 km or so to fully heat oil while driving, just idling getting the oil to burn off cold start contaminants every few weeks. That's just wanton pollution.

    I intended to start my Mirage around Christmas to circulate the oil but forgot to bring the chip key. I left my all metal one with my parents in case they had to roll it around but that's a no go to start. If I have problems in two weeks I'll update this with a warning not to leave a Mirage sit for 9 months.


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    Eggman (04-09-2020)

  13. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by MacClyver View Post
    When I parked my 1995 Metro from September '17 until April '19 I tried to be sure to start it every 4-5 months for 20 minutes. Keeping the battery charged is #1 priority. After storage it ran just like it did before .

    If parking for two months or more consider to put a dryer sheet in the air intake and several throughout the cabin to deter mice. Give it a wash before storing, and vacuum the interior well too.

    From what I was reading if your not using it every other week the oil film drains away. So whether you start every month or every 5 or for the first time after 5 years it doesn't make much difference. Starting without driving too often is probably just going to end up trashing the oil with water and fuel, and that you definitely don't want. It takes 20 km or so to fully heat oil while driving, just idling getting the oil to burn off cold start contaminants every few weeks. That's just wanton pollution.

    I intended to start my Mirage around Christmas to circulate the oil but forgot to bring the chip key. I left my all metal one with my parents in case they had to roll it around but that's a no go to start. If I have problems in two weeks I'll update this with a warning not to leave a Mirage sit for 9 months.
    You don't need a key to roll a Mirage around. They don't have a steering wheel lock.
    Mirage videos:

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


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    MacClyver (04-09-2020)

  15. #20
    Senior Member MacClyver's Avatar
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    That's good to know. Since I parked it the original owner found the second key too!




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