Winter Limited Driving

[pgcays]

I know that this subject has been discussed before, so apologize if you've seen this too much.

I generally overwinter my Cayman by trying to get it out on the road once every week to week and a half as the weather and roads allow. Want to keep all the fluids circulating and not get flat spots in the tires. With all of the recent snow, PAs abundant use of salt, and a crazy work schedule, it's been about two and a half weeks now since the Cayman has moved. I've heard that it's worse to start and idle the car then to just let it sit.

My question is, should I idle it for a little while this weekend and move it in in the garage (to get the weight of the car on a different spot on the tires)? Or should I leave it be for another couple of weeks and wait for a better day? I have a battery tender on it, so hopefully no worries there.

Little chance of getting it out of the driveway this weekend as there is a solid block of ice there and it's on summer tires.

Thoughts?

[Larry Herman]

People over-dramatize lettingb their car sit over the winter.  Your tires will not flat-spot by sitting for a few months.  If it is of real concern, you could always jack it up and rotate them a 1/3 turn.  As far as starting it for a few minutes, DON'T. It does not do anything but add a dry start and a lot of moisture to the engine.

[emayer]

Agree.  I prefer to let the cars sit a few months rather than having multiple dry starts and being unable to drive them to allow adequate lubrication/ heat distribution.  As far as tires are concerned, my suggestion would be to inflate them to maximal sidewall pressures.  Just remember to adjust pressures before driving again....

[pgcays]

Thanks Larry and Eric,

I'll let it rest until nicer days. Hopefully they'll be here soon!

[Bill Lehman]

You might want to consider a battery maintainer.  You absolutely do not want to deal with the problems of a dead battery in a Cayman.  For starters, you can't open the hood to charge the battery.  The manual over-ride requires removal of a front wheel which you can't do because the anti-theft socket is in the trunk.  Your key will not release from the ignition switch.  I use a Ctek charging through the cigarette lighter.

[Larry Herman]

Interesting.  In my Boxster there is a power tab that you pull out from the fuse panel and clip the positive charger lead to.  It activates the circuitry and you can pop the trunk via the button.

[Bill Lehman]

There is also a pull-out tab on the Cayman and I did finally use it with great difficulty due to the location of the car in my garage.  After I got the car running, the real fun started when I decided to reset the PSM by driving slightly uphill in the snow. 

[Budman]

"I have a battery tender on it, so hopefully no worries there"

Looks like she has that part covered, at least according to her quote above.

 I've never understood why there isn't an emergency pull ring in the door jamb on our cars like there is on the gas lid. The convuluted procedure to open the frunk, either with the fuse or wheel well pull ring is just nuts. What could they possibly have been thinking??? I'm guessing they didn't think of it until it was too late and the processes we're stuck with were after thoughts. No sane person would ever do this on purpose.

[Larry Herman]

9X6 based cars have a pull wire behind the right front marker light.

I would assume that they eliminated this on the 9X7 cars due to security reasons.

"No sane person would ever do this on purpose".  We are talking about Germans here.

[JoeP]

If you decide to use a 110v gadget to maintain your battery, be wary of cheap trickle chargers.  Buy a real battery charger that has an automatic mode.  The charger should have circuitry to monitor your battery and feed it power only when it needs it.  Many cheap trickle chargers are simple transfomers that pump a small current to the battery no matter what.  Over time, they can damage your battery. 

I toasted batteries in my lawn tractor three years in a row until I found the error of my ways.  I now use a full size Sears charger.