Parking outdoors for 3 weeks in the winter!

I've parked my car in the middle of winter for three weeks and did not have a problem. First, park the card facing south in the middle of the lot. Most cold blasts come from the northwest and can blow snow into the engine. Also, the sun arcs across the southern sky. Second, charge up a self charger that can be used to jump the car if the battery dies and leave it in the trunk. Third, inflate the tires to 38 psi in the winter to keep them from losing much air due to extreme cold weather. A final note. Let the car warm up a few minutes to get all the oil and fluids warm before driving. Have a worry free trip.

One more thing. Fill the tank with gas and add a bottle of anti-freeze/gas treatment just before parking it at the airport.

Any recommendations for gas treat/anti-freeze?

3 weeks?? Lol, no big deal at all. Especially for a new car. Just make sure it's got a full tank of fuel. Remember that high octane pump gas already has "treatment" additives mixed in from the refinery so consider filling half with premium if you're that worried about it. You probably won't have to jump it to start depending on temperature when you arrive back, new cars aren't like that. Doesn't get that cold in southern Ontario anyways. Just let a couple minutes of warmup idle to get the oil system all moisturized again, keep motor under 2 grande until blue warmup light goes out. Obviously make sure there aren't any major drains on the battery when parked, of course it's a new car so this isn't that big of a worry as it is in older cars with electrical gremlins. If you really wanted to you could remove the terminals from battery and even attach a memory saver to keep all your radio settings and what not.

You don't really need to worry about it. As others have said, leave the gas tank full. Don't worry about antifreeze, it doesn't get cold enough in the GTA to bother with it. Its a new car, it will be fine. I left mine for almost 2 months one winter and it started up no problem.

I live in Ohio. One time I left my car in Columbus for just a week. It was way below zero F with wind chills due to high winds -20F or below. So, it can get bitter cold and you might be in Miami like I was. The car started luckily and it did not warm up for a long time. My doors and trunk had frozen shut. Took some effort to open them. Maybe have one of those defrost sticks handy.

Thanks a lot guys!

gapperguy said:

I live in Ohio. One time I left my car in Columbus for just a week. It was way below zero F with wind chills due to high winds -20F or below. So, it can get bitter cold and you might be in Miami like I was. The car started luckily and it did not warm up for a long time. My doors and trunk had frozen shut. Took some effort to open them. Maybe have one of those defrost sticks handy.

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Interesting fact... if the windchill factor is -20 your car won't actually be that cold, inanimate objects cannot get colder than the actual ambient temperature. The more wind there is the faster it will cool off, but if its -5 with a -20 windchill your car won't be colder than -5.

gapperguy said:

I live in Ohio. One time I left my car in Columbus for just a week. It was way below zero F with wind chills due to high winds -20F or below. So, it can get bitter cold and you might be in Miami like I was. The car started luckily and it did not warm up for a long time. My doors and trunk had frozen shut. Took some effort to open them. Maybe have one of those defrost sticks handy.

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Ya sorry your talking to a bunch of Canadians here. I know the guy from London will back me up when I say that coming out to frozen doors can pretty much be a daily occurrence during the winter. :rofl: 07versa6mt... you dug out from a couple weeks ago yet? I was in town that weekend, it was crazy! Glad I had the truck there.

Meh, wasn't bad at all. I've seen much worse. I live in London but i'm from the Blue Mountains/Collingwood area. Singhampton to be specific, right by the quarry. There you get the wind factor, you can blow out the driveway and have it fill back in a half hour later. Investing in trees in an open area out there is wise. The nights of that storm I was just cruising around London finding out where all the big empty parking lots are. Electromotive parking lot is PERFECT, it's huge and empty now obviously. Had full wheelwells of snow after each night that would have done a Subaru proud... hoonage!

ADOversa said:

Ya sorry your talking to a bunch of Canadians here. I know the guy from London will back me up when I say that coming out to frozen doors can pretty much be a daily occurrence during the winter. :rofl: 07versa6mt... you dug out from a couple weeks ago yet? I was in town that weekend, it was crazy! Glad I had the truck there.

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Yep, Ohio is a steam bath compared to Canada in the winter. :smilielol5: