We are not talking about a car that is to be stored for years. We are talking about a car that will be stored in a garage for 1-6 months. I think most of us change the coolant every two years. As to the gas stabilizers I follow the same procedures with my boat and it always starts at the beginning of the next season. It's use is also strongly recommended for any two cycle mix that you may store over the winter. Chris David Teitelbaum <jtrealty@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: I do not recomend a permanently installed trickle charger. It will impress a very low A/C voltage on the car's electrical system. This will cause electrolytic corrosion in the cooling system, the coolant will act as an electrolyte between the dissimilar metals, aluminum, steel, and brass. If you want to use a trickle charger my advice is to use it for 1 day, once a month. I have seen trickle chargers dry out the batteries in some cars. There is no way to replenish the electrolye on the new batteries. On the older type where you can add water I have seen the need to add water when a trickle charger was used. They do not appear to be as automatic as they would have you believe. When you say trickle charger I assume you really mean the newer computerized "float" chargers like the Battery Tender. Even with a battery switch a battery will lose it's charge slowly over time. That is why it really is better for a battery to be in a car that is used regularly. The battery is always kept charged up fully. For a car that is being stored the "best" thing to do is to remove the battery anyway. On the subject of fuel stabilizers, I don't like them either. The volitiles still come off eventually. The fuel becomes "dead" even though it doesn't become sludge. It can become impossible to start the car on the old, "stabilized" gas. If the car is to be stored for any length of time the "best" advice is to drain the fuel. I have seen too many cars that were put away for a couple of months (like over a winter) only to be "rediscovered" 20 years later with a rotten fuel system. The old advice of having the fuel tank left full to reduce condensation only means there will be that much more sludge in the tank when all the volitiles have evaporated off. It is also that much more of a fire hazard. Modern gasoline does not store well for long periods. The additives that make it work break down or evaporate quickly leaving the gas smelling "dead". Remember too that if you ARE storing the car for a long time the anti-freeze will be come acidic eventually and the brake fluid will absorb moisture which will corrode the insides of the brake system and the clutch system. The bottom line is that cars do not store well for extended periods of time unless the proper preparations are done. David Teitelbaum vin 10757 --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Chris Shepherd wrote: > A permanently installed trickle charger is a whole lot simpler and will keep the battery fully charged at all times. > > Chris > > David Teitelbaum wrote: > > Here is how I installed a master switch AND don't lose my presets. To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/