Brisbane Storage

Some of the things that have gone wrong over the past 10 years or so.

New car faults with gearbox;
Faults with Turbo on new car;
Faults with new petrol lawnmower;
Faults with new washing machines;
Faults with new cooker;
Faults with new Fridge;
Faults with new three piece suite;
My back operation that went wrong. Though after three attempts the surgeon got it right…well kind of.

Damage sustained to caravan whilst in winter storage!

Oh the list is endless and goes on and on. It is negativity gone mad I wonder.? Though I do consider myself a positive person. So what is wrong here I wonder?

Have you experienced faults with goods that you have paid good money for. For me anything else I need for the house etc., will be second hand.
Category Polls and surveys as I think this is appropriate
None of it was cheap stuff you could hardly call a Saab a cheap car!

I would stop shopping for cheap stuff

I am putting my boat and car up for storage for the next 8 months. I can buy ethanol free gas for my 5 liter boat engine, but I can only buy E-10 gas at the pump for my car. I have heard E-10 will not affect an auto engine, deteriorating rubber gasket or seal components, but I hear it eats at the seals and gaskets in a marine engine. What is the truth?

Hi Jim

My answer will be between Mark and Jim.
My son takes a lot of these trips, and as such after 5 years of it, we have gotten a pretty good routine.
A. put a little gas stabilizer in the tank and drive it around before parking, same for the boat. When you park the car and the boat, pull the batteries on both or at least one terminal. The car is probably more important than the boat, the alarm system will discharge the battery and keep it that way which will kill the car battery in 6 months or less. I can't say for the boat, but I would disconnect it anyway, and don't forget the trolling battery.
As far as tires, I have not seen a problem and my son's truck has been sitting in the pasture for the bulk of the 5 years except when he is home on vacation, and I drive that one once a month or every couple of months, his car is in a storage shed and as such, never gets driven between visits. The car has the terminal pulled, the pickup does not, and if I don't drive the pickup every so often the battery dies. If I leave it to much longer than that, I wind up buying him a new battery.
Do not set your brakes, they can and will rust to the drums or disks, and are very difficult to get loose. Park is ok on an automatic or in gear in a manual.
When you get back and start the vehicle, let it idle for about 10 minutes, DO NOT accelerate until this period is over, oil needs to get recirculated in the engine as it has all ran off, if you give it the gas, you can pit the shafts, journals and cause the valves to seize. Also on an automatic transmission will need time to get fluid and pressure to the disks and bearings. In a manual, let the clutch out in neutral so lubricant can get worked around. Do not go on the freeway until you have a couple miles in city driving to get the bearings lubed.
Now for the boat, if it is efi your pretty much ahead of the game, if not, add a can of Sea Foam to the tank at the mix value given, it will help clean out any varnish that may have formed. Although if you put in a stabilizer it should limit that.
For the most part, 8 months is not that long of a storage period if you follow what I said, my son's have been put up as long as a year without harm, all 3 vehicles still run like new. A lot of that has to do with how we bring them up when he comes home.

As far as the E10, I do not think it will be an issue, as we get that stuff here also. On my boat, I make my last fill of the season just before the gas changes, and that will usually last me until spring when the gas changes back or nearly. Both of my sons cars are fairly new, and as such are made to work with ethanol. Methanol was the one that affected warranty. I have a new Merc outboard, 2008 and do not think there would be a problem with it, my sons is a 2007 and I do not see that there is applicable difference between them.

Good luck on your trip and hope you make it home safe.

I may be headed overseas for 1-3 years. I purchased a 2008 Accord EX-V6 earlier last year and love it. I don't want to get rid of it, or take it overseas with me. If I wanted to store the car in a garage, what all needs to be done to it? I imagine that I will remove the battery and drain all of the fluids, is there anything else that I should look into? Thanks.

Hopefully you will be storing this vehicle inside a garage

Don't drain any fluids. If you drain the fluids seals could dry out and leak. Internal parts could corrode.

Change the oil and filter

Fill the fuel tank full. You will get less condensation in a full fuel tank. Add some fuel stabilizer to the fuel tank. There will usually be an optional mixture to use for long term storage. See the link below for an example of this fuel stabilizer. It can be found at nearly any auto parts store.

Run the engine for a few minutes to allow the fuel stabilizer to circulate through the fuel system.

The last time you start the engine spray an engine fogger down the fuel injection throttle body until the engine stalls. Remove the spark plugs and use the extension tube to spray more fogging oil into the cylinders. Re-install the spark plugs. This will coat the valves and cylinders with lubricant so the engine won't seize during storage. The link below also has an example of engine fogging oil.

Disconnect the battery. You will more than likely need to replace the battery if the vehicle is in storage more than a year.

Plug the air intake, and heater air intake with crumpled aluminum foil. This will keep varmints from building nests in these locations. Place a note on the steering wheel to remind you to remove the aluminum foil before the next time you start the engine.

Wash and wax the vehicle

Place the car on jack stands to remove the weight from the tires.

Cover the car with a good car cover.

When it comes time bring the car out of storage:

Put the battery on a battery charger and charge at least 8 amps for a few hours. The battery may be junk but it is worth a shot at charging it.

Fill the tires to the correct air pressure.

Lube any suspension lube points

Inspect the vehicle inside and out, under the hood, and under the vehicle for varmint nests. Also check for varmint damage.

Put the car back on the ground

Remove the foil from the air intake and heater air intake

Re-install the battery

Check all of the fluids. Give everything under the hood the once over.

Chalk the wheels in case your brakes have a problem.

Remove the fuel pump fuse and turn the engine over for several seconds. This will get lubrication to the engine but will not flood it.

Replace the fuel pump fuse. Allow the starter to cool for about 5 minutes.

Turn the ignition key on but don't start for about 5 seconds. This will allow the fuel pump to pressurize the fuel system.

Make sure the garage door is open. Start the engine. Remember that you sprayed all that fogging oil into the engine. It will smoke badly when it first starts. This should go away after a few minutes. The engine may also clatter for a few minutes until the valve lifters pump up. This should also go away after a few minutes. Don't race the engine when it starts. Just keep it running.

Place the vehicle in gear. Move the gear selector into each gear.

Move the vehicle a few feet and check the brakes. It would suck to go through all of this effort only to find out that when you pull into traffic that your brakes do not work.

Allow the engine to reach full operating temperature.

Check for leaks.

Take it for a test drive, but take it easy for the first 100 miles or so.

The land is next to but not attached to my house. The land is in front of my house but across a small private road. I have now (after numerous phone calls) been told by my local planning authority that planning permission will be a necessity. I feel it may not be actually required, any thoughts please?

Well, we own a farm so am fairly sure i'm right here.

Yes, you'll need planning permission.

IF its agri use the you probably only need outline permission as many agri building are exempt from building regs. this changes if you ever want to sell stuff ( farm shop etc ).

If you are storing argi tools and can show where they are used, such as on other parts of your holding then it will be classified as agri.

If its general storage, you'll need change of use, outline and regs permissions.

With agri often this is granted if you are keeping in your current total covered area and knocking something else down as well – tie the 2 together in the planning application. This is the reason for farmers leaving up lots of rubbish outbuildings so we don't loose the area we can call covered.

If you dont own the holding number then you might be in trouble. You can't just buy a strip of agri land and stick a out building on it.

master lock. very durable

Like an non-climated controlled… Please let me know the size of yours if you have one…

I know it varies, but just looking for a ball park between $10 and $500 a month…

Lots of people rent out their garages behind their homes to people to store things, like cars or boxes. Look through the newspaper and definately check craigslist, I see listing on there all the time!!!

I have a UHaul storage space and its not nearly as big as a garage, like 1/4 the size, and they charge us like $70/month. It’s unreal. But its climate controlled, no rats/mice or bugs, and my stuff is safe.

I guess it depends on what you’re storing?

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