Oil change and winter storage question ???

We've got a 3rd vehicle here that I drive only about 6 months of the year from April till the end of September. I then park it for the
winter, put it up on blocks and it doesn't fire up again till the next spring, about the middle of March or so. Here's my question .... is
it better to do an oil change in the fall, maybe drive it for a few short trips and then let it sit through the winter? Or maybe it's
preferable to drive it through the summer season, let it sit through the winter, and then do the oil change in the spring? I only do the one
oil & filter change every year, the miles I put on this unit are pretty limited, maybe only 1500 miles or so. It's a '91 Jeep so we're
looking at a 27 year old vehicle.

I was told nearly fifty years ago in mechanics school the oil should be changed right before winter storage to prevent acid etching of the bearings. Today's cleaner burning engines might not have as much of a problem with this.

I agree with fixerupper, do it in the fall, drive it a little and store it inside if possible.

Ditto on fixerupper.CM

I will also support fixeruppers post. Change it in the fall. My reason has nothing to do with etching or anything like that. Drain the oil from any car/lawn mower/truck/tractor. Put it in a bucket and let it set 4-6 months. Then check that bucket. There will be a lot of deposits on the bottom that have settle out. So transpose that to your parked car/tractor/lawn mower. That same sediment is going to settle to the bottom of the pan and lay there. I would not bet that it all will be stirred up by running the motor for a short time. I think it is much better to change the oil right after the use season. Then store the vehicle/tractor/combine/lawn mower with clean oil in it. Also the oil will have all the additives back up to snuff and that should he preserve the motor while in storage.

I change oil, add sea foam, run and warm up real good, then put to bed for the winter.

I always change the oil in the Spring in the tractors I use for hay making only,figure with all the temperature changes during the Winter condensation builds up inside the engine.Fire them up in the Spring add a little Seafoam to the oil run it awhile then change the oil and filter.

I have my Dodge and my chevy flat bed. with about the same work time as yours. April to Sept. a question, do you keep insurance on it the months it sits? As for the oil change, I just go by the hours, as the winters are not all that bad here in California. Stan

I believe in changing it before storage.

Gets rid of the contaminants so they don't sit in there causing corrosion and solids settling.

I always make sure the gas/fuel tank is full before storing cuts down on condensation. Ditto on changing oil in the fall.

Up here, I do what they call "suspend" my insurance ..... that way in the spring I just phone the agent and it starts up again without a hitch. If I cancel it, then I have to go through the inspection process because of it's age and an inspection would cost money every start up which I avoid. It sits in my back yard uninsured but I don't worry about that, it's only worth about $3500 dollars and nobody can see it or gain access to it.

Crap shoot for me. Do it before storage to get rid of the sulphuric acid, which is much less now with low sulphur fuels, and crud is still in suspension in the oil. Or do it in the spring before you drive it.

The fall usually wins as after you drive it awhile you burn out any accumulated condensation in the oil, the sulphur is much lower now, and the crud comes out with the oil, doesn't settle in the engine.

I had a clear plastic oil drain pan I made once for a special engine. I did an oil change and for some reason set the container, with lid, on a shelf full of black oil....detergent doing it's job. A long while (forget how long) later I come across it. The oil had cleared up to almost new looking and the bottom of the pan was full of solids. Reason enough for doing it in the fall.

Oil change before storage is generally recommended. If winter condensation is a problem, you can always crack the drain plug a bit to drain out most of the condensation before taking the vehicle out of storage.

The reasons for this have reversed..

engines collect moisture and it mixes with sulfur and other compounds to turn into sulfuric acid... So in the OLD days, you changed often and before going into storage.

roll forward to the 70s... modern hd oils have extreme base additives to fight and neutralize acids so they are NOT a problem. Modern oils come with a base number of 11.x which means they are not acidic till the reading gets below 7 which is neutral or same as water.

Driving the car will also keep the oil temperatures above 212,, usually around 220 and above, so any moisture is boiled off into vapor and sucked out the the pvc system. Also very little sulfur in the oils any more and lead by products are gone.

So the vehicle will be in relatively good shape going into storage. BUT will have heating and cooling cycles with condensation during storage, meaning that it will have the most danger at end of storage.

SO... use a good hd oil, and change the oil coming out of storage to get rid of the excess moisture from not being run.

Any car used for short trips where the engine does not get to full temp, will ALWAYS be an exception.. You can either run it out at hyway speeds once a week or change oil often...

Our truck sits in the garage for 3 months in the winter, I reduce the insurance to storage, saves a lot of money. It's still covered for fire, theft etc.