Winter Lay Up

My 2004 TF will be going under an outdoor car cover (a good one used previously on my Lancia - it stayed dryer than another car I had in a slightly damp garage). I'll put a crystal dehumidifier in there too.

What is the best sequence for disconnecting the battery (an isolator is fitted)? Does disconnection trigger the (Pecktron) alarm? Once the power is off can the doors be locked/unlocked with the key? Can the boot still be opened with the key?

I'd say daft questions, but my mate is currently completely locked out of his MX5 after just disconnecting the battery and closing the bonnet.

I plan to start the car up monthly.

I use my discarnect battery isolator all of the time on my '04 TF. It's unlocked and in a garage though. No issues.

If you have access to power you are better off with a battery conditioner plugged in then there is no danger of the battery dying and the alarm can be left on.

I don't drive my TF much so always disconnect the battery. Not had an issue yet, even when left for months.

However you would have to lock the car manually and the alarm would not work.

I'd be more worried about brakes sticking on. I leave them off but that's in a locked, flat garage with tyres in tyre savers. Would be irresponsible outside - there are stories of cars rolling away when kids nick the brick from under the wheels.

mucklestone wrote:

....Would be irresponsible outside - there are stories of cars rolling away when kids nick the brick from under the wheels.

Leave it in gear.

Always always switch off the alarm, especially the Pektron, before disconnecting the battery. even if it means connecting a second battery through jump leads.

Once the battery is disconnected use the key to lock the car.

Personally if the car is going to be laid up for a while I connect a trickle charger and lock with the key.

talkingcars wrote:

mucklestone wrote:

....Would be irresponsible outside - there are stories of cars rolling away when kids nick the brick from under the wheels.

Leave it in gear.

I didn't think of that lol, talk about missing the obvious!

Though with Covid mine sat in its garage for months so I wedged the clutch down

Leave the handbrake off to stop the rear callipers seizing and press the clutch pedal down repeatedly quite often to stop the clutch arm seizing, my F has not been used for two years, its outside and the brakes are ok as is the clutch arm. I replaced the battery with a Varta silver 075 as the previous Bosch one ( 9 years old) gave up from being flat for so long, fitted a discarnect too.

Sewed a clear pocket onto a cover for another car into which I placed a solar panel. In the Winter it doesn't provide much in the way of a trickle but that it does keeps the battery temperature up which makes the difference between buying a new one in April or not.

Well, due to a combination of illness and lethargy my monthly start up extended to 2 months. The car had accumulated a fair bit of condensation in both the front and back compartments, but the de-humidifier had done it's job in the passenger compartment. Although it started first time in ran rough for a couple of minutes before settling into a quiet idle.

However a three times round the block blast identified a not insignificant miss fire that got higher up the revs as the car warmed up but didn't fully disappear.

Is this a known symptom for TFs left unused outdoors? damp/corrosion in the throttle body? Or just our new friend E10 sat in the tank absorbing water?

Probably not. The wisdom of running one of these is not to use more than 3000 RPM until the engine shows an oil temperature reading. Blasting it around the block will do it no good. Drive it for a good 20 minutes and see if it then dries out. They need to be fully warmed up to drive the damp out of the ignition system.