That is essentially what I am doing with my 76 300D. I switched to storage insurance as of October 31 last fall and let it sit in my garage until spring. I did not disconnect the battery. I did put one of those little trickle chargers on it. It is one that is smart enough not to charge the battery if it does not need to be charged. I also changed the oil before I put it up for the winter. I made sure the tires were at full pressure. I put a car cover on it. I filled the tank with fuel as well. Can't recall doing anything else. It wintered fine and started up this spring like I had run it the day before. No issues developed over the winter. I plan to do the same thing this fall.
I also stored an old Chevy pickup in the garage out at the lake last winter. With it, I was not quite as concerned. I did change the oil but I did not fill the fuel tank. I did pour in some fuel stabilizer as it is gasoline rather than diesel. The other thing that I did with it, was to jack it up and put jackstands under it so that the tires were off of the concrete. That was mainly because there is sometimes some minor flooding into the garage in the spring when the snow melts and I didn't want it sitting in the water or ice when that happened. It was ok over winter as well except that the torque converter appears to have drained down and it leaked a good sized puddle of AT fluid on the floor. If I store it there again this year, I am going to put some cardboard or something under it in an effort to soak the oil and not have to clean the concrete. The only other thing that I suggest, is that you look for something else for a winter driver. I have had a couple of 4 wheel drive vehicles now and swear I will not do winter without one. My first was a 95 Toyota 4Runner (which my younger son is still driving) and my second is a 98 F150 reg cab shortbox with a 4.2 V6 and a manual 5 speed. I am looking for a F150 Supercrew as it would be nice to have more people room. May sell the 4Runner and let Tom have the Ford. Got to love 4 wheel drive in snow, slush etc. Randy Orig message Subject: [MBZ] on babying my 240D Daughter has her '89 Pontiac Sunbird up for sale ( http://don.homelinux.net/megan/kurtie/index.html). I drove it to work today so I could park it in a high traffic area with the "For Sale" sign there for everyone to see. I've not driven this car much, but almost fell in love with it today. Very fuel efficient (30 mpg combined), peppy, and surprisingly roomy for my 6'4" frame. The AC is ice cold, so much so that I had to turn it down with an outside air temp of 95F. Since I hate to drive my 240D around when they are putting salt on the roads, I am wondering if I shouldn't just buy this car from Megan and use it for two purposes: (1) my one-mile each way commute to work, which if I understand what Marshall tells me is NOT good for a diesel, and (2) all of my winter driving, when the Iowa DOT is keeping the roads open with salt. What are the implications of driving a diesel only on weekends (or maybe once every few weekends for 100 mile road trips), and not at all during the winter? If I put it into winter storage, what should I do other than to disconnect the battery and throw a cover over it? It rips my heart out each spring to see how much new rust has formed over the winter. I'd like to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. Thoughts? D.
