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SharkmanBMW
Guest
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Posted:
Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:53 am Post subject:
winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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I have a garage at my home, but am unsure if parking a wet car in a closed
"box" for 12 hours at a time is a problem... I can heat it or leave it cold,
whichever.
The point is, if I park a wet car in a garage, will this cause rust to start
sooner?
There is no ventilation, only electric heat and a drain in the floor.
I want this car to last MORE than I care about having to sweep snow off my
car.
Any pointers would be nice!
Chris
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Mike G
Guest
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Posted:
Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:17 am Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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"SharkmanBMW" <1@1.com> wrote in message
news:ZaOgf.18028$gK4.405027@news20.bellglobal.com...
| Quote: | I have a garage at my home, but am unsure if parking a wet car in a closed
"box" for 12 hours at a time is a problem... I can heat it or leave it
cold,
whichever.
The point is, if I park a wet car in a garage, will this cause rust to
start
sooner?
There is no ventilation, only electric heat and a drain in the floor.
I want this car to last MORE than I care about having to sweep snow off my
car.
Any pointers would be nice!
|
Personally I believe it's better to leave it outside if it's wet, and leave
the wind to help dry out nooks and crannies, box sections etc.
It's the wet in those places that are more likely to cause problems in an
unventilated garage. Even with heating.
Mike. |
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joe_tide
Guest
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Posted:
Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:24 am Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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You will probably get all kinds of differing opinions on this.
I always park my cars in a heated garage and have never experienced any rust
problems. Pennsylvania winters can be long and cold too.
"SharkmanBMW" <1@1.com> wrote in message
news:ZaOgf.18028$gK4.405027@news20.bellglobal.com...
| Quote: | I have a garage at my home, but am unsure if parking a wet car in a closed
"box" for 12 hours at a time is a problem... I can heat it or leave it
cold, whichever.
The point is, if I park a wet car in a garage, will this cause rust to
start sooner?
There is no ventilation, only electric heat and a drain in the floor.
I want this car to last MORE than I care about having to sweep snow off my
car.
Any pointers would be nice!
Chris
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Jeff Strickland
Guest
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Posted:
Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:14 am Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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I live in sunny Southern California where I pull my car into the garage
after driving it in the rain. It hasn't caused any problems that I'm aware
of, and I can avoid mucking around outside in the rain. Yes, I'm aware that
we don't get rain as much as you poor slobs in other parts of the
country/continent, but rain makes a car wet no matter where one lives, so my
experience should be pretty much the same as everybody else's when it comes
to parking a wet car somewhere. My thoughts on the matter are that parking a
wet car indoors is probably BETTER than parking a wet car outside where it
continues to collect rain and snow.
PS
I'd set the garage heater on if I had the option.
"SharkmanBMW" <1@1.com> wrote in message
news:ZaOgf.18028$gK4.405027@news20.bellglobal.com...
| Quote: | I have a garage at my home, but am unsure if parking a wet car in a closed
"box" for 12 hours at a time is a problem... I can heat it or leave it
cold, whichever.
The point is, if I park a wet car in a garage, will this cause rust to
start sooner?
There is no ventilation, only electric heat and a drain in the floor.
I want this car to last MORE than I care about having to sweep snow off my
car.
Any pointers would be nice!
Chris
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Malt_Hound
Guest
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Posted:
Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:56 pm Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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Jeff Strickland wrote:
| Quote: | I live in sunny Southern California where I pull my car into the garage
after driving it in the rain. It hasn't caused any problems that I'm
aware of, and I can avoid mucking around outside in the rain. Yes, I'm
aware that we don't get rain as much as you poor slobs in other parts of
the country/continent, but rain makes a car wet no matter where one
lives, so my experience should be pretty much the same as everybody
else's when it comes to parking a wet car somewhere. My thoughts on the
matter are that parking a wet car indoors is probably BETTER than
parking a wet car outside where it continues to collect rain and snow.
PS
I'd set the garage heater on if I had the option.
|
Nah. You're missing the whole point here. It is not rain, it's snow
and ice. And the car is not just wet... It's frozen and covered with
salt spray. The difference in conditions between winter in Cali and
Canada are like night and day, apples and oranges, hedgehogs and...
well, you get the picture. ;-)
--
-Fred W |
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Malt_Hound
Guest
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Posted:
Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:08 pm Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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SharkmanBMW wrote:
| Quote: | I have a garage at my home, but am unsure if parking a wet car in a closed
"box" for 12 hours at a time is a problem... I can heat it or leave it cold,
whichever.
The point is, if I park a wet car in a garage, will this cause rust to start
sooner?
There is no ventilation, only electric heat and a drain in the floor.
I want this car to last MORE than I care about having to sweep snow off my
car.
Any pointers would be nice!
Chris
|
Chris,
I live in Northern New England, which makes my weather a lot closer to
yours than most of the other respondants' so far. Here's my philosophy
on it:
I don't like to bring a car in and defrost it and allow it to thaw out
(get wet) if the car is being used every day. It never really gets a
chance to dry out, so your just allowing it to go from frozen to wet and
repeating daily, and the moisture mixed with the lovely road salt will
kill the sheet metal in short order. So 2 of my cars (325i and Ford
Exploder) stay outside all winter. The 325 has Arctic Alpins on it (put
them on last weekend) and goes beautifully in all kinds of slop. The
Exploder is AWD so it goes OK too.
OTOH, I have one "fair weather car" (my 540i) that I still drive on nice
days in the winter, but not in precipitation and standing snow. I don't
bother with the snow tires on that car and just have some aggressive
all-season tires on it. That gets space in the garage (unfortuantely,
unheated). I also have one car that hibernates for the season (Z3).
It's been put up already. It has summer skins and doesn't see the light
of day till the days get longer again.
So in summary, for daily drivers, I prefer to leave them out in the
cold. Best thing might be a cold freestanding garage or carport so you
don't have to chip and scrape it out in the morning, but not warm enough
to allow it to defrost fully...
YMMV...
--
-Fred W |
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Mr Physics
Guest
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Posted:
Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:50 pm Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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I think the common advice is "Don't heat a garage in Canada" because doing
so accelerates the chemical reactions involved in corrosion. (rate
proportional to kelvin temperature, if I recall) If you have to drive it,
clean it regularly (weekly) and keep it indoors in an _unheated space_. I
sold my E36 after eight years of ownership and it looked like new. It was
garaged 12 months of the year, washed during the winter as often as weather
would allow (frozen doors and locks are no fun at all), and minor body
damage repaired each spring. I had one minor rust issue on the lower edge of
the trunklid, which I fixed just before sale for $300, and pointed out to
the purchaser.
Cheers
Greg
| Quote: | "SharkmanBMW" <1@1.com> wrote in message
news:ZaOgf.18028$gK4.405027@news20.bellglobal.com...
I have a garage at my home, but am unsure if parking a wet car in a closed
"box" for 12 hours at a time is a problem... I can heat it or leave it
cold, whichever.
The point is, if I park a wet car in a garage, will this cause rust to
start sooner?
There is no ventilation, only electric heat and a drain in the floor.
I want this car to last MORE than I care about having to sweep snow off
my car.
Any pointers would be nice!
Chris
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| Back to top |
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Floyd Rogers
Guest
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Posted:
Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:18 pm Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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"Mr Physics" <mrDOTphysics@rogersDOTcom> wrote
| Quote: | I think the common advice is "Don't heat a garage in Canada" because doing
so accelerates the chemical reactions involved in corrosion. (rate
proportional to kelvin temperature, if I recall) If you have to drive it,
clean it regularly (weekly) and keep it indoors in an _unheated space_.
|
My 330xi stays out when at the ski cabin, and in an unheated garage
when at home. But the key advice is: wash regularly. They don't use
salt here in WA state, but do use calcium chloride as a de-icer (a great
deal on the ski area access road), which makes for good driving conditions
but is horrible on the exterior. Not so much from the corrosion standpoint
(although it's death on mild steel like brake rotors and wheel hubs) but
because it is sticky when wet and acts like a glue to hold all the grime
onto the car, ready for any brush by a pad to scratch the surface.
FloydR |
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SharkmanBMW
Guest
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Posted:
Thu Nov 24, 2005 6:13 am Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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Thanks guys, good info.
I think I will garage it when the conditions are dry, and leave it out when
wet and sloppy. If it gets crazy cold, I will garage it for sure!
I have a hose in the garage, so I can also give it a good rinse after sloppy
salt and slush exposure.
For Jeff in Cali... come see the winter I am talking about (snow, salt,
slush, freezing rain, ice) ... it is a long cry from what you have in your
head!!! ;) |
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carl mciver
Guest
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Posted:
Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:14 am Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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| So in summary, for daily drivers, I prefer to leave them out in the
| cold. Best thing might be a cold freestanding garage or carport so you
| don't have to chip and scrape it out in the morning, but not warm enough
| to allow it to defrost fully...
|
| YMMV...
| --
| -Fred W
You'll like my solution to the issue of dew and ice. I place a small
space heater in my car the evening before. The cord is run into the garage
but not plugged in. I get up, go plug in the heater cord, then get ready
for work. When I get into my toasty warm car, the glass is clear (might
have to scrape the mirrors, though) and I'm off right away with no shivering
waiting for the defroster to warm up. Since I go to work first really
early, I put the heater in our truck so that when wife comes out to bring
the kids to school, its all ready, and then she moves it into her VW bug.
By the time she gets back and ready to go to work, her VW is all warmed up,
which for her is a luxury since that heater takes forever to do any good in
her car anyway. It really makes a difference when the weather gets really
crappy.
Also, since my car is a convertible and gets a bit wet from the water,
the heater also dries out the interior in the process. Can't beat that! |
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MichaelETP
Guest
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Posted:
Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:13 am Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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Formerly, I lived just north of Toronto and we get wet slushy frozen
salty sandy snow and goo spread across 5 to 6 months of the year (it's
not really all THAT bad) throughout southern Ontario. Sometimes the
pavement is bone dry for weeks at a time and sometimes its not.
A while ago for 5 years I was doing a commute to downtown Toronto and
parking in the indoor parking facility at city hall, so my first
concern was that after travelling 100 kms to work through snow slush
etc. I then had to put my car in a heated garage for the day to sit
and drip. At home the car was always outside. The cold will not hurt
anything but the leather. Keep it well oiled. The plastic you just
have to be careful with because it will be somewhat more brittle and
yes, vinyl cracks.
Snow and ice will not do one thing to the vehicle assuming the car is
properly sealed as it came from the factory. I would say more damage
is done by banging the snow broom against the car than by the snow or
ice just sitting on it.
I found the only answer was to wash the car everyday. Fortunately
there is a car wash built into the lower levels of the city hall
parking facility and they had a service called the bottom blaster. I
used this feature everytime I washed the car ('86 560SEC) even if it
was the middle of summer. You drive into the parking facility head
down to the car wash, go through the wash after which it is hand dryed
and then go and park for the day.
I decided that having washed off the offensive material before it was
able to thaw was a key ingredient. Once the material is reduced to a
liquid form a chemical reaction takes place between the salty solution
and the steel. All that white stuff you see dried to everytime is
harmless if left in a dry form. However the melting of the snow
provides the liquid catalyst the slt needs to start working.
If you can, wash it away before it melts.
Michael
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:08:22 -0500, Malt_Hound
<""Malt_Hound\"@*spam-me not*yahoo.com"> wrote:
| Quote: | SharkmanBMW wrote:
I have a garage at my home, but am unsure if parking a wet car in a closed
"box" for 12 hours at a time is a problem... I can heat it or leave it cold,
whichever.
The point is, if I park a wet car in a garage, will this cause rust to start
sooner?
There is no ventilation, only electric heat and a drain in the floor.
I want this car to last MORE than I care about having to sweep snow off my
car.
Any pointers would be nice!
Chris
Chris,
I live in Northern New England, which makes my weather a lot closer to
yours than most of the other respondants' so far. Here's my philosophy
on it:
I don't like to bring a car in and defrost it and allow it to thaw out
(get wet) if the car is being used every day. It never really gets a
chance to dry out, so your just allowing it to go from frozen to wet and
repeating daily, and the moisture mixed with the lovely road salt will
kill the sheet metal in short order. So 2 of my cars (325i and Ford
Exploder) stay outside all winter. The 325 has Arctic Alpins on it (put
them on last weekend) and goes beautifully in all kinds of slop. The
Exploder is AWD so it goes OK too.
OTOH, I have one "fair weather car" (my 540i) that I still drive on nice
days in the winter, but not in precipitation and standing snow. I don't
bother with the snow tires on that car and just have some aggressive
all-season tires on it. That gets space in the garage (unfortuantely,
unheated). I also have one car that hibernates for the season (Z3).
It's been put up already. It has summer skins and doesn't see the light
of day till the days get longer again.
So in summary, for daily drivers, I prefer to leave them out in the
cold. Best thing might be a cold freestanding garage or carport so you
don't have to chip and scrape it out in the morning, but not warm enough
to allow it to defrost fully...
YMMV...
Thanks |
Michael |
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Dave Plowman (News)
Guest
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Posted:
Fri Nov 25, 2005 4:29 pm Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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In article <9LudnSRoSdJ7rRreRVnyhA@pipex.net>,
Dori A Schmetterling <ng@nospam.co.uk> wrote:
| Quote: | And now you have had enough and moved to the Florida Keys....?....
"MichaelETP" <metp@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:koado1piv3k5cofq21ms4qbbktqbdahak1@4ax.com...
Formerly, I lived just north of Toronto and we get wet slushy frozen
salty sandy snow and goo spread across 5 to 6 months of the year (it's
not really all THAT bad) throughout southern Ontario.
|
Where the hurricanes would get it before the salt? ;-)
--
*Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"
Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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Dori A Schmetterling
Guest
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Posted:
Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:42 pm Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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And now you have had enough and moved to the Florida Keys....?....
DAS
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---
"MichaelETP" <metp@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:koado1piv3k5cofq21ms4qbbktqbdahak1@4ax.com...
| Quote: | Formerly, I lived just north of Toronto and we get wet slushy frozen
salty sandy snow and goo spread across 5 to 6 months of the year (it's
not really all THAT bad) throughout southern Ontario. Sometimes the
[...] |
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Dave Plowman (News)
Guest
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Posted:
Sat Nov 26, 2005 12:48 am Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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In article <S62dnVACHM0-9RrenZ2dnUVZ8qSdnZ2d@pipex.net>,
Dori A Schmetterling <ng@nospam.co.uk> wrote:
| Quote: | So I'll just stick with my dear old mild(*) London W2...
DAS
{*) unseasonally chilly at present - it might even hit nearly zero
tonight, and it is not even December...
|
Here in the chilly south I've had to defrost the windscreen several times
already...
--
*Red meat is not bad for you. Fuzzy green meat is bad for you.
Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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Dori A Schmetterling
Guest
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Posted:
Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:39 am Post subject:
Re: winter in Canada or similar... to use garage or not?!? |
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I love Florida and I sometimes 'dream' about moving there, forgetting about
the occasional severe weather. But this year I/we were all reminded of how
severe the weather can get over there, with what frequency.
So I'll just stick with my dear old mild(*) London W2...
DAS
{*) unseasonally chilly at present - it might even hit nearly zero tonight,
and it is not even December...
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---
"Dave Plowman (News)" <dave@davenoise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4dcf6cd8acdave@davenoise.co.uk...
[...]
| Quote: |
Where the hurricanes would get it before the salt? ;-)
--
*Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"
Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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