...on a car that has been laid up?

I declared a SORN on my 6 in July 2012 and excepting a 3000 mile, 2 week stint to Poland and back in March 2013, it has not been driven since. It will likely not see the road again until July 2015 at the earliest.

I have been regularly (each month or so, averaged) starting the engine to let it idle up to temperature and occasionally drive up to second gear & complete 5 point turns on the drive to give the gearbox, clutch, suspension and steering a slight workout.
My rationale is that it's better to get some movement and warmth into the engine etc. otherwise parts might seize up even more than they already will from being stood for ~3 years.

The negative of course is the repeated cold-start engine wear.

So, which is best?

Should I leave it alone completely and only fire it up in July '15?

How about cranking on the starter only, every month, to at least keep the engine moving but without the wear associated with a ~20 minute idle-from-cold scenario?

What have other people done in this situation?

I may be wrong, but I do believe Stan has laid his car up forever*, so he should be able to recommend a technique.


*I'm only going on the 537 posts he's made, stating this at every opportunity in the last 9 months.

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Senior Test Automation Engineer for the 306GTi6 Owners Club Forum

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You must have a carpet in the garage to save tyre wear

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andrew315rawson@live.co.uk
Moonstone phase 7 gti6
My Project thread: http://www.306gti6.com/forum/showthread.php?id=119992&page=1

It's easy, and no you shouldn't start it at all.

This is what I do:

Once a week, unlock the car and open the door to let her air.
Turn the ignition to the first click to get the fan to run to push air around the cabin.
Lift the handbrake a few times, pump the brake pedal a few times, same with clutch pedal.
Push and pull car forwards and back around 1-2 foot to keep wheel bearings etc moving.

Once a fortnight, I add engine turning into the equation.
Place the car in first gear, and then start rocking the car using the front wheel. Once you have a nice rhythm (after 2-3 rocks) jerk it really hard and then the engine will turn slightly. Do this 3 or 4 times and the engine will now sit in a different place for the next two weeks until you do it again.

Once a month, I add checking the tyre pressures into the equation.

That's it, and much better than starting it up with cold engine wear etc.

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"Supercharged - 454.1bhp/317.5lb/ft"
Peugeot 306 GTi-6
2000 (X), Moonstone