[Alain]

Originally Posted by Slurpee

I was going to trickle charge the battery and start it every two weeks and roll it around in the garage to prevent flat spots on the tires. My local mechanic advised to not jack the car up, he doesn't do it with his Viper either. Still change the oil before wintering the car?

Yeah like I said this dealer has a ZL1/Vette specialist, which is why I drive 36 miles to get there lol.

trickle charge it if you have one, it's not necessary though.

Worse thing you can do is start it every two weeks without taking it out for a drive long enough to get the oil up to operating temperature. Just starting it to roll around the garage will create condensation in the oil which will cause the oil to degenerate fast.

You will not have flat spots on your tires if the car sits for 5 months. If it'll help you sleep better at night during the winter months, over inflate your tires an extra 5 PSI.

I've been putting my cars away for the last 4 winters from November to March, I never start them and don't roll them around and I've never had an issue. No flat spots on tires or anything else.

Change the oil, get it detailed/waxed, park it and leave it alone till March.

[Trak-Toy]

Originally Posted by Alain

trickle charge it if you have one, it's not necessary though.

Worse thing you can do is start it every two weeks without taking it out for a drive long enough to get the oil up to operating temperature. Just starting it to roll around the garage will create condensation in the oil which will cause the oil to degenerate fast.

You will not have flat spots on your tires if the car sits for 5 months. If it'll help you sleep better at night during the winter months, over inflate your tires an extra 5 PSI.

I've been putting my cars away for the last 4 winters from November to March, I never start them and don't roll them around and I've never had an issue. No flat spots on tires or anything else.

Change the oil, get it detailed/waxed, park it and leave it alone till March.

I agree with this approach. Been doing the same for 25+ years without any issues.

[Gunkk]

Originally Posted by Slurpee

Talked to the ZL1 specialist at the dealer. He said he didn’t smell gas on the dipstick, just kind of smelled like I was using high octane fuel (only 93 pump gas). He had 7 other techs smell it. 50% of them smelled gas on it. Took a sample of the oil and said it was not diluted. Dipstick measures full on a cold engine start, 50% on the hashes on the dipstick after warming up to temperatures and letting it sit for 5 minutes. Opened a TAC case with GM, and said to monitor oil levels after letting the car warm to temperature and letting it sit for 5 minutes. If level increases, come back. Said he works on a 2013 ZL1 that smells exactly the same. Otherwise did other tests and found everything to be normal. Said it was good to bring it in and important to get the next oil change there so they can look at it further, as I only have ~700 miles on my current oil change. Otherwise, all good to go!

Get a sample off to Blackstone. Then you can sleep.

[Slurpee]

Originally Posted by Alain

trickle charge it if you have one, it's not necessary though.

Worse thing you can do is start it every two weeks without taking it out for a drive long enough to get the oil up to operating temperature. Just starting it to roll around the garage will create condensation in the oil which will cause the oil to degenerate fast.

You will not have flat spots on your tires if the car sits for 5 months. If it'll help you sleep better at night during the winter months, over inflate your tires an extra 5 PSI.

I've been putting my cars away for the last 4 winters from November to March, I never start them and don't roll them around and I've never had an issue. No flat spots on tires or anything else.

Change the oil, get it detailed/waxed, park it and leave it alone till March.

Interesting, thought 5 months would create a flat spot. Are these with the SC3 tires?
I’ll get the oil change before first snow then. Thanks for the tip.
Put on a graphene coating last weekend, so ahead of detailing it. Gotta find somewhere to take some pics, came out really well.

[Yves ZL1]

Originally Posted by Alain

trickle charge it if you have one, it's not necessary though.

Worse thing you can do is start it every two weeks without taking it out for a drive long enough to get the oil up to operating temperature. Just starting it to roll around the garage will create condensation in the oil which will cause the oil to degenerate fast.

You will not have flat spots on your tires if the car sits for 5 months. If it'll help you sleep better at night during the winter months, over inflate your tires an extra 5 PSI.

I've been putting my cars away for the last 4 winters from November to March, I never start them and don't roll them around and I've never had an issue. No flat spots on tires or anything else.

Change the oil, get it detailed/waxed, park it and leave it alone till March.

What would you tell as a good distance for Preventing bad oil transformation(and also The preventing toasting battery) ?

[Max0690]

I was checking my oil the other day and i could smell gasoline off the dip stick too. I have 4100 miles now, I did do the break in process and did do any track events till about 2000. I have about 25 (20min) track session and ever since 1500 miles i have switch over to 15w50 for track use. Current oil has about 700 miles. I will take a look at when i drain it. 2019 zl1 1le 6M mostly used for track.

[Russell James]

Originally Posted by Slurpee

Here is what is exactly written on the service receipt:
"Inspected vehicle. Smell oil and smells normal. Had several other techs smell and various reviews. Oil level is halfway up hash after running and off for 5 min. If let sit longer when off goes to top of hash marks. Fuel trims normal and fuel pressure reading normal and no high side drop off at key off. No dtcs set. No bulletins for concern. Contacted TAC, case # --- advised to continue to monitor. oil level is good and would be higher, also fuel trims higher, if fuel was in oil. no problems found at this time."

That's good, at least they did check the fuel trim and holding pressure.

If it were my car, here is what I would do- find a perfectly flat spot in your garage or drive way. This is where you will get a consistent dipstick read. Drive it to normal operating temp, then shut it off in this spot. 30 minutes later check dipstick and adjust level to exactly full mark on the hash marks.

Then, put 800 - 1000 miles on it and repeat checking level. 30 minutes after shut off see how close it is to exactly full. If it has gained in level I would be concerned fuel is leaking into the oil. Not gained in level, not gone way down.... I'd call all is good. Can always send a sample to blackstone to make sure they don't see excessive fuel. But if the level is staying put when accurately checking it... it's likely fine. When DI engine blow that oil seal between the pump and engine - that oil level can go up crazy fast. It's pretty obvious. The only one I ever saw do that was a 4 cyl DI engine. I have not heard of it as an issue in V8s. But anything is possible - your oil level stability will be telling of an issue or not.

[ZX-10R]

No excuse not to run a quality catch can - reduces oil dilution very effectively on boosted engines. Only reason they aren't OEM is manufacturers don't want another waste stream/maintenance item

Oh and flat spots can form in 5-6 months, happened on my 2019

[Alain]

Originally Posted by Slurpee

Interesting, thought 5 months would create a flat spot. Are these with the SC3 tires?
I’ll get the oil change before first snow then. Thanks for the tip.
Put on a graphene coating last weekend, so ahead of detailing it. Gotta find somewhere to take some pics, came out really well.

The first winter I owned my ZL1 1LE I stored it on the SC3 tires without flat spots or any other issues. Make sure you over inflate the tires an extra 5 PSI and you won't have a problem.

Originally Posted by Yves ZL1

What would you tell as a good distance for Preventing bad oil transformation(and also The preventing toasting battery) ?

Don't think of it in terms of what distance to drive it. Think of it more in terms of getting the oil up to temperature (190+ degrees) for a period of time so the moisture created in the engine will dissipate. Just keep an eye on the oil temperature gauge while you're driving it.