[1le Maro]

This is the first winter of owning my 22 Camaro. I need some advice on what i should be doing with my battery during winter storage. Its being stored in a storage unit with no power to connect a battery maintainer. My main concern is, is it bad to remove and leave the battery disconnected for about 3-4 months. Will this harm the cars electronics in any way? After researching some say yes, some say no. This is a big concern that is bothering the crap out of me. Thank you for any of your guys time to respond.

[beowulf556]

I don’t see how the electronics would be damaged due to not having power… curious to read arguments that say otherwise.

[2SS Capt]

Originally Posted by 1le Maro

This is the first winter of owning my 22 Camaro. I need some advice on what i should be doing with my battery during winter storage. Its being stored in a storage unit with no power to connect a battery maintainer. My main concern is, is it bad to remove and leave the battery disconnected for about 3-4 months. Will this harm the cars electronics in any way? After researching some say yes, some say no. This is a big concern that is bothering the crap out of me. Thank you for any of your guys time to respond.

Pull the battery, no problem at all... Only thing, you'll have to reset all your presets and settings when you reinstall it... Really no downside to pulling your battery (as long as you don't drop it!)

Probably more risk leaving it connected and ending up with a completely flat battery, which is extremely hard on batteries...

Oh, and what is this "Winter" you speak of???

[dpevans]

I would suggest taking the battery out and throwing it in the garage and put it on a maintainer. I would also lower t.he windows 1/2", The windows have to index when you install the battery and power the car back up and I read a couple posts of windows breaking if you leave them up with no power because they won't lower when you open the car door without the battery. I would also leave the trunk released.

[ember1205]

Some things to think about with regard to removing the battery:

Once you have pulled the battery out, you won't have a way to lock the doors. Or unlock the doors. Or release the trunk lid (unless you want to climb through the rear seat which is a huge pain).

You may want to do things in this order:

- Pop the hood (don't open it, just leave it popped)
- Release the trunk lid
- Lock the doors and close them (if you don't close them with the battery connected, the windows won't roll back up after the door is closed)
- Remove the battery
- Bring the trunk lid down but don't latch it

Here's what this buys you:

- When you return in the spring, you have access to the trunk to install the battery
- If the trunk gets closed for some reason, you can open the hood, connect jumper cables to the terminal pins, and you'll be able to unlock the doors and open the trunk

The only other thing to be sure you do is over-inflate the tires. I put mine to anywhere between 42 and 45 psi and just leave it for the winter. This helps keep flat spots from forming while it sits, but it also ensures you'll have good pressure in the tires when you bring it out so driving it initially isn't as hard on them. Any flat spots that do form will go away on their own pretty quickly anyhow.

Keep your battery connected to a tender when you get it home. Make sure it's a decent one that's designed to handle AGM batteries and keep the battery itself off of concrete. The old guidance used to be to protect the battery, but now it's more about protecting the concrete (although a battery -could- still discharge because it's sitting directly on concrete). A small rubber mat under it is probably best to protect the battery and the floor.

Your car may need to "re-learn" various things when you re-connect the battery in the spring, so be ready for it to drive a run a little weird for a little while. And you may have to re-index the windows (instructions in the manual).

[bishopts]

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=635560

Oh look! Just so happen to search for about 30 seconds. Found one of many threads that covers any questions about this topic.

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=631864
This one had a good bit of info on charging

[Mark20242SS]

just go in there once a week or so and start it up for a while, if its dry outside take it for a drive. when you start it up move it back or forwards a few inches to move the tires from flat spotting.
i just got my 24 2SS and it is being driven daily , if the snow is too deep or icy out, i will stay home. i put on michelin pilot sport all seasons.
i had driven mustang gt's year around for the past 6 years or so, did run snow tires on those. just so you have ground clearance you are good.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by Mark20242SS

just go in there once a week or so and start it up for a while, if its dry outside take it for a drive. when you start it up move it back or forwards a few inches to move the tires from flat spotting.
i just got my 24 2SS and it is being driven daily , if the snow is too deep or icy out, i will stay home. i put on michelin pilot sport all seasons.
i had driven mustang gt's year around for the past 6 years or so, did run snow tires on those. just so you have ground clearance you are good.

If you're not actually driving the car and getting everything up to temp, starting it is doing more harm than good as it's causing wear to the engine internals.

[Mark20242SS]

go out and take it for a drive then when the roads are dry. get on the highway for a while. get everything charged and warmed up.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by Mark20242SS

go out and take it for a drive then when the roads are dry. get on the highway for a while. get everything charged and warmed up.

You do you, but my car won't come out of the garage again until everything has melted and we've gotten at least one significant rain storm to wash the salt and chemicals off of the roads. The whole reason I store it is to keep it away from all of the corrosive junk.

[Corky]

Has anyone used transport mode for winter storage ??...I'd give that a try if I didn't have an electric source and didn't want to remove the battery..https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=454614

[bishopts]

Originally Posted by Corky

Has anyone used transport mode for winter storage ??...I'd give that a try if I didn't have an electric source and didn't want to remove the battery..https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=454614

Theoretically that should work.

[DamonZ28]

Many will argue that flat spotting isn't an issue with modern tires. I stored my 4th gen for 20+ winters, and my 6th gen 1 winter, and never had flat spotting issues. The cars sat on a cement garage floor, unheated, and never moved.

[Patriot Motorsports USA]

Originally Posted by 1le Maro

This is the first winter of owning my 22 Camaro. I need some advice on what i should be doing with my battery during winter storage. Its being stored in a storage unit with no power to connect a battery maintainer. My main concern is, is it bad to remove and leave the battery disconnected for about 3-4 months. Will this harm the cars electronics in any way? After researching some say yes, some say no. This is a big concern that is bothering the crap out of me. Thank you for any of your guys time to respond.

First thing I would say is to ship it over here to SOUTH Carolina, enjoy our mild Winters and join us for several track days each month while the rest of your area Hibernates! I remember crossing the Snoqualmie Pass, towing a sailboat in the dead of Winter just 10 minutes before an Avalanche closed the Interstate for nearly two weeks!!

Aside from all that... Just disconnect the battery after you have run a little of the Amsoil Fuel Stabilizer which I can ship you, and that will keep your DI and fuel system in-check.

Other than that... relax and dream of smooth roads, no PoPo, burning gas and busting bugs!