[pea-jay]

I have a question. I have a 1986 Volvo 240L stationwagon parked at my home. At the moment its only purpose is to deliver my self to work and my two daughters to their respective schools on days which it rains. Since the weather is getting nicer and nicer I drive it less and less.

Sometimes I do use it to haul large objects/loads though.

How often should I run this thing to avoid mechanical problems?

The usual drive profile involves a brief warm up (under 30 seconds on most mornings, up to several minutes when the temperature outside was only 15*F) followed by around 15 minutes of calm city driving. It rarely gets on the highway and almost never goes more 20 miles roundtrip to somewher.

Drove it 3-5 times a week at its most frequent, though now I am going on my third week without driving it.

Anyone with some car/engineering experience?

[Olle]

I'm from Sweden and we have these old Volvo 240ies all over the place. It is an extremely robust construction made of high grade steel. As long as the temp meter for the engine reaches working temperature every now and then you will not have any problems from gas building up in the engine oil. Do allways change oil every 10,000 km though (about every 6000 to 7000 miles), that is the best insurance for every engine, this one included.

Happy motoring! / Olle

[Madpaddy]

I second Olle there. Also, once a month you should drive more than 30 miles in one trip to charge the battery. Better again would be to take out the battery and charge it with a mains battery charger.

[kjmclark]

I can think of five things that you need to consider/deal with. My wife and I bike to work, so we sometimes go long stretches with our car gathering dust in the garage. If we had car sharing in my area we'd probably just ditch the car - a Subaru wagon.

1. Gas - Make sure your gas cap is fairly new. That will help retain the more volatile gas fractions. However, even with that measure, your gas will break down over time. After a few days of sitting, your charcoal canister will be saturated and the remaining volatiles will just vent into the air. You might consider leaving the tank half full and making a trip to the gas station at least once a month to add a gallon. OTOH, if you're concerned about gasoline availability soon (and this might be a legitimate concern!) you could leave it full and add a gas stabilizer like Stabil.

2. A/C lubricant - If you still have A/C in this car, you are supposed to run the A/C system, either using A/C or defrost, at least once a month or so to stir up the lubricant.

3. Battery - Madpaddy covered that well. You can also use a trickle charger with the battery still in the car. As long as you hook the charger up at least a day before you use the car, and at least once a month, the battery should be ok.

4. Engine lubricant - Your cylinder walls will be mostly dry after sitting for a week. I add slick 50 to my oil because of this. Any additive with teflon or similar will help lubricate the cylinder walls when the oil has been off of them for a while. If you were going to leave the engine off for several months, you should take out the spark plugs one at a time, squirt fogging oil into each cylinder, then put the spark plug back.

5. Tires - Tires will develop a warp at the point where they rest on the ground if you leave them in one position for a while. If you're leaving the car for more than a month, you might consider putting it on blocks. It would be easier to just move the car at least a foot or so at least once a month.

So, if you're leaving it in a garage, buy a cheap trickle charger for the battery and otherwise drive the car at least once a month for a few minutes. I don't see any need to go farther than a gas station and back. Every other week or so, start it and let it run for a few minutes, running the AC and moving it a foot for the tires. If you don't have a battery charger, increase the time running the engine to charge the battery.

[TommyJefferson]

kjmclark gives good advice about which things should concern you.

The easiest thing to do would be drive the car a couple of miles every two weeks. Getting it up to normal operating temperature is the goal.

Mainly you want to keep the engine seals from drying out, and you want to burn out any water condensation in the oil and exhaust system.

Also, you still need to change the oil every six months regardless of how much you drive because combustion by-products are acidic and corrosive.

[dinopello]

I love this thread! Good advice. Also, just general chassis greasing and lubrication is something to watch. Your Volvo is probably much better quality than my '02 Mazda, that had the brake calipers rust up so much that they seized and had to be totally stripped and then replaced. Also, the tire sidewalls seem to wear and crack more than if you are driving. Maybe there is something that can be done to help that ? edit - just saw the advice on tires above - that would probably solve the sidewall issue.

[frankthetank]

Funny you should ask. My aunt just told me about a '92 Buick some old white hair has with less then 30,000 miles on it! I told her to watch out, letting a vehicle sit for that long can be bad. I let my car sit for a few months (Its gone now), and i had major buildup of rust on the discs, like not just the surface stuff. I know back in the day, my mom had a horrible time with exhaust systems rusting out because she drove short trips and moisture would build up or not burn off or something.

[Gerben]

Moisture can build up in the exhaust system if you don't heat the engine enough (you can see white smoke coming out of cold exhausts - that's steam). Your 15 minutes of calm driving should be just about enough to prevent that. Don't stop when there is still steam coming out of your exhaust.

I'm not sure about the climate where you live, but if you have your car outside in a humid climate you might get starting problems due to moisture. I am told that an old newspaper below the hood, lying on top of your engine could prevent that. Put a reminder on your steering wheel or driving seat so you do not to forget to remove it when you drive off again.

You could also put some moisture absorber in your car to prevent condens on your windows when you go out and drive again. Also some air odoring might be welcome to prevent the buildup of a musty smell.

Just some advice from the swamps of the Netherlands. Plenty of water here...

[Pops]

For those older vehicles with manual choke, if you pull out the choke after killing the engine it helps keep out moisture and makes starting easier.

Newer vehicles almost always draw some power from the battery so simply disconnecting the battery cables may eliminate the need for a charger unless it is idle for months, alternatively there are battery disconnects available for $25 or so.

Maybe spreading around some mothballs and sticky traps might be a good thing to help keep critters from making a den in your heater ducts, tail pipe etc.

[Denny]

I have an old '41 Chevy and start it up every month during winter and take it out for 20 minutes and so far its worked okay, I have had it for four years now with no "new" problems. Battery is still good, though its about 11 years old. Mind you it has drum, not disc brakes, not sure what your Volvo has.

Also, I keep it in the garage.

[pea-jay]

Thanks for the advice:

Although the odometer is busted I seriously doubt I have driven more than 1000 miles in the last 10 months, about half of those from just three trips taken in 2006. Probably less than that. The rest was from around town. I do know I have gone to the gas station only twice this year so I definately need to have the oil changed.

Moisture: I live in a dry climate (6-7 months anyway) and these are the times I dont drive. Shouldnt be a problem as I rarely see dew when I get up.

Battery: Plan on driving it every 2-3 weeks to keep it fresh. Battery is only a year old.

AC: Its shot. Needs the ozone munching CFCs and I dont feel like looking into getting this fixed.

Engine Lube: Will get on that one

Gas Cap: Its an old one and non-locking at that. Definate replacement needed. As for the gas itself, does Stabil affect engine preformance?

Tires: I park on a hill, so I'll let it roll back a quarter turn every few days or so.

I dont garage or cover this vehicle and it gets full sun (and 90+ degree heat) for months on end. Yeah its worn the paint and cracked the vinyl and otherwise made this car look "well used". But the sun isnt doing damage to functioning of the car is it?

Anyway, thanks for the advice on helping me not use my car more effectively.

[Frank]

I wouldn't worry very much about anything except gas quality. People routinely store vehicles over the winter for 3-4 months w/o worrying about oil draindown or whatever. I've done this for years in New England and Canada (motorcycles and old cars). If you're going to have gas more than a couple of months old in the tank I'd add some Sta-Bil or other stabilizer per the instructions and that's it. If you have to drive somewhere once a month or so and everything gets warmed up and you use the brakes (to keep the rust off rotors and drums) you should be okay. Don't bother starting the car just to charge the battery especially if it's only a year old. You can get a trickle charger if you're worried about it.

The best way to warm an engine up is to drive it. Don't forget to keep an eye on tire pressure.