The time to take the 1997 Peugeot 306 1.9 diesel (non-turbo) to its new home in France is approaching. It's had a year of my ownership and 3000 more miles in UK making a total of 105k (and giving me 45 to 50mpg) and all seems well (touch wood).
The plan is to park it in a barn and use it for a couple of weeks every 6 to 7 weeks or so.
So far I've thought about a solar powered battery charger (with the panel outside the barn!), car sitting on wooden packers on concrete blocks with the wheels off the ground, windows slightly open (but with less than a mouse sized gap) and a cotton dust sheet over it.
Anything else?
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No joke but a mouse trap armed with the tastiest bit of Cheddar you can find. They will find a way in windows or not ! (we've had trouble with work cars - expensive trouble)
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They will find a way in windows or not ! (we've had trouble withwork cars - expensive trouble)
Quite right Pugugly,I`ve had this problem in the past,and my car was in use every two or three days.Luckily,I saw tiny bits of rubber on the garage floor.Seems they were making a nest with the rubber vibration damper under the bonnet. It was fortunate they did not start with the wiring. Such are the trials and tribulations of country life!
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Our pool car is parked in the Office car-park most nights and weekends, they ate the leather seat squab.......expensive as I say, also evidence of mice chewing some foam insulation stuff under the bonnet.
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Our pool car is parked in the Office car-park most nights and weekends they ate the leather seat squab
Only a firm of Solicitors would have a pool car with leather seats!
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Mice will get in through the tiniest gap and they love to chew things. My farmer friend often has chewed wiring on farm equipment left over winter. If you wanted to be paranoid about it, put the car on blocks but sit the blocks in bowls of creosote. This won't evaporate and will stop any insects or vermin getting onto the car, unless they drop on from above or fly.
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Make sure you leave the h/brake off, and it helps to leave a couple of those silica-jel parcels lying around inside, but place them on a saucer or you will discolour the surface of whatever you place them on due to the moisture they absorb. Don't think bowls of stuff will deter mice though! i've seen them do some amazing things like running up a rendered vertical wall, and i've had them drop on me from roof beams!.
Billy
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"and i've had them drop on me from roof beams!."
Ah - Pararodents !
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There is something in car plastics and wring that rodents like! A friend had his ignition leads eaten while parked in the Czech republic! Didn't find out until he tried to start it, couldn't and checked under the bonnet! Other good mouse bait is peanut butter or sweet chocolate.
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if you want to avoid rodents dont park it in a barn, why dont you just park it in a busy street like every one else?
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Never mind the mice. I needed a seat from a scrap yard, and the rats had made a nest inside the foam cushion. The car was all closed up. I guess they got in through a clutch cable grommet or something similar. I wondered why the scrap yard owner walked around with a stick when he didn't have a limp!
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Read my thread from 2 years ago... same scenario in France laid up for 6 weeks
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=26...2 (read the final post first)
I think it was something called a glis-glis. (aka an edible doormouse). We now have them back in the loft, they sound more like the beast of Bodmin at 03.00!
If you have close neighbours I suggest that you disconnect the alarm-horn if you wish to remain friends.
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pmh (was peter)
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If you're worried about mice, get an ultrasonic repeller. Mains-powered ones are most effective, but I've a battery one in my shed that works well too. It needs to be positioned facing into clear space (not stuck at the back of a shelf!) for the sound wave to spread well enough for the mice to hear it.
Bait will draw rodents from far and wide, and you don't want the smell of a dead mouse left inside your car for two months!
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OK, OK.. I get the mice thing. I wasn't bothered about them at all until you lot replied!
Anything else?
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I don't think two months is long enough to worry about. Apart from keeping the battery topped up I wouldn't worry about anything else, as long as it's not damp. I regularly leave old cars for months at a time in a garage with a battery conditioner on and have had no problems.
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Unless you need the car battery to power an alarm - assume not as you are leaving the windows ajar, then disconnect the battery earth lead & the battery will be fine for months without any need to rig up solar panels. Just the clock & radio code will need doing when you use it again.
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when i was working abroad i left my gtv6 3.0ltr for 5 months. i disconnected the battery and left the handbrake off.
on returning i cranked over the engine to allow the oil to circulate and then it started in seconds .
gentle on the brakes for a few minutes and all was fine.
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Two months is nothing. Cars regularly sit on dealer forecourts for 2-3 months. I would consider a 'lay-up' to be 6 months or more.
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My car was manufactured in January and delivered in the September. So that's going on for 8 months.
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Mike Farrow
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So it's not worth even jacking it up and getting the tyres off the ground? I had always assumed this was pretty much necessary for a couple of months or more to prevent tyre damage.
It sounds just too easy - park it, disconnect the battery and go away. Maybe that's the way, especially as I can always give the battery a few hours charge on the night of arrival before the morning start up.
Thanks all. I'll watch out for the mice too.
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Over-inflate the tyres by, say, 10 psi (and stick a notice on the steering wheel reminding you that you've done that). As Aprilia says, 2-3 months is not a worry.
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I wouldn't do anything - the only worry is the battery - so disconnect it or put it on a maintenance charger.
The only problem I've ever encountered with cars standing a long time is corrosion of brake discs and possible siezure of caliper - but car has to be exposed outside for a fair while. After a few months the tyres will get a bit out of round due to standing, but after driving a mile or two they'll be fine.
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If it's damp, the clutch may seize stuck to the flywheel, making it impossible to engage gear. Happened to my grandads car when he left it in the garage for a couple of months without using it.
Only solution to this is stick a broom handle between the seat back and the clutch pedal, so the pedal is pressed down. However don't leave for more than a couple of months like this or the pressure plate will eventually compress and lose it's springyness.
Tyres will be fine. Battery will probably be fine if disconnected before you go.
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