Whats the best way to store the car for a long time? I leave for Kuwait on Friday for a year. The car will be at my dads, but he works out of state so he wont be able to run it very often. And whats a good defenses against mice to keep them out of the engine bay and what-not. I've heard of people using dryer sheets?

 

A good way to leave it for a long time is to disconnect the battery and leave it up on 4 jackstands.

 

+1 to the topic.

planning on leaving the car for a year or more!. and no one is around to drive the car.

 

Among other steps, I would run it until it is out of gas. Maybe put the battery on a float charge.

 

I have a trickle charger for it.

Why out of gas though? I know with my bike if you're going to store it for a long period of time you fill the tank as full as you can get it, otherwise condensation gets inside the tank.

 

Disconnect battery like the manual indicates. Jack up car, or if you're leaving it parked, ensure good tire pressure. Fill up the gas tank, to prevent moisture from accumulating and settling to the bottom of the tank (gas is less dense than water). Cover the car to prevent a year's worth of dust crapping your car!

 

Maybe different schools of thought and I am not an expert. Now, however, I have become interested and started poking around the web. Not sure dry is good for cars. however, my motorcycle, boat and ATV friends all recommend dry storeage. Maybe filling it with no-ethanol gas would be good.

I just finished taking my ATV carburetor apart (well, "helping" a friend, meaning I held the flashlight), cleaning it, and then running Seafoam throughout it. It is back to running good. I am under the impression that it wouldn't have needed cleaning if I stored it dry. I think the varnish build up came from the old gas. I will run it a bit more to get it dry and then store the ATV inside my garage.

 

You might want to add something like Sta-Bil to your gas.
http://www.goldeagle.com/engine_care/default.aspx

 

Very good recommendation on the Stabil. The old gas I siphoned out of my ATV doesn't even look like gas anymore. (It is almost 2 years old). Not sure what I will do with this old fuel, it is bad enough that I am reluctant to burn it off in my truck or my lawnmower.