I'm travelling for two weeks in December and won't be driving my F type S. Wondering what if any precautions I should take?

I live in Toronto and park in a covered garage but the temperatures will be hovering around -10C during that period.

Any danger of flat spotting the tires over two weeks? I have winters on right now.

Thanks for your help.

 

I live in TO and have left cars outside for three weeks with no problems. You should be just fine.

 

I leave car for six months with no tire or gas issues. Much beyond 2-3 weeks I'd attach a battery tender.

 

Agree. You need not do anything.

On the subject of flat-spotting of tires, even when it does happen after a vehicle has been idle for months on end, it is only a temporary condition on modern tires. After the tires warm when driving again, the flat spots disappear after a very short period.

 

I've stored vehicles for 4 years + and never had an issue with flat spotting tires once they were run and got to operating temps...

 

It's a car.

If it's -10C, the only real worry might be whether the screen wash is up to the job. But, as you live in Canada, I would have thought it was unlikely to be just water in there.

Batteries are only likely to be an issue when they are a little older - unless you have block heaters that run off a thermostat - a feature that may be Canada-specific.

 

Take a lesson from us owners of 'older' Jag. The computers on these cars are always drawing on the battery even when the car is asleep. We've learned the hard way what happens when the battery is allowed to run low one too many times.

Block heaters run off mains power, not the car battery.

 

Not true. I left my 2015 F-Type garaged at 55 Fahrenheit for a month and the battery ran to almost zero. As in, doors wouldn't unlock, ignition switch did nothing, etc.

I had driven it almost daily for the 2 weeks before I left so I'm quite sure the battery was charged fully.

Forthnately after a half hour of jump charging it started again and the battery passed a dealer check.

 

I must say that the the batteries do seem to run down after a month or so of sitting. My car's battery was dead on the show room floor the day I bought it. When I was at my dealer for an oil change a few weeks ago, I sat in two F-Types on the showroom floor, and both had low battery warnings on instrument panel displays.

I certainly wouldn't worry about a couple of weeks, but if idle for more than 1 month, I would put a battery maintainer on it.

 

An Alfa Romeo Brera I used to own drew 280mA when switched off. This was enough to kill the battery if it wasn't driven more than once a month.

But, that was over several years (it happened twice).

Two weeks might run the batteries down, but the F Type has two: One to Start it (lower capacity but high cranking current), and one to keep everything else powered up (high capacity, but closer to what you'd use to power the lights in a trailer).

If you have the mains wiring for a block heater, why wouldn't you be keeping the batteries topped up?

 

Cause they're not connected in any manner to the 12V system of the car.

 

only thing i do is make sure I don't have any random accessories plugged into the USB port. but that's just me being paranoid.

 

The part in bold above is actually not the case. The main battery starts the car when you press the start button and powers everything else. The second smaller battery only starts the car when it's operating in Eco-mode (engine start/stop). That is the only function of the smaller battery.

That's why some folks who find Eco-mode a nuisance, simply disconnect that 2nd battery, which disables that function.

 

I was thinking more of where you can plug in a trickle charger to keep the battery topped up. In a garage there's usually a power point or two, but outdoor power points are less common - unless you've put one in to power the bock heaters, yes?

Coincidentally, do those things really run at Mains Voltage, or is there a transformer somewhere?

 

Batteries powering cars on the showroom floor are subjected to substantial abuse, as people are constantly opening and closing doors which activates convenience lighting and various displays, all without benefit of the car being started for a recharge anytime during the day (or even for longer periods). My local BMW dealership will plug all of their showroom cars into trickle chargers to ensure a fully powered experience for their browsing customers.

 

Concerning the question of parking for 2 weeks around here, in the winter. The tires will not be affected... the battery should be fine, as others have said once you hit the 4 week mark, a battery maintainer should be added.

The block heater does run on household current and it can be difficult to find a plug-in around public areas. It does not get cold enough in Toronto to really need a block heater ... some use one an hour or so before startup just to have a warm engine before cranking it over. Easier on engine etc. Up north and out mid-west you will have plug ins in many public places and certainly in unheated garages.
Lawrence.

 

Mulmur has answered most of your points. I live about 3 hours northeast of his location and it's still not really cold often enough here to worry about a block heater. My S-type was year-round transport for several seasons when living in Montreal (colder still) and I used the block heater once or twice. It didn't make much difference as the car started fine without it.

The heating element looks much like one found in a kitchen kettle and is rated at about 1000-1200 watts or so. Letting it run more than 3-4 hours is pointless as the coolant is as warm as it's going to get.

As a side note, a 'trickle charger' is not the correct device for cars in storage. They are 'on' 24/7 and can easily boil a battery dry over an extended period. A 'battery tender' is a much better choice. It turns itself off once the battery is at 100% capacity and monitors from that point on.