HappySalesman

iTrader: (3)

So for a number of reasons, my camaro will be sitting in storage for the upcoming winter, and I won't have any way of accessing it. One issue I'm trying to tackle is the battery. The storage unit I'm in has no power, and no light socket I can steal from. I know the easiest solution to preserving the battery is to disconnect the negative terminal, but as soon as I do that all of my fuel trims go out the window.

I was trying to come up with a way I could hotwire the battery (or another) to just the PCM, but I would have concerns about backfeeding or other weird ish. Another thought was just buying another battery and wiring it in parallel, but the car wouldn't be accessible for about 6-7 months, and I don't think both of them would last that long.

A small solar panel is an idea, but I'd have to check with the storage unit to see if they're okay with that.

Any other thoughts? Ideas?

B52bombardier1

I would not worry about losing your fuel trims and shift adapts, if equipped. When I have to kill power to the PCM on my El Camino, the engine is a little hard to start, runs a little odd for maybe 30 seconds but is good to go very soon.

I'd just remove the battery and not worry.

Rick

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Another battery in parallel is the solution.....for 7 months. My car just sat in storage for 9 months....started up first bump of the key. It was a little weak of course....but it tuned over the first time and started. I have the best battery money can buy......IMO.....(AC Delco) but any good quality batt should work.

So absolutely two fully charged batts will get you through 7 months....just sitting their parked, just for the purpose of keeping power to the PCM. You may need a jump to start the car....but power will always be there the whole 7 months.

.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

As mentioned above, this isn't really an issue as these things will relearn pretty quickly. It would only be a problem if you needed to take an OBD emissions test immediately after getting the car out of storage, and/or if you drive the car very rarely and don't want to wait on the relearn to get optimal performance immediately after getting it out of storage.

What about just pulling fuses for all systems other than the PCM? Under normal circumstances (meaning no excessive drain due to an accessory/wiring fault), the PCM is probably the greatest consumer of power - so this may not help much in the long term. I don't know how much drain all the other systems create as I've never tried storing one in this way before, but nobody will be able to give you a specific discharge rate as this will be partially dependent on the condition of the battery at the time it goes into storage.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Unhook battery and take it with you. Fuel trims dont mean jack.

BALLSS

^^^, this. PCM will "re-learn" STFT in short order. I have had battery out of car for months. put battery in and car fires right up and runs normal. You will have to drive for a few hundred miles to get all the IM monitors to set as "ready" which is only a issue if you needed emission testing where they plug in to the car.....or you can have PCM programed to have all IM;s set to be ready :-)


But IM monitors have nothing to do with how the motor runs so if no emission test after car comes out of storage no problem

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

turn mine off every time.