Hello, I am a new SRF owner, and live in the northeast. I have been looking for any winterizing steps needed for the SRF. Can anyone provide me with some guidance?

-Coolant
-battery
-tires
-Storage

I searched all of the known SRF pages and many have not been updated in years, and none have this info!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Definitely disconnect the battery. Storing inside a garage, or in a trailer? Moisture is your enemy in an exposed trailer as there's little insulation and it tends to collect moisture (and more susceptible to the cold than a garage), so consider sealing up the electrical connections with di-electric grease (pretty much do this for the two connectors around the battery, the relays, ECU connector and the large connector block at the rear, and around the MAF.)

If you're running 50/50 coolant, you're probably OK, but if not consider changing it to a mix that's suitable for expected lows.) If you want to preserve tires, take them off, stack sideways, not on end, and if you're in a garage with a furnace consider bagging them to avoid the ozone damage from electrical motors (that may be a bit much but the autocrossers seem to be the most religious about tire storage for good reason.)

Don't change the oil before storage; wait to do everything like changing fluids after since you're more likely to collect moisture in the lubricants and it's better to start the season with fresh fluids anyway. Also consider the same for rebuilding calipers and replacing rotors so you clean up any potential moisture/rust out of the system.

In the Spring, replace the axle grease; pretty much anywhere where water and oil should not mix (good time to freshen bearings if it's been a while.) Consider any ancillary equipment that is susceptible to moisture/freezing damage (e.g. in-car cameras/recorders, radios, etc.)

Avoid "garden hosing" the car just before putting it away; adding more moisture is not good. If you haven't put anti-seize on the spark plug threads, might be a good time before you put it away for the Winter.

If storing in an unheated space don't forget to remove the fire bottle especially if it is the water solution kind.

Thanks! I did not think about that. I'll look and see what is in the bottle today!

An alternative to winterizing would be to make some trips down South for some racing. We don't winterize - we just keep driving them.

Of course, the down side to that is that it's hard to know when to do the end of year major maintenance.

OK ... I do have one tip to contribute. Try to drain as much of the old gas from the fuel cell as possible. Start with new gas for the first event next year.

Roger that Kurt!

I wish I was a bit further south anyway...winters up here can be rough! My tow vehicle would never make it more that 2 hours away (I have my wife's diesel merc suv that I borrow).....something to look for next year.....big, diesel, comfy.......

I did the fuel pump trick with the jumper-wire. I had the worst time trying to get the fuel rail hose off, but all else went smoothly.

I keep thinking that I have to start a blog and run some how-to's on these cars. I need about a year or 2 of knowledge gathering though. They have such a cool and simple design, but not much exists on info for them....

LTJohn wrote: I keep thinking that I have to start a blog and run some how-to's on these cars. I need about a year or 2 of knowledge gathering though. They have such a cool and simple design, but not much exists on info for them....

I could not agree more with this statement, as a new owner as well it is often so frustrating to get service related info on these car for those of us who enjoy doing this type of work. I am guessing that much of the online knowledge was lost in the site change a few years ago?

If you compare to many other racing classes, we are pretty lucky actually. I definitely have more to learn, but what I've learned so far is a combination of: CSR advice, SRF Forum, Mumm Brothers site, Mike Davies, and advice from other veteran racers.

I really need to look into the Blog idea.

Of course, I am the least qualified person to fill one!

But, I figure that a few good pics of some simple procedures would help. Something to do in the springtime!!!

We have a listing of all the posts from the prior version of the site. Someone needs to take the time to format them.

Same deal with blogs, if anyone will commit to doing one or more on a regular basis, I'll be happy to set one up. But those that remember the old version of the board, most of the non-forum stuff was very stagnant...

There are actually good manuals for the car. An assembly manual and a conversion. I bought mine, but a lot of people have bootleg copies. You should also consider getting a Ford manual.