Piston Slap: The Sable Preservation Society?

by Sajeev Mehta

Updated: November 26th, 2019 Published: March 24th, 2015

piston slap the sable preservation society

Matt writes:

Hey Sajeev,

I read your recent PS on engine warm-up procedures, and it got me thinking about my own situation.

I recently started working from home. Now, the missus is able to let sit her 2003 Mercury Sable and drive my 2013 Chevy Equinox during the harsh Wisconsin winter. The Sable is left in a parking spot, outside, for days and weeks on end without being driven. Aside from starting her up every 2-3 weeks and driving around, what would you recommend to make sure the Sable is in tip-top shape in the event the old gal needs to be driven?

Thanks in advance!

Sajeev answers:

Oh yes! You and I, we are the same: we’d preserve an old Mercury and subject a new vehicle to winter abuse instead! Clearly you appreciate the Mercury Sable like a Lincoln-Mercury fanboi such as myself. If this were a 1986 LS Model in brown with chocolate velour and digital gauges…well, good thing it’s not.

Since you’re probably being nice to your wife, giving her the safer/nicer vehicle since you don’t need it, I’ll stop with the Sable talk.

So anyway, driving it every 2-3 weeks is all you need. Just don’t forget to do it! Exercise and fresh fluids is perfect for vehicle health during winter hibernation, but remaining safe for occupants might be another story.

Make sure the tires are relatively new (i.e. not 8+ years old and hardened to death), change the wiper blades, change the headlight bulbs (if driven regularly at night, that’s often overlooked) and even the little things like a cheapy reflective windshield visor to keep the dashboard from cooking in the winter sun. You could get super picky via paint protection, any grade of breathable outdoor car cover, a battery tender, indoor battery storage and who knows what else the B&B will think of…

But you pretty much nailed it in your query. Off to you, Best and Brightest!

[Image: Shutterstock user LeManna]

#MercurySable #OutsideStorage #Preservation #Sable #WinterBeater

Sajeev Mehta

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JohnTaurus on Mar 24, 2015

Okay, Ill try posting again. Maybe the site wont crash my device again. The advice I would add is to properly maintain the Sable's transaxle (has nothing to do with the car sitting, but its important). A proper service means dropping the pan and replacing the filter. Do not let Jiffy Lube or some other place like that do a "flush". All that flush will do is trap debris in the filter, clogging it, and causing transaxle failure. The fluid/filter/pan gasket service should be done every 30k miles. If youre feeling a shudder during heavy acceleration, its due (or over due) for a service. Avoid taking the car to aamco at all costs. I had a lengthy example of why I say this, but it was lost and I have no desire to type it all out again, especially when I could loose it all again when I post this comment. The jist is, theyll insist that it must be rebuilt no matter what the actual problem is. If you let them tear into it (for a diagnosis), they will charge you nearly the same cost as a rebuild to put it back together. Ever notice how many cars they have for sale at an aamco? Its because theyve basically stolen them by presenting the owner with a huge repair bill and had them sign over the car (or they place a lein on it) when they wouldnt or couldnt pay it.

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CaseyLE82 on Mar 24, 2015

Aw this post made me a bit sad. 2 weeks ago we finally decided to sell our un-needed 2005 Ford Taurus (brown on brown, she was so ugly), but she had 195,000 trouble free miles on her orig engine and tranny. We were sad to see our "Big Brown Bessie" go, but it was time.

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