winter storage and engine oil

[davidpertuz at mindspring.com]

Hi y'all,

This isn't strictly SE-R related, but in theory it could be. So I claim non-OT :)

For a car that is going to sit in storage all winter, should I just change the engine oil in the spring, change it now, or both?

The wonderful weather this past weekend meant that I got one more chance to take my Fiat for a drive - big smile! But that's it until April or so, so it's time to hibernate it. Last year I was sort of lazy and didn't do anything except disconnect the battery. Then I just hooked it up again, fired it up and started driving it. Oil is about 14 months old with maybe 800-900 miles on it. 

I'm generally familiar with winter-storage prep and will probably do all that in a couple of weeks just to be nice to the car, but I did wonder about the oil. 

My SE-R sits next to it in the garage and hasn't moved since I got here last summer - poor car! It is still waiting for rod bearings, a new exhaust (!@#$ thieves) and rear brakes. 

David
Chicago