Hi!

This may be really stupid but the owner's manual says to avoid getting water into the outside battery air vent on my 2007 FEH. Can I run the car through a commercial car wash? Do all owners here hand wash their car?

BTW, I got 38.5 MPG on my last tank of gas! I absolutely love my car! But is is very dirty....

 

well I have a 08 FEH and I have been running thru the car wash once or twice a week with no problems. If that were the case then Ford would almost have to require you to park in a garage and never let the car get rained on! You will be fine going thru the car wash!

 

I really didn't think Ford would create a vehicle you couldn't take through a commercial car wash but you never know! Also, I get such good mileage I wanted to be sure there weren't any 'tricks' to going through a car wash. Do you use a brushless one where the water is very high pressure?

TIA!

 

I asked the same thing about my 08 after reading the manual. I was thing along the lines of the spray coming in horizontialy from the automatice side sprayers... I got the same answers

http://www.escape-central.com/1forum...threadid=28973

 

I use a regular soft cloth car wash. I don't like the "touchless" kind because if your car is dirty it will knock off some of the dirt but there is still a flim on the car. I think the soft cloth ones are better. IMHO.

 

Just keep a good coat of wax on it and the dirt will come off easily in a touch-free car wash. I drive around at work a lot on gravel, so my car gets a lot of very abrasive dirt on it. I don't like going through the soft cloth carwashes unless I can hose it off first.

 

Hey, thanks for the link! I've googled this topic and didn't come across that particular discussion. I'll take it through the car wash in the next few days - with my fingers crossed! Now if only they made an automatic car wash for the inside of a car...

 

None of us has had any problems with car washes.

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...ad.php?t=10755

 

There is actually a water "trap" in the air intake. A slight "U" shape to the air duct is all that is required. At the bottom of the U is a hole with a water hose that leads to the outside of the vehicle. This water hole also diverts any water condensate from the battery A/C ( didn't think of that, now did you? ).

The hole is about 1/2" diameter, so it won't be able to drain 2 gallons a minute or anything close, but any/all splash water, rain water, A/C condensate water should drain effortlessly by gravity.

-John

 

Hehe... I debated whether to mention this or not, and chose not to since the question was about the battery vent and the original poster didn't indicate they even have a sunroof.

I tend to avoid the high power/pressure auto carwashes ever since the incident which prompted the referenced post. However, Ford did do warranty work on my sunroof after the incident that seems to have resolved my sunroof leak.

I've never had any problems with the battery vent door or any other part of the vehicle in a car wash, and at least prior to my daughter being born in March '07, I'm pretty **** about keeping my FEH clean and spotless. (It's still reasonably clean, but needs a new clay bar application and a new coat of wax.)