Electric Vehicle Forums

- Toyota Camry Hybrid (https://electricvehicleforums.com/forums/toyota-camry-hybrid-49/)

- - Car Wash (https://electricvehicleforums.com/forums/toyota-camry-hybrid-49/car-wash-19946/)

Is there any problem for TCH's hybrid system to be in car wash where they put car in "neutral" and it goes on a conveyor?

I use a car wash like that once a month or so with no problems...

I do put the A/C System on Recycle while having all my cars washed to minimize the chance of any water getting in to the system....

I was at the car wash last week. My battery was low, and when it was in neutral, I got a "low battery" warning on my nav screen. It also stated "Please put the car in park to charge the battery". When I put the car in drive at the end of the car wash, the screen disappeared. I haven't had a problem since then. I use the car wash about once a week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darrelr (Post 188396)

Hi !
same things .

and here what i learned,
the hybrid battery is not recharged when in neutral so
: go to the car wash with a hot engine
: with blue bars on battery
: stop the light
: no A/C , radio etc...

and maybe the engine will not run the time of the wash !!!!

You certainly don't want fresh air coming in -- the water spray can mess up the cabin air filter. I always turn off the climate control. This also saves the battery so it won't run down during the wash.

There shouldn't be any concern about the hybrid system being on the conveyor. It's no different than the car being in neutral and rolling down a hill for a few feet, just that the push comes from the conveyor mechanism rather than gravity.

so glad to read this... as this happened to us today. I actually had it happen one other time at car wash, but I shifted to drive and took off. Today, however the message said

Low T battery stop the vehicle. shift to park.

Car was dead. Shifted to park, started car, and headed out... just in time , as car behind us was getting CLOSE. GOOD to hear that others have experienced this.

I think that, as it was 99 degrees, car was hot, we'd just left a wedding, and decided to wash the car just half mile away. A/C was working overtime, so it just hadn't recovered yet.

We will next time, turn a/c off and not strain the system. Thanks for y'alls help!

OK, new guy here....

Have I missed something about these cars? How can the battery go dead just because you leave the A/C on as you go through a car wash? Doesn't the computer read the low battery condition and just leave the gas engine running?

Wassup?

Joe

Quote:

Originally Posted by SanAntonio Joe (Post 224340)

Joe,

Yes, generally. But, as I understand it, though, if you shift into neutral with the system on but with the engine not running, the engine will not restart as long as you remain in neutral. If you leave it in Park all will be OK, and the system will start the engine as needed to charge up.

Quite valuably the system will also, then, shut the engine off when it achieves a goodly charge ad then repeat the whole sequence as necessary.

In this way, you could keep the A/C running for quite a very long time while parked and use only a fraction of the gas that you would use with a car that needed to run continuously for this chore.

It does present a bit of a problem, however, for the kind of car wash that requires the car to be in neutral. You should either make sure to enter with a good state of charge or keep the A/C off while in the wash.

I and others posting here highly recommend the latter. keeping the a/C blower off will help avoid drawing water into the cabin filter.

Jack

Wow....learn something new about these cars nearly every day in here.

Thanks, Jack. Mine should be here Thursday. I feel like a 6-year-old on Dec. 24th who told Santa all he wants is a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas..... (Now THERE is a reference that will show your age!)

Joe