Winter is almost over here in NW Ohio and there has been a lot of salt/ice melt on my car body from the snow plows. I figure if it's on the body, it may also be underneath. Many car washers offer an under body wash/spray down, etc. Is there a problem doing this with the Prius? Will the wash affect anything?
I also live in Ohio, in fact the underbody wash was the only reason I paid for a car wash today. I prefer to wash my car in my driveway. Just don't go spraying out the engine compartment with a hose and you should be fine.
I think under-body washes may be a good idea, but I understand most car washes use reclaimed water which may end up spreading more salt into places it may not be. Check with the car wash to see if they use reclaimed water, and if they do, wash it at home.
From an enviromental standpoint I would go for the car wash. Home washes use much more water, not sure of the estimated amount, but i know its something like 4x as much. Plus that soap and water ends up in sewer drains and eventually the water cycle. As far as the reclaimed water goes, I would just wait some time till after all the snow and road salt disapear. I would imagine if the last car to get a salty wash was on monday most the salt would be out of the water by the end of the week. They still lose a some water from each wash, so they have to be bringing in a continuous fresh supply.
A lot of salt/mud/dirt likes to collect on the rear wheelwell inside arch. Impossible to use a long carwash wand to get to it, you need a garden hose, a sprayer, and plenty of patience. Also be prepared to get overspray and dirt yourself. A few beers will absolutely make the job easier Another place the crud likes to build up is at the very front bottom of the rear wheel wells, there is a flat area there. You can reach that with a car wash pressure wand
Has anyone had the mud build up (about 1/3 if the door from the front under the car ) it look like the mud has gotten in and pushed a piece of the body away from where it normally goes . I'm sorry I'm not sure how to describe the parts I just know one side has a flat surface and the driver side does not Can i power wash under there to get this stuff out or will it just embed it more ??? This winter ans so call start to spring has been hard on my car .:der:
Yes, there are a few plastic fairings under the car to help with aerodynamics. I don't like them as they are *very* difficult to maintain in an environment that has road salt At my hobby farm, I have a car ramp of sorts made from old railway ties. Very sturdy, and the flat portion is level. With my Prius on top, I have enough room to sit on the cement pad and barely clear my head So I put on a rainsuit, grab the garden hose, and really spray the hell out of things. This takes time, patience, and you end up very dirty and soaked. I only do it once a year when the weather is nicer.
I make sure to do a fairly vigorous spray-out under the car every spring, to get rid of the old salt and winter guk. Including the engine compartment, but I'm careful about exactly where I spray around -- certainly down the sides, the little openings into the front quarter panels, around the radiator ... and some down the engine itself but not totally blasting it, because of all the connectors. The rest of the car's underside is fair game, from as many different directions as I can reach, and yes, there's a lot of dirty backsplash. After all this is done I take the car out for a nice fairly fast drying run down the road, which also heats the engine and underhood area and helps drive off the remaining water. Although when I did this year's first go-round of this it was still a little chilly that day, and it took actually sitting around *idling* the engine before the radiator loop opened up enough to warm the downstream hose and get things warm enough to dry the rest of the way. . Then I worm my hand in and wiggle as many of the connectors as I can reach, including those three on the front of the transaxle -- it isn't necessary to completely disconnect them in most cases, just enough of a wiggle to slide the contacts a little bit and reaffirm the connection. Disconnecting for a close inspection of course would be better, but some of the connectors are in places where it's almost impossible. . I expect I'll pull the cowl for its yearly clean-out and remove and inspect the igniters at some point too, just to make sure there's nothing amiss down in those holes. . None of this takes inordinately long, and is just an appropriate part of the spring spiff-up before car show season kicks in.. . _H*
