Automatic Car Wash: How to put the 2004 Prius in neutral:

In Florida heat, you could easily drain the battery in 5 minutes.

 

Re: Automatic Car Wash: How to put the 2004 Prius in neutra

I just found this thread because I had a problem with my Pirus in the auto-wash. I put in into N with no problems and rode the conveyor through in ready mode. The mirrors were folded in, and the wash actually cleaned them very nicely, but that's beside the point. When I got out the other side, I had only drained about 2 lines on the battery. I remember there was some oddness trying to turn it back on, but I don't remember exactly what happened. I ended up turning it off, and back on, and then diving away.

Well, as soon as I started accelerating away I noticed a change in the sound of the engine. It seems to be revving itself more and taking slightly longer to shift gears when accelerating uphill. My gas mileage has dropped by about 4mpg. Did I do something to the car going through the wash? I want to conact my dealer and have them look at it, but will they say this was my fault somehow and not pay for any reapairs? I've had the car less than a month and have the full maintenance and warranty package. Any advice?

 

If your car is now shifting gears, then yes, something DID happen in the carwash; the Prius ECVT does not shift gears.

 

Haven't yet worked up the courage to go to the auto laundry. Have used the Mr. Clean hose attachment gizmo on the driveway with very satisfactory results. The kit includes a filter for the final rinse that allows you to spray a sheet of mineral free water that dries with no spots.

 

haven't had any trouble with ours yet. we've gone twice now. it would be very easy to run down a battery if you had a/c on or anything like that. i always turn accessories off except radio.

give it a few days and your mpg's should return to normal. a carwash can't really hurt a prius, like any other car.

 

Am I mistaken in thinking the gas engine has an automatic transmission? I can't immagine how it can go fom 5 mph to 80 without shifting gears. It always felt like it shifted gears as it sped up. Doesn't putting it into B downshift? I guess I'm confused. Whatever it was doing before where it felt like it was shifting gears, it now does sluggishly revving the engine a lot before catching up to itself. It was still doing it all day today and I am still seeing a decrease in gas mileage. Can anyone tell me what this might be?

 

The transmission is a planetary that sums the torque inputs from the motor and the gas engine.
The speed changing is accomplished continuously by a belt being moved across a pair of conical pulleys. The downshift effect I believe is accomplished by switching the electric motor field to make it a generator, thereby effecting engine braking in the B position.

I agree with galaxee, the Prius should be as waterproof as any other car. And find a dealer with a less combative and more helpful attitude. And give a call to Toyota Motor Corp customer service to report what he told you. They don't like that stuff.

 

Re: Automatic Car Wash: How to put the 2004 Prius in neutra

Thanks Genalex. I wanted to make it clear, no dealer told me it was my fault, I was just affraid they might. So I'm guessing if something is wrong it's most likely to do with the belt or the pullies? I like to have some idea of what to expect so I'm not taken advantage of.

 

The Prius does not have a belt and conical pulleys in it! You must have mistaken it as a CVT.

The speed changing is actually controlled by MG1 (Generator).

Vincent

 

Thanks,Vincent. I stand corrected. I thought the Prius included a CVT but I was confused by the acronyms (ECVT vs CVT) I researched it and found the following excellent explanation:

http://home.earthlink.net/~graham1/MyToyot...ransmission.htm

In any event, all such hardware would be enclosed and sealed and not exposed to wash-water.

And, while I'm eating crow, I apologize for misreading rattiemama's imagined dealer's comments as reality.

Gene

 

You mentioned your battery was lower. That might make the ICE rev more on acceleration since it will use the battery less as a boost.

But if it continues even with the battery at 6 bars, either you didn't notice how the car works all this time, or you might have a problem.
If you punch it, it will seem like a slipping clutch, in the wrong gear, or bad torque converter. In reality, as you can see on the energy screen, the extra revs from the ICE get sent to the main motor driving the wheels.

 

Re: Automatic Car Wash: How to put the 2004 Prius in neutra

That is a good descriptin of what it felt like DanMan, but it seems to have slowly corrected itself. The gas mileage is back to where it was and the noise and change in the feel of driving have slowly dissapeared. The two changes seemed correlated, which makes me think one was causing the other.

So, Monday is when I usually hit the car wash, but now I'm a bit worried. I'll try the method outlined here for putting it in N without being in ready mode and see if that helps. Keep the fingers crossed.

 

Re: Automatic Car Wash: How to put the 2004 Prius in neutra

I STILL wish somebody could find printed instructions with pictures similar to what Toyota gave out as valet instructions. I think more of us will be going to automatic car washes then letting a valet park the vehicle and it would be immensely helpful to have easily readable instructions in English & Spanish.

Anybody have such an "animal?" :?:

 

Re: Automatic Car Wash: How to put the 2004 Prius in neutra