Don't do this in the carwash!...

Yipes!!! How scary.

I have a fear of hitting Park on the highway.

 

The shifter is locked out when moving, you can't "hit park" while the car is moving, even if you accidentally bump it. At least the Toyota engineers were thinking about that potential...

 

I don't understand, You didn't leave the car in "Ready" and just put it in neutral? No wait, it won't charge the battery in neutral will it?

 

That's good to know!

 

I've been through the carwash many times in my Gen II Prius, and never a problem, even with the AC on (the Gen III is no different in the way the transmission controller works). The several minute trip through the wash is usually no problem. If you are going through the "drive-through" type carwash, you need to keep your foot off the brake, hands off the wheel, and do not turn off the car as that will immediately set the Park lock and the front wheels will stop turning and you will run the risk of the car behind you hitting your bumper. That warning is normal when you open the door with the car in gear or neutral, that message appears as a reminder and would be the same when leaving it in neutral for the trip through the wash system and it would help to turn off the AC, and headlights if on, to reduce the battery drain.

 

I sure didn't know this either. I've had my car thru a car wash 4 times so far - into neutral, etc for about 5+ minutes. Never thought (or knew) about the no-charge matter. AC and stereo on...

Only problem last time was when I made it to the Car Wash entry point to put it into neutral. I guess I flicked the shifter to the left, but not long enough to engage neutral. Car kept moving and the guy was yelling "neutral!!" Then realized -even though I've shifted to Neutral about 10 times since new, you must keep it left in the Neutral zone more than "a flick". Makes sense if you accidentally hit it while driving...

And please, no hassles from you "NO CAR WASH" folks. The one I go to is brand new with the latest stuff. Great job...

 

This has happened in both my '05 Prius and my Altima Hybrid. It's simple -- the battery happened to be on the low side when you put it in neutral. The car wanted to charge the battery, but could not because it doesn't charge the battery in neutral.

I can't see how waiting to get to the end of the car wash could hurt anything. It'll charge as soon as you put it in drive.

Turning off the A/C would have been a good idea, but the radio runs off the 12 volt battery, not the hybrid battery.

I wouldn't want to keep it in neutral for a prolonged time if it's wanting to charge.

 

my car wash always recommends me to turn off the AC, and close all windows plus vents.

 

I ran into this problem once with my 2004 Prius. The battery level must have been low when I entered the car wash. Partially through, the car sounded a warning alarm and displayed a message telling me to put the car into Park, which you can't inside a car wash. After my initial panic, I turned off the AC and made it through.

After that, I always watch the battery level. If it looks like the battery is getting low (down to two bars), I turn off the AC. The radio (or even my MP3 player) doesn't draw enough current to affect the battery.

Depending on the state of charge of the battery, and how hard the AC is working, I can usually make it through the car wash with no problem. If I really have to turn off the AC, it is only for a few minutes, and the car doesn't heat up that much.

Now that I think of it, in the 2010 Prius, I could probably just turn off the AC switch and leave the fan running. I suspect that the AC compressor causes the large current draw, not the fan. That way, I could still have air circulating inside the car while in the car wash. I will have to try that next time.

 

I believe if the traction battery is depleted, it is a trip to the dealer where they use a special charger to bring it up enough for the car to start.

 

PriusRos, not to derail the thread completely but... where in Rockville do you go to get a car wash? Usually I only go to touchless car washes because I'm afraid that the brushes at a traditional wash with scratch the car. It sounds like you went to a traditional wash though. Any scratching?

 

It runs off the 12V system. When the car is in Ready, the 12V system is run from the HV system via the DC/DC converter (which charges the aux battery). If there's enough power in the 12V battery to boot the computers and turn on the System Main Relays, you may not notice that the aux battery is weak for a while.

All sorts of weird stuff can happen if you have a basically-dead 12V battery. It acts as a heavy load on the 12V system, bringing down the voltages for a lot of sensors and computers. The service manual says, in a number of places, that if the aux battery is below 11V it should be charged before proceeding with troubleshooting.

On Gen 2, it is possible to shift into N when the car is IG-ON - from Off, don't press the brake pedal, press the power button twice, until the light on the button goes orange - and back to Park. Any accessories then run from the 12V, but be aware that the aux battery hasn't got a lot of capacity.

The only way to get the car to be off and yet in Neutral is to take out the P CON MTR relay with the car on, so the shift control actuator motor doesn't work, and the car therefore can't put itself in Park when you switch off. I wouldn't recommend doing this at a car wash though! Park then won't work until you plug it back in.

You're right that A/C runs off the hybrid battery. You definitely want to turn that off when in Neutral.

 

When it puts up all the hybrid ! warnings that is when you get worried, I have had it down to 1 bar before being stupid and it thankfully was still able to start the engine.

I'd stick to the one that you like with the brushes. The touchless ones just do not clean the car as well. Your car will not sparkle or shine anywhere near as nice with a touchless car wash. I use the touchless ones though in the winter to hose the salt off though.

 

Look, my car comes with a self-destruct button