Weird Carwash Experience

[middas]

I went to a drive-through car wash the other day and moved the shift to neutral to let the tire track pull the car through the wash. Half way through, my dash started warning of a low battery and to put the car in Park to prevent emergency shut down. I kind of freaked out, because I'm being pulled through the middle of the wash and the car was flashing warnings. Just when I felt the front tire leave the puller, I jammed the shift in Park for a second and raced the engine to help charge the battery.

Evidently, when the car is in Neutral, the engine running won't charge the battery. So if you're planning to leave the car in Neutral for longer than a moment, you can't have the AC running, which I did.

Toyota needs to figure this one out. Or we have to avoid car washes.

[schmidtj]

Originally Posted by middas

I went to a drive-through car wash the other day and moved the shift to neutral to let the tire track pull the car through the wash. Half way through, my dash started warning of a low battery and to put the car in Park to prevent emergency shut down. I kind of freaked out, because I'm being pulled through the middle of the wash and the car was flashing warnings. Just when I felt the front tire leave the puller, I jammed the shift in Park for a second and raced the engine to help charge the battery.

Evidently, when the car is in Neutral, the engine running won't charge the battery. So if you're planning to leave the car in Neutral for longer than a moment, you can't have the AC running, which I did.

Toyota needs to figure this one out. Or we have to avoid car washes.

I wish the last service guy at my dealership knew this (battery does not charge in neutral). I had a 3rd keyfob programmed and my HV battery nearly became depleated in the 30 minutes it was sitting in the service bay in neutral. I am sure the A/C was running as I did not turn if off before handing it over to the dealer.
J

[FlopShot]

I always shut down all the interior stuff (radio, HVAC, etc) when I hand over my car to the service guys. That way, if they decide to turn on the radio, etc while they work on the car, and I get the car back differently, then I know it's something they did.