smoore

I am picking up my SHAWD Elite on Friday. I have been through the manual and I must admit I do not really understand the car wash mode. If I am going into a car wash where no one will remain in the car, then I am supposed to shift into neutral and depress the stop start button. I don't understand why it makes any difference if I or an attendant is in the car or not. It is my understanding that the idle stop feature will not be activated in neutral. I am wondering how I let the second attendant at the end of the car wash know that he has to restart the car with the brake pedal depressed in neutral (I assume) before shifting into driver to exit the car wash. I will also need to remember to leave the key in the vehicle so that it can be restarted. There is no indication in the manual of what problems may occur if I do not follow this procedure and simply shift the transmission into neutral.

It strikes me that this is unworkable. In many car washes the first attendant takes the car from you, drives it into the car wash, vacuums the car and then places it on the conveyor belt. The chances that this minimum wage employees will follow the car wash instructions are not good. If he or she does not, then what will happen?

Any enlightenment would be appreciated.

Quandry

The required "status" for unattended car wash is:
- engine turned off
- transmission in neutral so that the wheels can rotate
- parking brake not engaged

There is automatic prevention procedure on the car, see p333 of the Handbook which will put the transmission in to P if the drivers door is opened. Also, if the transmission is in D or R and you press the Start/Stop button the engine will be turned off and the transmission changed to P.

So the car wash mode is needed achieve the required "status".

George Knighton

My car has the same issue. They gave me a bright yellow card that's supposed to deploy when the driver's sun visor is put down.

Reading it, thinking about it, and remembering a couple of the worst of the various car wash attendants I have witnessed over my 60 years, I have decided not to wash the car.

Most of them are great, and really love cars, but there's that few that would make this a high risk venture.

heisnuts

On the V6 models, if you put the car into neutral and then open the drivers door to get out of the car, the car will AUTOMATICALLY shift the car into park. If the car is in park and the car wash uses a system that pushes the car through the wash there will be a problem since the car will be in park and the wheels will not be free to roll through the wash. If the car is on a belt when the wheels do not need to roll, there will not be a problem. However, if the wheels need to roll through the car wash, the car wash mode allows you to get out of the car and leave it in neutral to do so.

So to get a V6 TLX to stay in neutral with nobody in the car they must put the car into neutral, press the engine button, and then press the neutral button again WITHIN 5 seconds and then the car will stay in neutral for 15 minutes before going back into park.

smoore

Everyone thanks for the input. It would have been nice if the manual pointed out at the same place they discuss the car wash mode why it needs to be used and what will happen if it is not. I tend to agree with George. I am very reluctant to use an automatic car wash manned by attendants as there is a significant risk the attendant will screw this up.

You just know that a number of people are going to have their transmissions damaged at car washes.

Davinci547Acura

Enlightenment is the conclusion you just decided from the above postings. Don't use an automated car wash that you cannot be inside the car or wash yourself with a wand. It's your $40K investment.

If owners are having a problem figuring out the instructions after reading the yellow warning placard, what do you think is happening in the real world of car washing? Disaster waiting to happen and probably already has out in the field. IE: Seriously doubt car wash will take responsibility for damage to your vehicle and adjacent vehicles and Acura definitely won't, because you were warned.

Your car is just one of several hundred run through during a typical busy day in addition to communication problems that might exist. Management doesn't want to listen to owner instructions on individual cars. Basically line them up and run them through! Next car please.

Personally hand wash my cars for last 20 years after seeing some real horrors in southern California years ago.

miner

I just ride through with my TLX - I do not trust the attendants can read, much less english.

tlxsteve

I believe the I4 does not have this issue.

Stew4HD

Oh great! Bragging because you still have an actual shift lever!

wlkeel

We had a lengthy discussion of this in another thread (perhaps on TSB's or other announcements?), and the bottom line was that it could pose a serious situation for the V6. The I4 doesn't have the issue. And the TLX is not alone, we found similar issues with Mercedes, Ferrari, etc.

Many of us felt the auto shifting into Park was unnecessary, and kind of a nanny or liability issue. If I want to leave my car in neutral, why the hell shouldn't I be able to?

Anyway, if someone wants to search for the thread, go for it.

Rocketsfan

Pssh... living in the Dark Ages.


BTW, I'd never take this car to a wash place where the attendant takes the car into the tunnel. Too big a risk of things going bad.

LaCostaRacer

I think washing the car yourself would be the best option for warm weather folks that can. I would consider using the waterless car wash stuff if I couldn't use a hose and bucket method- or possibly a coin operated or mobile car wash solution as well. I would never consider a tunnel car wash with the v6- and haven't used one with my car with the simple shifter either.

Quandry

Agree. I have not used a driverless/tunnel car wash in 15 years and have been doing the waterless car wash for the last year as I can do this all year round in my underground parking building. There is also the occasional self wash outlet for eliminating heavy dirt/slush accumulation.

Davinci547Acura

Honestly, I wish my V6 Tech still had a shifter for several reasons.

TSXV6Guy

The car wash mode instructions are almost counter-intuitive and complex for the intended purpose of leaving the car in N.

There is no reason to make the car go in P when you open the door. Does the shifter move to P when you put it in N and open the door? Then why would Honda engineers design this logic for the push-button shift control? This puzzles me.

No one other that geeky car owners like us will comply with the rather-complicated and counter-intuitive "car wash mode" instructions. Why not make something like "pushing N twice within a few seconds". This will be easy to remember and you can tell any car wash attendant to push N twice to keep it in N. ?

narnia

I'm going to switch to a car wash where I stay in the car.

I understand the Accessory mode lasts 15 minutes. The manual says, "Manually changing to P cancels the Accessory mode. The P indicator comes on and the power mode changes to Off."

Let's say the car wash takes less than 15 minutes. Do I put the car in P to cancel the Accessory mode and it shuts down and I need to restart in D? Or can I just restart in D to drive off?

What if the car wash lasts more than 15 minutes? There will be a brief gap between the time when the power mode changes to Off and I put it back into Car Wash Mode. Will the transmission get damaged if the car is still being pulled through the wash?

Davinci547Acura

Call dealer or Acura Client Services and watch them scratch their heads on these questions!

NJToyMan

That's a great idea- but an even better one would be to just push N once- and it stays in N until you select something else-- whether you open the door, take off the seatbelt, take longer than 15 minutes, etc...

In other words, selecting "N" keeps the car in Neutral just like 99% off all the other cars do, and no need for "car wash mode".

narnia

You're so right! I called my dealer today and spoke to 4 different "specialists" and no one could give me a definitive answer to my questions.

CanTex

I have the 4 so it shouldn't be a problem for me. But the spot where one must park for the pre-wash vacuuming is on a downhill slope. Is putting a V6 car in neutral following these directions going to keep the car stopped? Or is the guy going to have to chase the car down the slope?

TSXV6Guy

...So this is where an Acura engineer got the idea of forcing the car in P when you unbuckle the seat belt and open the door to grab the vacuum hose...

NJToyMan

Actually, you wouldn't put the car into "car wash mode" at the point of vacuuming, because when the vacuuming is done, the car needs to be "driven" onto the roller system to pull it through the tunnel.

"Car Wash Mode" needs to be set quickly just AFTER the front wheels are driven onto the conveyor but BEFORE the first set of rollers grab the tire to pull it along. Exciting!!!

In Northern NJ, where I live, I have been unable to find any car wash that allows ME to drive the car through. "Luckily", I've had my car back to the dealer about 5 times so far to install accessories, diagnose the cross-traffic problem, or do software updates- and THEY wash the car for me!

narnia

Maybe this is what Acura is referring to when they say "it's that kind of thrill!"

Acura_Dude

CanTex

Ouch. Well, sure, my local car wash will eventually see lots of cars like this, but the $8 an hour vacuum guy doing all that? Um, problems, here we come.

My dealer is 20+ miles away and does a decent job on the outside, but the local car wash practically details the car inside and out for under $15, including the inside of the windshield and rear window. Sometimes it's worth $15 over free to get a clean car. But I wouldn't want to have them screw anything up. Good to know the 4-cyl. is OK with car washes.

How is the average non-enthusiast, regular car owner going to know to explain car wash mode to someone whose command of English is still a work in progress? Trouble ahead.

NJToyMan

It's almost worth it for me to drive to TX for a decent car wash for $15!! In northern NJ, the cheapest car wash costs close to $20- and that's for them to shoot dirty water and scratch your car!!

neuronbob

I read through the car wash mode for my RLX hybrid recently; it's the same as for the TLX.

Who in fsck thought this up? or thought it through?

Thankfully, I don't know of any unattended car washes in my vicinity; they all require you to sit in the car.

+1 on waterless washes. I use Optimum No Rinse so I can continue to hand wash in the winter.

George Knighton

LOL.... I can't add to that. :-)

It's not exactly hard, but it sure makes you nervous.

And there's a timer on it, after which expiration the car goes into PARK just as if you'd switched the car off before putting it into park.

I know a car wash shouldn't run down the timer, but, still....

narnia

I couldn't wait any longer and had to wash my car. I brought it to a car wash that allows me to stay in the car instead of handing it over to an attendant. I was really nervous!

I noted the time and started the 15 minute countdown. The driver in front of me didn't know how to put his car back into drive at the end of the ride and got stuck somehow. The conveyor belt stopped moving, everything went dark, and the whole operation shut down. Nothing like a little excitement, LOL! Luckily it came right back up and I made it through with 8 minutes to spare.

It's good to get the first experience out of the way. I'm going to wax it tonight and take more pics.

NCRaider

Luckily for me there's a car wash near my house at which I drive my car into the bay and the wands spewing water, soap, etc. spin around the car. It does an okay job but in the winter that's good enough. Come summer I'll hand wash my baby in the driveway like God intended.

miner

I have found in Car Wash Mode, as I am riding with the car, when you need to put back in drive you have to put foot on the brake to restart in D mode, which can cause an issue on the belt drive washes - you brake to restart but the belt wants to continue to push you through. Now, I just sit in car, in N, and at end of wash line I hit D.

Rocketsfan

Narnia, maybe I'm misunderstanding, but if you're staying in the car, just leave the car running and hit "N" to go into neutral and ride through the car wash. The "car wash mode" is for when the car goes through with nobody in it.

narnia

Oh, I thought it applied to any car wash where the car was pulled through on a belt. Well that will take all the adventure out of washing my car in the future, LOL!

smoore

You need it to stop the car from going into park when you exit the vehicle so if you stay in the vehicle you can just leave it in neutral.

JT4

Reading all these posts got me to thinking.. In my wifes two previous ML350's they both had the electronic shift lever on the column instead of a manual shift lever.

So instead of buttons this electronic lever would allow you to select the gear you wanted. Like the TLX the trans would go right into park as soon as the door would be opened.

However, after you opened the door you could put the trans back into neutral or any gear with the door open and it would stay in that selected gear until you selected a different gear. Even if you then closed the door it would stay in the selected gear, and there was no time limit as to when it would default back to park.

Has anyone tried this on their TLX?

heisnuts

It will go into neutral for a second and then realize the door is open and go right back into park (and I think the dash says "nice try")...

JT4

^^ LOL.

I figured it was worth a shot..

George Knighton

Would you mind saying why, please.

heisnuts

I wonder how you get the car into neutral if the car is not running. Let's say the car would not start and one had to put the car into neutral to push the car out of the garage for the tow truck. If I push the neutral button with the car in the acc or on position the display says to start the car to put into neutral. Well, if the car won't start how the heck do you do that?

4WDrift

You can't, engine must be running to shift ; the parking brake is also locked if the battery's dead.