Embarrasing, but I have to ask !

[Buckster]

ha, I know, I was waiting on those comments! Trying to keep the salt off the Jeep from these roads!

thanks for everyone’s comments!

Truth! Was in Boone this past weekend with some friends and the cars got seriously salted just from a short trip.

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[El Zilcho]

That’s not that bad, at least you didn’t drag it across the road with the back wheels locked while tensioning a winch line. Stupid auto park

Oh yes. Been there.

 

[Hogdreamer]

Because my Wrangler has the One Touch Sky Top I never go through automatic car washes. It's not the washing that I'm most worried about, it's the high pressure air for drying that bothers me.

But, I did take my wife's Cherokee through a car wash that has the track. I too could not get it to go from neutral into drive when it was time to move.

Fairly certain I had my foot on the brake but I'm not sure. Freaked me out as the car behind me was getting closer than I was comfortable with. Ended up shutting the jeep off, restarted it, shifted into drive and got out of there before I got rear ended.

Haven't been back to that type of car wash and don't really plan on it.

 

[longfiredragon]

Ok, I checked mine when I went home for lunch because something didn't seem right. I can shift from drive to neutral moving or stopped by doing nothing more than sliding the shifter forward. Foot does not have to be on the brake or it can be, makes no difference. I can also shift it right back into drive moving or stopped, foot on or off the brake, makes no difference.

Of course jeep was smart enough to have a neutral lock so the shifter will not go past neutral unless you stop and squeeze the red button in. ( Now the manual states you can go into reverse or park while moving but it won't do anything except blink at you on the dash to put it back into drive. I have done this by accident in my ram and nothing happened, it just says to shift back to drive) To my knowledge this is absolutely correct, plus if it didn't work like this how the hell would you get into 4L.

 

[smokeythecat]

Oh yes. Been there.

Me, too.

 

[DaltonGang]

I had the same issue with my car wash. I had to get use to tapping the brake first, and pulling it into drive. Brake first, then drive. Not drive, then brake, or it got all screwed up.

 

[JJ_WA]

Yea, you might be right. Crazy I've been driving a very long time I can try this next time and might even tell the attendant to give me a space behind me, they are usually stacked up!

I tell the attendant to give a little extra space, but yes, just a little pressure on the brake pedal and when you slip it into gear you'll engage the transmission.

 

[Derek]

Not sure if it’s the same thing, but during last week’s blizzard I left to get parts to repair the snowblower, it reversed just fine, but when I hit the snow bank at the end of the driveway it flipped out, the D next to the shifter was blinking, the dash said to put it in park before selecting a gear, I did that and the D kept blinking, after 2 or 3 tries I got a check engine light and it eventually went into drive (not sure how, worried about the plow coming). I got it back in the driveway, it had a P0979 code, sounds like it’s the thing on the transmission that actually shifts it. I cleared the code, went back and forth in the driveway then drove 7 miles to the hardware store and back with no issues. Hasn’t happened again.

 

[macintux]

Reading all these responses, all I can say is, I’m glad I stuck with the manual transmission! “Automatic” seems like a misnomer these days.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

Ok, I checked mine when I went home for lunch because something didn't seem right. I can shift from drive to neutral moving or stopped by doing nothing more than sliding the shifter forward. Foot does not have to be on the brake or it can be, makes no difference. I can also shift it right back into drive moving or stopped, foot on or off the brake, makes no difference.

Of course jeep was smart enough to have a neutral lock so the shifter will not go past neutral unless you stop and squeeze the red button in. ( Now the manual states you can go into reverse or park while moving but it won't do anything except blink at you on the dash to put it back into drive. I have done this by accident in my ram and nothing happened, it just says to shift back to drive) To my knowledge this is absolutely correct, plus if it didn't work like this how the hell would you get into 4L.

All aut0matics can slip into nuetral like that. There used to be a time where they taught people to slide into nuetral if they were spinning IIRC correctly. It's a "safety" feature. Not sure it's relevant anymore now that there are so many electronic nannies it's practically impossible to force a vehicle into a spin.

 

[longfiredragon]

Yes, I agree all auto trans should be able to just slip into N. Even the old ones. Of course the older ones didn't have a neutral lock so you had to be really careful when attempting to go into N or it made lots of noise and got ugly. LOL.

So I stuck my face in the manual again and I think I have the answer for the Jeep Wrangler and the Cherokee also. Jeep has 'Auto Park" Read your manual, but basically it states this. If your butt is not in the seat, and the Transmission is not in park the Jeep will put it into auto park. I think it is probably doing this at the end of the wash rack when it comes to a stop, or the speed is low enough. It is also most likely the message it is flashing at you is to put it into park (Using the shifter lever by putting your foot on the brake and shifting into park) After you do this you should be able to put it straight back into D and go.

Question? When your Jeep is going through the car wash are the wheels turning? I am assuming they are hence why your in neutral. If this is the case, then I am again going to assume that jeep will not go into "Auto Park" until the jeep stops at the other end. If my assumptions are correct then this is most likely what is happening and just hop in put your foot on the brake and slide the lever into park and you should be able to pull it right back into drive and get out of there.

Of course a even simpler solution if the car wash will let you is just stay in the jeep. Then when you get to the end you should be able to just pop it into D and go.

 

[Murphydog]

A few years back I purchased a Mercedes C350. A nice car for me at the time. The dealership offered free washes anytime you stopped by and after any service. Pretty cool I thought! I learned it was tunnel machine and was very surprised, but I have to say they must have kept in clean as my car never looked beat up after going through.

In term of engaging drive at the end of the wash, my BMW X3 is supper touchy. Gotta have the brake on (just a bit) for a split second before moving the shifter into drive.

Haven't tried my Jeep yet - even though I have no issues with wilderness pinstripes I can't bear to take my still new Jeep through a tunnel wash.

I do have to say that locally Brown Bear seems to hire better people and they keep their tunnels in good shape.

 

[cosmokenney]

That’s not that bad, at least you didn’t drag it across the road with the back wheels locked while tensioning a winch line. Stupid auto park

I found out about auto park by opening the driver door at 10 mph to spit after brushing my teeth enroute. Imagine my surprise when she screeched to a halt and my head slammed into the door trim. Yea... real safe.

 

[TaintedSaint]

Yes, this is embarrassing if you forget to put your foot on the brake to start it.....probably a better idea to have an idea of what the dash showed you also before starting a thread.

And miss all these awesome responses!?

 

[TaintedSaint]

Probably the brake thing everyone is pointing out.

I see you mentioned they really pack them in sometimes.

The main highway through our largest local town had a lot next to it that had several different businesses on it over the years, all failed.

Then one day they cleared it off and put up a car dragger, spinning foam brush, tunnel car wash.
I own multiple businesses, but thought to myself, what MORONS and a waste of money.

I could see from the street they charged $20 for a trip through and just knew NO ONE would do that.

Move ahead several years and two things happened. One, I started to notice all the vehicles going through it and astonishingly, most looked clean as they went in.

Firstly, upon further investigation, I found out they offered a MONTHLY program with a little RF tag where you just drive up and the gate lifts. Those offer up to 1 wash a day for $30-$45 a month.

Secondly, I stopped in one day and checked the operation out. I have always been against those type of operations for fear of damage, but after looking it over and talking to quite a number of others that use it and seeing they do a 2 person prewash so you don't get behind some inch thick mudder Jeep guys rig clogging the brushes, I decided the convenience outweighed the possibility of damage. I signed up my wife's car, a new SUV style vehicle and she has used it for about 6 months with no damage or scratching so far.

But, as you stated, some days they really pack them in bumper to bumper, too close for my comfort. The other thing is the whole operation is ran by two teen youngsters who you can tell don't give a shit about anything, so when I pull in they know I'm waiting for the vehicle in front of me to get in at least a little before I pull forward, no matter how frantically they wave me in.

I had a membership to a place like that for a few months but there was no daily limit so if I got out after for the free vacuums and there was anything left I'd go through again. They also gave free air fresheners and ArmorAll type dash wipes which was cool. Only had to go like 3 times a month to make the cost and anything after that was freeish. Gonna spring for it again once my Jeep comes in. They have like 10 locations too so you can hit em up when you're out and about.

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