Rubber plugs installed at pre-delivery inspection?

I found these in the glove compartment when I picked up my Prime. Sales guy said he didn't know what they were and tried to pocket them when I asked. I googled the part number (90950-01259 INAOC), and he sheepishly went and installed a spare pair himself

 

With our 2010 I found the plug installed one one side, missing on the other, that got me making phone calls. Makes you wonder what you're paying pre-delivery inspection fee for: what else have they neglected.

 

They missed installing them because they were busy putting on the dealer logo!

So do you treat the "slackers" like in "Back to the Future I" (detention), or "Back to the Future II" (shotgun)?

 

Slackers should get introduced to business end of cricket bat.

 

StanceNation has infected even the super sane ranks of hybrid owners.

 

So they have to replace a transaxle seal during the PDI? That is intrusive. How many actually do it? How many leak after the fact?

 

If you are asking about the plastic plug, it is not for the transaxle seal. It's a plug for the underside body frame part. I never checked mine but did not have the plugs in my glovebox. So, I assume they are in.

As for the “Health Check” during PDS, I never received any paperwork on them. I don't know if they did check the transaxle level as suggested in the service bulletin. To be honest, I don't think they even check the level during routine maintenance when it is called for. No, I have not heard any report here in PC about any "leak".

 

Right, yes not assuming plugs are transaxle related. So is there no dip stick for tranny? or is this a separate component gear box attached to front wheel drive tranny?

 

more than you want/need to know
4th Gen Prius, Prius Prime Transaxle - P610 Quick Look

 

I think that's the washer on the transaxle fill bolt. No problem there.

Kinda overkill though, checking the transaxle fluid level, think I'd prefer they leave it alone. If it was fine at the factory, it would continue to be fine on the other side of the Pacific.

I'd suspect a lot of dealerships skip this one.

 

Correct. No dipstick for a transmission-level check on any PRIUS including PRIME, AFAIK. And there is no separate gear box. In fact, as I understand it, there is no "transmission" or "gear box" in PRIUS to be exact. The only way to check the level of the fluid is to open the "fill" plug and stick your finger into the hole.

 

What new car has a dipstick for the transmission? The newest car I owned with one was a 2004 Matrix.

You're assuming it was fine from the factory Even that was the case, I wouldn't trust the dealer to check it.On the HHR, if the engine wasn't running when the check/fill plug for the transmission was opened, a third or more of the fluid would pour out.

It's a transmission. We call it a transaxle to make ourselves feel special. There is a planetary gear set buried in there, which other transmissions make use of.

 

I guess that whether what the Prius has is a transmission depends of your definition of "transmission". Yes, it transmits power. Does that make it a transmission? Conventional transmissions have gears that engage and disengage, along with belts and clutches, to "shift gears". Of these, the only thing the Prime has is a one-way clutch in the planetary gear set that allows MotorGenerator 1 to power the wheels without turning the gasoline engine backwards. Nothing "shifts" in the Prius transaxle. While a conventional transmission has 800 parts that need service (per an AAMCO TV commercial ), the Prius transaxle has more like a dozen parts (and a bit of software).

 

It's a little more that a bit of software, which was a source of stalling and a recall. M/G1 is also an important part of the HSD transmission. It is its varying input that changes the effective gear ratios of the transmission. Which makes the transaxle more than a bike chain and equal in to a conventional transmission in a car's drive train.

 

Hybrid Synergy Drive - Wikipedia

 

Definitely a transmission. A CVT continuously variable transmission. A gearbox that connects the prime movers (motors & engine) to the axles.

 

Prius CVT is very similar to a conventional automatic transmission in that the heart of the transmission is a planetary gear system. In a conventional automatic transmission, different gear ratios are obtained by applying the brake bands through the wet clutches in the transmission to different parts of the planetary gear system (such as the sun, planet, or ring gears) to stop them from turning, which effectively changes the gear ratio. In the Prius CVT, instead of doing this (braking one of the gears to a complete stop), the turn speed of one of the gears (I think it was the sun gear) is continuously varied by the motor - generator that is attached to it, which effectively changes the gear ratio of the planetary gear system in a continuous manner. There are no belts, chains, and/or conical pulleys involved as in older CVTs.

 

These are pictures from my 2020 Prius Prime XLE, left and right sides, respectively, the rubber looking fresh and shiny.

 

I couldn't find the "sarcasm emoticon" when I said "a bit of software". As you say, the software is far from trivial. Lots of real-time, sophisticated software that has crazy-severe reliability requirements.

 

Good spot for jack stands at the back. Turn the cradle to be longitudinal.