2010 55K Miles Sluggish Transmission Whine

We just got our solid wood (west facing) garage doors replaced, with steel sheathed and insulated core, for just that reason. It was slow death in there some afternoons, in particular when the car had been driven, put away hot. A thermostat controlled garage window fan helped, but only slightly.

The new doors make a BIG difference. Wife wanted (and got) deep brown colour, but still very effective.

 

The DrPrius app is easy to understand and read too. Plus you might want to look at the 3 battery pack temp sensor readings the app keeps track of.
I noticed that when my Primes lithium pack gets hot (above 90F) it stays hot much longer than when the pack temps are lower. The NiMH pack might cool faster, but you'll have to turn the Prius - ON - a few more times than once a week to read what the app has to show you is going on.

Also, slower is easier on the pack in my opinion, but it takes willpower to pull the go pedal foot back. I'ts like training a whole new set of muscles in the foot. Babysitting a car is never any fun, but if you want it to last a bit longer you have to try lots of different things to try an help it along.

 

My experience is a good hybrid battery will show the same bar level several days later even in a hot garage.

 

And ---- before you do the health test, if you can get a couple of screen grabs of DrPrius at 2bars SOC and filled up, plus if the SOC stays anywhere in between 2 bars and filled for any length of time that would be a good place to get a shot of the screen too.

And/Or if the amount of time it takes from 2 bars to filled is consistent, that is a good data point to know as well.

 

I am a noob here on Prius Chat and have some questions regarding transmission drain and refill etc. I have a 1.8L engine in a 2012 Prius Two model, 82K miles. Bought it new March of '12. I want to change trans fluid, change pcv valve, change inverter coolant, when I have the under engine splash shield off. Already recently did oil change so I am familiar with at least removing those few clips from the oil access door but realize there are many clips to remove to take the splash shield entirely off. Do you recommend I buy an after market set of clips in order to have them on hand in case I break some? I see them offered on Amazon etc for Toyota vehicles. I also see the drain plug crush washers on Amazon too or should I get them from Toyota? I found aftermarket "pink" 50/50 coolant offered by Walmart for Toyota and Asin vehicles or should I stick with Toyota coolant for the cooling system and inverter? And finally, I see you like the swivel head ratchet. I'm thinking that may come in handy, especially for the pcv valve change out? Sorry for all the maybe obvious questions but some of this stuff is new to me. I am mechanically inclined and just replaced upper and lower ball joints on my '02 Mercury Mountaineer in November. Thank you so much and all the other members on the forum for valued advice!!

 

Take a look at the oil change link in my signature, regarding the engine underpanel fastener, removal tools. Attached is a TSB listing the fastener part numbers, and some suggestions for taking care of the fasteners. I would stick with Toyota fluids/parts, just so you don't have compatiblity hassles. Dealership parts department is simplest source. For the fasteners, I found Amayama a good price, and they're genuine Toyota. If your shield hasn't been off in a long time, and/or was dealt with by "professionals", it's likely to have broken/missing fasteners, or they'll be clogged up grit, break as you try to remove them.

 

The pcv is next to impossible unless you take the intake manifold off for cleaning so wait on the intake for the pcv job.

While the intake is off is a good time for a catch can assuming you buy a good one and check it often. The intake will be full of liquids and carbon, cleaning both is more important than the transaxle fluid.

Buying a new intake is recommended as Toyota has a better superceded version and cleaning the carbon out of a plastic intake is not easy.

 

Mendel,
Thank you very much for your advice. I will stick to Toyota parts and fluids!! The underpanel has never been removed except for the oil change access panel which I have used. Even had to replace a couple clips on it one time. They seem fragile. Again thanks very much!

Bob

 

Any reputable brand of "Asian Formula" (or equivalent phrase, depending on brand) coolant should be fully compatible. It comes dyed in two colors, pink and blue. They're functionally identical, but blue might be confusing to someone who works on your car in the future, so stick with pink.

 

funny thing: Toyota does not use that name in the repair manual (see attached), recommends to remove the full engine under cover for an oil change, which I do. In fact they go further, recommend to remove the panel ahead of it, which I do not do: it is very easy to just slip the engine under cover out from under that adjacent panel.

so with oil changes every 6 months for close to 13 years now, and additional “events”, I’d estimate I’ve had that engine bay under cover off at least 30 times. I’ve replaced maybe 3~4 of the common case plastic fasteners now, ones that had lost a tooth.

regarding alternate fluids, if you’re in a metropolitan area, with nearby dealership, I don’t see any motivation to use anything other than Toyota. Maybe it’s an American free-enterprise thing or something similar. Ditto for things like brake pads.