Toyota dealer or a small shop for this service?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by PeterdN, Dec 5, 2024.

  1. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Do you have the owners manuals for the vehicles? Or maintainence books?
    They will have the schedule of what/when things need to be done.


    QUOTE="PeterdN, post: 3498317, member: 216188"]I just thought of this question. So I have 2 more Toyota cars, one is 2014 Siena LE (180K miles), the other is 2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid(just over 100K miles).

    I don't think either one has coolant fluid and transmission fluid replaced.

    Should I replace both coolant and transmision fluids on these cars as well, to keep them last a long time? They are well maintained, oil/brake/tires wise.[/QUOTE]
     
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  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Keep in mind this guy in Oklahoma: https://www.instagram.com/skimmilkhybrid/ He used to put Gen4 engines in gen 3 Prius in people's driveway in a day for $1500. But these days, he's rebuilding Gen3 for high performance and getting way more power from them and he charges $2200 - $4400 for various options he offers. And that price includes shipping. His prices are always super reasonable.
     
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  3. Purrius

    Purrius Member

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    I've heard a few different things about Prius brake fluid replacements. In this thread @Mendel Leisk mentions a discrepancy between the US and Canada.
    Someone else will likely have better input than me, but hopefully that thread helps too!

    Adding this thread too, super helpful stuff from one of our own members!
     
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  4. PeterdN

    PeterdN New Member

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    [/QUOTE]
     
  5. PeterdN

    PeterdN New Member

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    [/QUOTE]

    Good point, I will look into it.
     
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    The Toyota USA maintenance schedule, as outlined in their Warranty and Maintenance Booklet, is event-by-event, which makes it nigh impossible to glean the frequencies of the various services. I've converted it to a spreadsheet-format table, with miles/months columns and service rows. Also, the official schedule stops at 120k miles and 12 years, so I did extra versions, extrapolated to 240k miles and 24 years.

    Note: these are just the services Toyota USA recommends, no embellishments or additions.There are a few I'd recommend:

    1. Revise oil/filter change to 5k miles or 6 months.
    2. Add transaxle fluid change, once early on, then perhaps one more, much later.
    3. Add brake fluid change, every 30k miles or 3 years.
    4. Add full EGR system cleaning, every 50k miles max.

    The attachment titles are verbose, to where they all display identical, at least on my pc screen. Mouse-over them to distinguish, there's Excel and PDF versions, both per the booklet, and extrapolated to 240k miles.
     
    #26 Mendel Leisk, Dec 7, 2024
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2024
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  7. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    IMHO, I believe that all cars need all their fluids changed every 100K. It's cheap insurance to ward-off major repair cost. Even if it isn't stated in the OEM manual. It won't harm the car, but chances are that it will help and avoid costly repairs.
     
    #27 BiomedO1, Dec 7, 2024
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2024
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  8. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    100,000????????
    And I thought the 10,000 miles oil changes were a lot!
     
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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    After the initial coolant changes, Toyota USA recommends all subsequent changes at 50K miles, or 5 years, whichever comes first.

    Toyota USA specs:

    first engine coolant change: 100K years or 10 years
    first inverter coolant change: 150K miles or 15 years

    Toyota Canada is similar to above, except both at 100K or 10 years
     
  10. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    How did you find engine oil that lasts 100K? Asking for asrdogman.
     
  11. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    I believe he has a reading comprehension issues.o_O So I make allowances...
    I'm just glad most people didn't think that they could just run their cars without any maintenance.
    Enjoy...
     
    #31 BiomedO1, Dec 8, 2024
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2024
  12. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    :eek: "IMHO, I believe that all cars need "all" their fluids changed every 100K. It's cheap insurance to ward-off major repair cost."
    "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all" "all"
    (y)(y)(y)(y)(y)(y)
     
    #32 ASRDogman, Dec 8, 2024
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2024
  13. PeterdN

    PeterdN New Member

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    My 2014 Prius 153K miles just had coolant fluids (both gas engine and hybrid) and transmission fluid replaced. I feel it accelerates faster when I press the gas pedal. Is it because of the transmission fluid being replaced, or I’m imagining too much?

    Again, this was the first time I replaced the fluids believe or not, since I bought it back in 2018, when it was the first owner. I have done well with oil changes though, per schedules.
     
  14. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Probably a little bit of both. As the molecular bonds start breaking down, fluids will start thinning out. Now that your back where your suppose to be, viscosity wise, it'll perform a little better. You'll never really notice the very slow decline in performance, unless you do things like this.
    A friend of mine sold me his 3/4 ton pickup dirt cheap, but warned me that the brakes was sketchy. He took it to 3 different mechanics and they all stated it was fine. Truck had 180K miles and original OEM brake fluid. I just flushed the system out, and double checked everything. The truck stopping distance was cut in half, with that simple procedure. I probably should've tested the fluid before doing it, but it looked pretty dark and nasty. Ditto with the power steering system fluid.
     
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  15. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    You're imagining too much. The transmission is electric, the fluid just cools.
    It's not like the older style automatic transmissions where you could feel a difference.

     
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  16. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    I'm certain it contained a lot of moisture and air which makes the pedal spongy
    so you have to press it further because the air is being compressed.
    Once you flushed would the old watery airy fluid with just brake fluid, the pedal didn't
    need to be pressed as far to apply the same braking power.

    I just flushed the system out, and double checked everything. The truck stopping distance was cut in half, with that simple procedure.
     
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