Maintenance for Gen 3 Prius

Just service by the book, you will be fine.
Change the Transmission Fluid at 60,000 miles or there abouts.

 

:welcome:

1. Driven conservatively, the Motor-Generators, slow the Prius by generating electricity for the Traction Battery above 7 MPH (Gen II, I do not know the cut off for Gen III, but it is under 10 MPH)

In Panic stops, or once the Traction battery is charged as much as the computers deem wise, you use the friction brakes, 4 wheel discs on Gen III. (Brake wear will be a function of your driving resembling panic stops, if you plan ahead, that may be almost never)

Below 7 MPH, you use the friction brakes.

If you are descending a long steep hill, you can shift to B mode, which will use the engine as a heat pump (Jake Brake) to waste energy without wearing out the friction brakes or overcharging the battery. This is the point of B mode, if you never encounter a hill over 800 feet tall, so you may never use it. (Sierra Nevada, Siskiyous, Cascades)

2. 0-w20 motor oil is somewhat rare, be sure your dealer is using it. If you do not use the dealer, Mobil One may be the easiest to find.

 

There is almost zero fuel going into the engine when braking/engine braking, so not sure why you care about fuel usage?

 

Depends on how you look at it. The energy you gain from going downhill could be used once you reach the bottom of the hill. I.E. the more momentum you attain going downhill will transfer into a longer period of coasting on the flat before you have to apply throttle (fuel) to maintain speed. This all really depends on how fast you are comfortable going down that hill and what the legal speed limits are.

I cannot remember if being in B mode disables the fuel cut* function or not so that is something one of our gurus can answer. If it disables fuel cut then you are better off just using your normal brakes to slow down and save B mode for extreme hills.

* Fuel cut is a function that allows the engine to continue spinning to balance the electric motors but does not require fuel as a normal engine would. This is why pulse & glide hypermiling provides excellent results because you can maintain long glides (coasting) while using zero fuel.

 

Brake materials are cheaper than transmission and engine

 

Good thing these VERY rarely break down in a Prius also.

 

While drivers typically get much longer life out of the Prius brake pads than on their previous cars, it is a stretch to claim that the pads will last the life of the car.

Many Prius drivers are deluded into thinking that normal braking rates are achieved purely by regeneration. This is false, because the battery current limit allows only light to moderate regen braking before friction braking must be added. Those who brake 'normally', instead of long and slow, are still wearing the pads, just slower than they would with a non-hybrid.

 

I've heard you can expect to need to replace the rotors and pads in seven to eight years. Not from use but from lack of use. The rotors usually need replaced due to rust not wear issues.

 

You heard wrong. I don't know about you, but I tend to use the brakes quite often when I drive the vehicle (Lot of things call stop signs/traffic lights/morons). Unless your vehicle is in storage, I don't see how your brakes are not getting used. Surface rust develops around the rotor or on the rotor surface overnight, but one tap on the brakes will clean it right off. You replace brakes when they wear to the indicators, replace rotors when the rotor gets too thin. If anything, people should learn to flush the brake fluid every couple years. It is not a mandatory surface in the manual, but water gets absorbed by brake fluid and it will decrease its boiling point, thus reducing effectiveness. (One of the reason why older cars usually have soften pedals)

 

I just traded in my 2001 Prius at 118,230 miles. It still had the original linings and pads and traction battery. A Toyota dealer service advisor once told me he had never had a Prius needing a brake job.
I've had a lot of experience in major down-hill driving across the California Sierra Nevada, Utah, and in Colorado including Rocky Mountain National Park. I use "B" mainly plus braking only before steep bends. Regenerative braking is used in "B" - the traction battery indicator goes all the way to the top. Once going down the eastern Sonora Pass at 25 mph in "B" the "tortoise" indicator lit and I pulled over to let the traction battery cool down. Slow down to the desired speed before selecting "B".

 

Most normal cars will go 100,000 miles now on original brake pads. I've got a 1 ton Chevy truck with over 100,000 on factory pads. Pads are a lot better than they used to be. I can see how a Prius could easily double the life expectancy of it's pads over a normal car.

 

Here's what I got from the maint guide (and posted in another thread), and factoring in the now-official 10,000-mile oil interval instead of 5k [I'm assuming the oil filter would be changed when the oil is changed - doesn't make sense to me to do them separately]:

Every 5K/6mo:
Rotate tires
Inspect brakes [also not sure how important this is, or if it's in there simply because the tires will be off the car - I suspect the latter.]

Every 10K/12mo:
Oil & filter
Clean (not replace) cabin filter on Solar-equipped models
(plus all 5K stuff, of course)

Every 15K/18mo:
Clean (not replace) cabin filter on non-solar models
Inspect (not replace) various bits.

Every 20K/24mo:
Replace cabin filter on Solar-equipped models

Every 30K/36mo:
Replace cabin filter on non-solar models
Inspect (not replace) more extensive list of stuff.

@100K/10yr:
CONFLICTING INFO IN MANUAL:
Says "Replace engine/inverter coolant" with a footnote.
Footnote reads: "Initial engine coolant replacement at 100K/10yr. Replace every 50k/5yr thereafter. Initial inverter coolant replacement at 150K/15yr. Replace every 50K/5yr thereafter"

@120K/12yr:
Another error: says to replace engine coolant (again?). Same footnote as 100K.
Replace spark plugs (again with footnote).
Footnote reads: "Required under the terms of the Emission Control Warranty. For vehicles corresponding to PZEV for CA, ME, MA, NY, and VT, replacement interval is 150K." [kinda weird as those states tend to have tighter emissions controls but they are recommending more lenient plug replacement. But apparently that doesn't invalidate the Emissions warranty?]

 

Funny how they never tell you to replace brake fluid.....

 

Any clarity from Toyota (perhaps from 2011-14 manuals) on what the correct interval is for Inverter Coolant change?

 

Does using that pollen filter setting on the A/C decrease the life of the filter any?

 

I wouldn't put too much credence in the salesman's statements. Where his lips moving? Well there you go.

It's a car, a little different, but not that far removed from the rest of the pack. The brakes do see less use, but they do wear. They do also present a bit more challenge to DIY, basically because you need to take some precautions to avoid the car activating brakes while you've got things opened up, or throw codes.

I just had a look at ours, a bit more than 3 years of ownership, and pretty low 42K~ kilometers. I've posted some info in this thread (starting at #12):

Brake Caliper Slide Pin Cleaning and Lubrication | PriusChat

Brakes are in the schedule, fwiw.

Not in the schedule is transaxle fluid change. It's relatively easy, and a lot of PriusChat members are doing it, around 30000 miles between switches, maybe. Toyota says it's good for "life".

Yeah, have a read through the schedule. I broke it down into a chart here:

2010 Prius Maintenance Schedule (US) | PriusChat

 

I have a 2011 Prius. The Toyota service department told me the transmission fluid never needs changing.

 

When I purchased my car with around 47,xxx miles I asked the dealer to change the transmission fluid, they reminded me that it was lifetime fluid. I asked them to TAKE MY MONEY and change it and to capture some in a clean water bottle. The service associate came out with said spent fluid and he was 'surprised at the condition'. It looked bad, not black black but very very dirty. I couldn't get him to say it should have been changed but I am very glad I spent the $90 to get it changed.