"it's the tranny. $4,800 bucks".

definately get a scond opinion.

 

definately get a second opinion. and price!

 

Besides, the second opinion, you should get this dealer to elaborate why they think it's the transmission. If you look in your warranty booklet, you'll find that quite a bit of the hybrid system (but not the entire transaxle) is warranted for 15 years/150K miles under the CA emissions warranty.

 

Hi Burchie,

It does sound like a shorted winding in one of the motors, but do not trust me. Get the opinion of Patrick Wong, or Bob Wilson ( on Yahoo ).

Luckily, this is a very rare occurance, and there are many more cars that have been totalled due to accidents, and you should be able to get a good used transmission for much less than $4800.

One midwest source is autobeyours.com , in Ca talk to luscious garage (do a google search, they are in the San Francisco area).

I beleive the transmission is on the 5 year, 60 K mile waranty. You might call Toyota to get them to chip in some of the repair. They have been know to do so on cases where a failure occurs just after the waranty runs out...

 

Burchie,

I had an 03 that had the transaxle go out in 04. It was 2 years old and had 74k miles. It was not under warranty, and was going to cost $7,000.00. However, my dealer contacted Toyota USA and they agreed to "goodwill" it since it should not have failed. I paid nothing. Not even the tow bill, or rental car.

I would ask your advisor to contact Toyota and request some assistance on your behalf. If they don't get results, then you should initiate contact. I would be surprised if they didn't work with you.

Also, they told me they took the motor out to put the new transaxle in. Not sure if they still do that.

Keep us posted.

Bret

 

In my experience (others experiences may differ) gen 2 (2004 - 2009) transaxle failures are very uncommon. Especially at that mileage. Gen 1 (2001 - 2003) transaxles are more common.

Your dealer should be able to provide details as to how they arrived at that conclusion. The Diagnostic Trouble Codes that they can read from your cars computer are a good place to start. These will be in the format of an Alpha charachter and a three digit number. Like Pxxx or Cxxx followed by a three digit numeric sub code. Be sure to get the whole code. There may be more than one code stored, be sure they give you all of them. Also, have them tell you what other tests they may have performed. (e.g. tested windings with megohm meter etc.)

Post what they tell you here and let the community help.

IF it turns out that you need a transaxle, I could have a low mileage one at your door for less than $1,000. I can not quote labor for shops in your area, but in the Denver area that install would run $1,000 - $1,200 max.

Eric
800-508-2211
Adopt A Part
Denver, CO

 

Very odd there's no check engine lights which tells me its not a electronic or motor failure but more like a mechanical failure like the chain.

Did it sound crazy loud scraping mechanical noise that tracked the gas pedal?

In any case a cvt failure without a dashboard full of warning lights is a first on this board.

BTW, your extended warranty should cover it in any case.

Good Luck and get more infor from the dealer. You have our interest now.

 

Snake oIL.. sniff sniff.. its can't be right.. might be something with the electric motor.. Tranny doesn't do anything while in park.. and i guess did you tow it there and or did you try driving it see what it would do before you took it in?

 

If you didn't get a Check Engine light or the Master Warning Light (a red ! in a triangle on the dash - this makes much more sense in Europe, where that's the general-purpose road sign for an hazard), there won't be any codes reported. The service manual caters for this with 'Problem Symptoms' look-up tables for conditions that aren't detected by the on-board software, or where the thresholds to trigger the DTC haven't been met.

I'm going to assume that by 'jet engine' that you mean that the engine is revving hard. In the Problem Symptoms table in the service manual, under 'Surging', it says to check the fuel pump control circuit, the spark plugs, and the injectors.

Some links related to surging suggest that a clutch could be slipping in a conventional car. In the Prius, there isn't a clutch but there is a 'torque damper' or 'transmission input damper', which is similar. This is a limited-slip component, similar to a clutch damper plate, which slips when there is excess torque. This part bolts to the engine's flywheel and has a splined centre to connect it to the transaxle's input shaft.




(first-generation Prius torque damper, from Prius 1st gen - Replacing Transaxle.)

The damper has an MSRP of $609.63. Fitting it means pulling the engine and transaxle (disconnecting both from their coolant loops), splitting them apart, unbolting the old damper and fitting the new one. Not especially cheap, but cheaper than a new transaxle. (The MSRP for the transaxle is $3,470.18.) Prices from Champion ToyotaWorld, which also has discount prices. The discounted price for the damper is $463.32 and for the transaxle $2,637.34.

See http://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-surges for general advice about engine surging.

If it does seem to be the damper, ask to see the old one. It should be dry. If there's any significant amount of oil on it, ask them to check the little-end engine bearing seal. If that's leaking, the problem will happen again. The seals should normally be good but can be damaged by oil overpressure, which can be caused by overfilling the oil.

 

Fantastic post, Mike. Thanks for the education. OP might want to post an mp3 of the sound to help our forum diagnosticians.

I figure that if my Prius develops a serious problem, there is going to be a fair chance that I had something to do with it.

 

The symptoms sound a lot like what I'm currently going through with our '01. It started with a vague humming that I thought was the tires. It proceeded to a howling sound that increased with road speed but not with engine RPM. It's ended with a dead car in the driveway, no starting, and no way to drive it to the shop. My car is salvaged but ran perfectly for 8 years. Still, no hope of warranty help. Hope your situation works out better!

 

Burchie, glad to hear that. Toyota really took care of me when mine went out. I hope they do the same for you. Sounds like there is some good dialogue going on.

I know the sinking feeling you are talking about. When they told me it would be $7,000.00 I was speechless and started shaking. When I hung up the phone, I was thinking "this car is totalled". My guess is it will take them a week to get the parts and do the work. They will probably give you a rental car, too.

 

I agree with FREIDAWG, uncommon in Gen II and not so uncommon in Gen I. I have some great pics of a small thermal event in a Gen I box. My shop would do the install for $7-800. max.

 

Ok, so it seems like that's a bearing of something in the trans-axle that's on it's way out.

 

I like Mike Dimmicks take on it. The clutch biscuit sounds good but the op says its not "slipping". But then again its gone from an airplane taking off to a whine so who knows.