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Plugs Changed at Dealer @ how many miles?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by mjf777, Nov 9, 2011.

  1. mjf777

    mjf777 Junior Member

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    Hello all,

    I just picked up a used 2006 prius. It has 114k on it. According to the carfax, it was religiously maintained by the dealer. I called the Toyota dealer today that they serviced at -- and asked if the plugs had been changed. He checked the records and gave me a definite maybe.

    Anyone know at how many miles it is typical for the dealer to change out the plugs under "regular maintenance?"

    BTW -- Love this forum. It's one of the main reasons why I decided to buy a prius.

    Cheers,

    M
     
    #1 mjf777, Nov 9, 2011
  2. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    150K is the service interval in California. It wouldn't hurt to do a major service at 120K including plugs, PCV, throttle body cleaning, change fluid both coolant systems if not done previously (both water pumps tend to go bad), and change the transaxle fluid.

    You can get the service records yourself by registering at toyota.com/owners.
     
    #2 seilerts, Nov 9, 2011
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    120K miles is usually the recommended interval; except in California the recommended interval is 150K miles. However, I would replace the iridium spark plugs at no later than 120K mile intervals.
     
    #3 Patrick Wong, Nov 9, 2011
  4. mjf777

    mjf777 Junior Member

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    Thanks to both of you. Very helpful!

    I just logged into Toyota Owners -- and it looks like they weren't changed. I'll definitely swap them out -- with iridium plugs. I found a couple of good posts on PC for plug changing.

    I did see they changed the hybrid water pump and the transaxle fluid about 10,000 miles back.

    Thanks again,

    M
     
    #4 mjf777, Nov 9, 2011
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Yes and we want to see pictures of the electrodes. Seriously.

    And make sure you look at the plug wells & ignitor ends closely for corrosion.
     
    #5 edthefox5, Nov 10, 2011
  6. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Make sure that this is transaxle lubricant (ATF WS), rather than transaxle coolant (SLLC -- Super Long Life coolant). Changing the hybrid water pump involves 1 gallon of SLLC, but does not address the transaxle lubricating fluid. Most dealers will not do this service unless asked, and expect to pay $100 to a SoCal dealer for it. Life expectancy in the absence of lubricant change is about 200,000 miles.
     
    #6 seilerts, Nov 10, 2011
  7. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    It's hard to say when the transmission fail if the fluid is never changed, but 150-200k is probably a good estimate since that is the typical life of most transmissions anyway.

    However, Dianne's transmission failed right before 120k on her 07, and her transmission had the original fluid and mostly highway driving.
     
    #7 The Critic, Nov 10, 2011
  8. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    200K is the average reported by Luscious Garage on the taxi fleet. Presumably, these are ones that never had fluid changes, since the night fleet maintenance shift only began there a few months ago. Perhaps you can ask Caroline when go in for you fluid change if she has had failures on trannies that had regular fluid changes?
     
    #8 seilerts, Nov 11, 2011
  9. Feri

    Feri Active Member

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    I'm forever bemused by the differences in service requirements between U.S. and Australia. I had my 100,000kms (60.000 miles) service today and the plugs were changed as prescribed in the manual.

    They were lovely and clean by the way, I should have brought them home for a photo but it didn't occur to me.
     
    #9 Feri, Nov 11, 2011
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