My 2004 Prius howls like a banshee. The dealer tells me the transaxle must be replaced. They quote $5500. Car has 148K km and has been regularly serviced by Toyota. Service Records indicate that the fluid was never changed as required. Dealer tells me that fluid is not an issue as it's an electrical problem. Codes are0A2B/248 and P0A2B/250. Does this make sense..??..and does it justify a $5500 solution..??
I thought that is WAS NOT required to change the fluid acording to Toyota. I thought most of us here just change it because we want to?
Warranty The HSD transmission is warranted now for 8 years or 160,000km which ever comes first. I believe that is the global situation.
p02ab/248------- Drive Motor "a" temp sercuit Range Performance-- Why its comming up-Motor temp sensor nees fixing Where is it?--Hybrid Vehicle Motor- If part of hybrid system it self .. Fix under warranty 150,000 mile/8 year.. P0a2b/250----- Same thing..
I'm in Canada and the rules are different. Batteries are guaranteed for 8 yrs but the balance of the system is only covered for 60 months. Thanks to everyone for the counsel. I'll get a second opinion and appeal to Toyota internally. No matter how it turns out, I'll stick with Prius. Maybe a 2010 is the right answer.
Simplest option to me is to find a competent transmission shop that can install a used transaxle for your car, and then in the following years replace the fluid, around every 60 k . The price will be significantly cheaper. Here is one on ebay priced at $795 free shipping -in U.S.- with 17k , seller has a 99.1 positive rating.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOYOTA-PRIUS-2004-2009-TRANSAXLE-TRANSMISSION-AUTO-XVIP_W0QQitemZ390151863236QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item5ad6dcfbc4 The dealership's point of the fluid not causing the electrical issue, I'm unsure about. I'm not trained in transmissions, but I wonder if a worn out gear in one , from poor lubrication, could have caused the sensor to fail. I would probably run the car (if possible) if the only issue was a bad temp sensor in the transaxle, the noise on the other hand means things are grinding up quickly, there are probably no easy answers, let us know what you do, good luck.
In the US the 2G transaxle is warranted under the powertrain warranty, for 5 years / 60K miles. I agree that the best solution is to acquire a salvage transaxle from a low-mileage vehicle and find an independent shop to install it, if possible. Strange that with all the mechanical noise being produced by the transaxle, that the only DTC posted relates to the MG1 temp sensor. It would be very interesting if the OP would be able to have the shop take apart the original transaxle, to determine the cause of the howling noise. As few 2G transaxles have failed, this investigation would be a great addition to group knowledge. The howling might be due to a failed bearing (which implies a lubrication failure) or maybe a burnt stator winding? If this is not possible, then when the old transaxle fluid is drained it would be interesting to see what debris (metallic or otherwise) comes out.
Those of us that have done ATF lab testing do changes at 60k (with some suggesting an earlier first change at 30k) mile intervals to avoid metallic compound build up in the ATF. The suggested interval for a gen 1 Prius (2001-2003) was 30k miles. This particular failure mode was noted in a few Gen 1 Prii and now we are starting to see a small number in higher mileage Gen 2 Prii. It was the reason I got involved in ATF testing with a group led by Bob Wilson that was investigating this issue in gen 1. As far as I know, we have had no failures like this in Prii that had regular ATF refreshes. My 2004 Gen 2 now has 168,500 miles and will get its third ATF refresh in about 3-4 months (180k miles). JeffD
Your kind of an idiot aren't you? You cannot even take 10 seconds to read the post before posting a reply. The sensor is working perfectly. Range performance means its out of range which means the 'DRIVE MOTOR OVERHEATED" Get It? The trans fluid was never serviced for almost 150K miles which means its probably black with worn bearing metal in solution and the bearings and or chain failed hence the howling which apparently the op continued to drive till failure.
Hi Ed, Pls take it easy. Dogfriend in post #5 posted the relevant repair manual page. Note that the explanation indicates the sensor is the failed part, but since it cannot be replaced it is necessary to replace the entire transaxle. Also, OP drove the car 148K km which is ~90K miles.
wow, this thing scares me..... anyway, a basic rule that applies to any automatic transmission is to avoid doing excessive accelaration to prolong its life.... A manual transmission is the best gear for excessive accelarations....
The Prius transmission is a transmission permanently in one gear it never changes gear including when reversing it has no clutches and no brake bands it give smooth shock free acceleration from zero to top speed so how do you come to the above conclusion.
