I was draining the transaxle on my dad's '06 Prius with about 136,000 miles on it. I removed the fill plug first as per PC instructions, and it made a hissing noise, then a burbling noise, and then a lot of fluid shot out of the fill plug. Wait. What??? The fluid poured out in a thick steady stream for a good 10 seconds before it stopped. Was it overfilled, and could that have damaged the transaxle? Was the fluid on my '04 low, and because I used that as a guide I under filled it? How can I get that much fluid back in if it is obviously over the fill plug? I filled the transaxle on my '04 until it dribbled out. Should I do the same here? Help?
Sounds like it was overfilled to begin with, or you just parked on a slope. There is an actual fill point above that is hard to access. Filling through the side bolt with a pump is easier, that's why us DIYers do it. Just fill until it dribbles.
not sure what you are talking about, there is only one fill hole for the transaxle and it is located on top of the transmission really hard to access it, it is a 22mm bolt, and the drain plug you would use an extension or a ratchet without a socket to remove it, it does not sound like you know what you are doing. And you don't use fill hole as a guide to top off. You just follow the owners manual for drain and fill only. Not sure when you say fluid gushed out of it when you removed the plug , what ? transmission fluid is not under pressure in anyway and it is red. There is a guide here on prius chat on how to do it properly.
There are 3 holes. 1 on the bottom to drain it, 1 on the top to fill it, and 1 on the side as a "level check". However because of the inaccessibility of the top fill hole, even Toyota service manuals say you can refill using a pump from the level check hole. If you use the level check hole as a guide, it will be perfect. And hence the dribbling out. It gushed out because he is referring to the level check hole, not the top fill hole and previously when filled by the top hole, it filled above the level check point. No harm done, just made a bit of a mess. It will take 5qts or so before it dribbles out the top fill, which is BAD.
So who dealt with the trans fluid when the car wasn't level? You? Or whoever did it before you? Or neither?
Okay. Sorry for all of the confusion. The Haynes repair manual referred to the plug on the side as the check/fill plug, so I thought the terms were synonymous like on my Land Rover Discovery, which only has two holes, one to drain and one to check/fill, and was unaware that the Prius had three, and I will be more precise in my language from now on. I was talking about the check hole in my first post, so no harm done to the vehicle. The transaxle fluid has never been changed within the time my dad has owned the vehicle, which he bought new in 2006. I am assuming that Toyota overfilled the transaxle fluid, because the car is definitely level now.
