DIY Transmission Fluid Change?

I just did mine today. Very very easy. Took less then an hour about 45 mins. I only had 26,000 miles on it but it looked like dr pepper coming out. The new fluid going in looked like check cherry soda. Huge difference. Not sure if it will make a deference in the drive or the feel of the drive. I will let you know soon.

 

Yeah, You're not going to hear or feel a difference.
The difference will be when the car is at +300K miles the transaxle is as smooth and quiet as new.

Good job!

 

I tried that a handful of times, but with no improvement. Still not sure what the problem was, and maybe next time there won't be any problem. (Only another 73k until the next change.)


By the way, I meant to say "half-pint" in the previous post with the photo of how overfilled it was. I was thinking about the little milk cartons we got in elementary school, but they must've been a half-pint not a pint. I'll never forget that in one school I went to, every Wednesday was chocolate milk day. Then I got to high school, and I could get chocolate milk every day of the week. And then...

 

From the FWIW department, using the information in this thread I changed out the fluid on my 2010 Prius III today. It has served me well for 102k miles so I figured it was time. Having a lift available (courtesy of Culpeper Tire and Auto) I am certain the vehicle was level at the time. It took almost the full 4 qts without too much runoff even though I let it sit open for a few minutes.

The fun part was the stories I got from the dealers. One dealer advised the transmission was sealed for life and I shouldn't mess with it. I've heard that before from a European manufacture (starts with a B and ends in W). After some pointed questions to the European dealer I found out their definition of " life" is 100k miles. My definition is closer to 300k so I chose to ignore the statement from both dealers.

The other T dealer told me this work needed to be done by them because it required hooking up the computer to determine the actual level of the fluid. The "old school" way is to let it drain out the fill hole. BTW, the service includes $90 in labor and $56 for 6 qts of fluid. I chose the "old school" way and saved myself $90 and the cost of 2 unneeded qts of atfsw.

Thanks to all for the info! That (and the proper tools) made the job very simple.

 

Great job. Maybe more people will try this.

 

And 4 qts, or a little more, is what some of these transaxles take, not what is claimed in the owners manual.
Myself and a few others have experienced this with the car accurately leveled.

And where are these dealers coming from????

 

^ Nothing's claimed in the Owner's Manual, more's the pity.

The Repair Manual says: "3.3 liters or 3.5 US quarts". And that the level should be "0 to 10 mm from the bottom lip of filler plug opening".

My experience doing a change was roughly in line with those statements. I was careful to get the car close to level (a little tricky, juggling floor jack and safety stands). I also let the drain go on till it was well drained.

I'd bought 4 liters of fluid, and the fourth bottle sits in the garage now with about a cup in it. My wife did the pouring, and didn't slow down much on the fourth bottle; there was a "stop, stop, stop" moment.

I'd guestimate close to a cup overfill flowed back out, which, again, I just let drip out 'till it was near stopped. To hurry it up I splish-splashed it out a bit.

So maybe it took 3.5 liter, full to the brim. Then when you consider the statement: "0 to 10 mm from the bottom lip of filler plug opening", the middle of that range might subtract another 200 cc?

 

They may just be incompetent instead of crooks. There is some hocus pocus and equipment involved in changing WS in a late model Toyota torque-converter type automatic. Maybe those knuckle draggers just don't know what type of tranmission a Prius actually has.

 

Hello everybody i need help i want to take out the transmission on my prius wanted to know if it id difficult and how to remove the power cable please help

 

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What he said.....

 

What is the belly pan??

 

Pretty sure he means the the plastic panel under the engine bay.

 

Thanks. That almost comes off almost by itself!

 

The Toyota dealer in Oakland, CA wanted $350. When I asked him why, he said it's because they had to flush the transmission. I told him that transmission flushes are used to get the fluid out of the torque converter. He told me that is true. I then told him the Prius does not have a torque converter. He said it still had to be flushed for $350.

So I did it myself, and I'm not bringing my car there anymore. These same clowns wanted $60 to change the cabin air filter.

 

Changed my transmission fluid on Saturday (3/31/2018). Was fairly easy, did it in my carport (mostly flat) with four jack stands. Dealer in my area quoted me $600.00+tax USD, which is straight up robbery as it's a simple drain and fill. If I had access to a car lift like they do, it would be a 35-40min job at most, depending how long you let the fluid drain. I used the gravity method with a thin funnel and hose to refill; took about 4-5mins to get the fluid in once I started pouring.

2012 Prius had 54,9xx miles on original fluid, it was dark, but with still a reddish sheen to it. Didn't smell bad either. Considering some of the other experiences posted in here, I was expecting the fluid to be pitch black and smelly. This fluid probably still had life in it, but I'll never be a fan of the "lifetime fluid" in any car I intend to keep for a long time. But I will probably go 60K miles before I do another change considering how the original fluid looked at almost 55K.

I went with Redline D6, a lightweight synthetic transmission fluid. Was able to get 4qts/1gal for $60.00 on Amazon. Which was around the same price I was expecting to pay for Toyota WS fluid (non synthetic). I used almost all of it upon refill. Probably between an 1/8 to a 1/4 qt left over. I also drained almost all of the original fluid out, as it let it sit and drain for a good 15-20mins before sealing it back up.

 

Sounds like a service writer who couldn't even be bothered (or didn't have acess?) to the repair manual, and/or a dealership with zero experience with the job. Somewhere between $75 and $100 would be reasonable.

Ah man. Well, you're not alone, other brave souls have used it. Personally, when Toyota emphatically tells me to use something, and nothing but, I'll stick with it.

 

Thanks for the write up.

Its always best to use what the manufacture states though.