So I haven't owned an automatic car in over 10 years so I'm a bit confused. If I park on a level surface everything is fine. If I park on a slight incline or decline and don't engage my parking brake, when I shift into drive or reverse there is a sound that seems to come from the transmission which sounds like the park mechanism disengaging. My mom has an 03 RAV4 and my dad has an 05 corolla neither of which makes this noise. I'm not against using the ebrake, I use it all the time anyway but yesterday I forgot and noticed this for the first time. Problem, or normal?
normal. plus, prius has an electric parking cog, it's not your normal automatic tranny. i like to use the p brake to prevent potential damage. foot on brake, shift to neutral, press parking brake down, release standard brake to make sure she's holding, hit park and power. or just power, if you prefer. what are you driving btw? you can add it to the info below your avatar.
Thanks for the help guys. Signature updated, suggestion for trans fluid has me looking at maintenance intervals. New thread coming soon for that.
Going through all that trouble I would just replace it,video on youtube under 3rd Gen prius transmission flush
there's a fill plug and drain plug. to check it, you would open the fill plug and stick your pinky in. it should be right at the bottom of the threads. i've never heard of anyone checking it though.
I did, after the first fluid change only. Repair Manual said to road-test and then recheck. So a day after the change, after a drive, I jacked it up and leveled it again, took out the top bolt, and: it was right where it was after the drain-and-fill. So, wouldn't bother with that, just drain and fill with the car raised and level, 'till it starts coming back out of the fill hole, let it "subside", install and torque the fill bolt. A drain and fill requires 4 quarts (or liters ) of Toyota ATF WS on hand (you'll use about 3.5), and it's good to have replacement washers (identical) for the drain and fill bolts. Torque spec is 29 ft/lb for both. To fill the fluid, a funnel with 3 foot hose extension snaked down through the engine bay from above, and an assistant pouring, is simplest.
