Is a Transaxle fluid "flush" possible?

I would try to see if they can get their Hybrid Master Technician to assist with the quote.
I believe they are supposed to be the most highly trained Toyota hybrid mechanics.

When I had a disagreement over the revised recall on my Gen 4, the service manager said I was incorrect in my reading of the changes. I cordially ended the phone call but he talked to his hybrid master tech and got "educated" The service manager then called me back with a resolution to my issue.

 

I would not hold my breath on that one. I heard that Toyota did not want to give Google the user data they required as part of licensing Android Auto. The latest Entune hardware has Apple CarPlay but not Android Auto.

 

its take the plugs off , drain , put drain plug back in , fill with fluid , put fill plug back on , takes longer to jack the car up and get the undercover off than to do the drain and fill . its always a good idea to take off the fill plug first , just to make sure you can get it off

 

When filling up the transaxle box , I find it easier to refill from the top , only thing is , its hard to snake a tube down to the fill hole , what ya do is get under the car and shine a flashlight up toward the inverter , when ya get out from under the car and look from the top again , you will see the "shine" from your flashlight . I only saw 1 good spot to thread a hose down there and ya have to guide it down some what with all the stuff in the way , but once you clear everything , you can get under the car again and pull it down , make sure the hose isnt too thick or it won't fit in the fill hole . I almost messed up , I hade a 3/8 in plastic hose and when I went to put it in the fill hole it didn't fit in , what I did was to fit in a plastic connector into the hose so it stuck out like a 1 1/2 in , just enough to fill it , took almost 4 quarts before I saw it dripping out , have your plug in a good spot to screw it in to minimize any mess , would be easier with 2 people , but can be done with one .

 

Good practical info.

 

I pumped mine in from the bottom with a little had pump that screwed onto the fluid container, Took less than a minute for each quart. Took longer to open a new bottle and screw it into the container than it did to pump it in.

 

So debating whether to do this or not at 36K. Seems none of my vehicles are kept past 112K in the family. Also the dealers are scamming folks on this and the brake flush as well as radiator flush. None of those are needed and may screw up a perfectly working car.

Dealer wanted me to flush all 3 at 30K.

 

@Mendel Leisk has a good process for lubing the brake caliper pins to prevent the brakes from dragging.
Was that service offered?

 

That is not necessary if your personal interest in the car is expected to end at 112K miles. This is for people who aspire for the transaxle to last well into 200K mile territory.

 

+1 to Patrick's comment. If the next owner is planning to keep it long term they are likely to change it themselves whether you've done it or not.

 

It's hard to know how to answer, with your ownership priorities, and dealer concerns. If you want to push that aside, just think about the car, I would suggest:

1. Replace (single drain and fill) the transaxle fluid around one year or 15K miles, whichever comes first. Then around 5 year or 80K mark. That should do it for the lifetime of car. (Neither Toyota USA or Toyota Canada recommend this for regular service car, fwiw.)

2. Replace the brake fluid periodically, say every 3 year or 30K miles. (This is Toyota Canada's recommendation. Also, Honda Canada recommends brake fluid every 3 years, regardless of mileage.)

3. Replace the engine and inverter coolant per Toyota USA schedule: engine coolant at 10 years or 100K miles, then both at 15 years or 150K miles, and every 5 years or 50K miles thereafter.

Note also, I replace the word "flush" with "replace". The transaxle fluid change should cost somewhere in the $80~100 range, definitely not more. A brake fluid change maybe $100~125. Coolant changes around $100 apiece.

Attached spreadsheet is my summation of US Warranty and Maintenance Booklet.

 

I think what can happen: some dealerships are endlessly pushing everything, including extraneous items, and items that are aburdly easy for the owner to DIY (air filter replacements, for example). They also seem to be neglecting some items (periodic, full brake inspections for example), perhaps because they're labour intensive and not enough profit available?

Couple this with owners that can't make head-or-tail out of the event-by-event US maintenance schedule presentation (as opposed to an easy to read table row-and-column format), and are shell-shocked and pretty much 100% paranoid of the dealership service department tactics: perfect recipe for maintenance neglect.

 

But independent car dealerships are for our good so we do not get taken advantage of by the manufacturers.
That’s why @hill ’s favorite manufacturer has legal issues selling direct without any dealer mafia “protection”.

 

I have only ever flushed brakes in one of my cars and it wasn't the Prius.
I have had some old cars that changed the fluid themselves though.
Any time I change a caliper I always put new brake hoses on at that time but I don't consider that a flush but it is as close as you may get.

 

Third gen repair manual has valid method for changing brake fluid without Techstream, by putting the car in (wait for it...) invalid mode. @NutzAboutBolts also has a video on this, using same mode.

But second gen repair manual doesn't show anything similar, if you were Diy'ing. But then dealerships would be using Techstream.

 

Change WS every 30k. Lucious Garage recommendation. WS is not synthetic and has viscosity and heat issues with age. My 3 Prii all use REDLINE D6, ehich is Group 4 Syn. About $55 a gallon on Amazon. Lost a transaxle at 120k on one Prius. I will never use WS again.

 

I run Redline trans and motor oil exclusively in all my cars. Its freaky how much better the engines run with Redline motor oil.
D6 in the trans.

 

I have to do something like this with my 2006 Tacoma. The drain and overflow plugs are right next to each other. You drain and refill the fluid then start the truck and remove the overflow plug and let the trans fluid heat up to 170? Degrees. Then reinstall the plug when the flow is a trickle. Completely stupid and the transmission has no dipstick.

Doesn’t take 3 hours though. 1/2 hour.

Any gen 2 is drain and fill. There is not even a filter. Takes longer to make a filling device from a funnel and some tubing than anything else.