ATF fluid changes ARE Required.

I would trust Progressive even less than I would trust a cop.

 

No problem, use it.

FYI, I was reading one of my e-mags and came across this article. A little light weight, it still covers the basics:
Know the Effects of Water Contamination | Noria Corporation

Bob Wilson

 

Yeah, I heard that Justin loves to huff the fumes from the brake cleaner that I was using to hose down the entire transmission and subframe after the fluid change...

 

Right about the time you were freaking out because you broke the pump you were using to fill the transaxle is when I decided it was a bad day to stop sniffing brake cleaner. There happened to be a can handy so.......

 

Pretty much what I saw at 30K and 40K, though I attribute some of the latter to leftover fluid. At 45K the fluid was better, but still ready to change. I will continue to change both oil/filter and ATF at 5k while I own this vehicle. But consider, I'm just some dumb xss, old-timer, mechanic and doesn't know what he's doing.

 

I've used my $5 Torque app in 3 devices and didn't have to pay extra. I think that as long as they are linked to the same Google account it's OK. Maybe there is a limit, but I haven't hit it yet.

It seems like the less you pay for software the more generous the usage terms are.

 

I might have to get mine checked just for the hell of it. I'm only at 22k right now

 

There is no "check" (except for level and the HSD seldom leaks), just do an early drain/refill of your ATF at 30k miles. You then can wait 60k miles for the each following ATF exchange. I have done ATF exchanges with Toyota Type WS every 60k miles in my 2004 Prius and lab tests show that it comes out cleaner each time (The first one had very high metallic content). My Prius is now at 233k miles and I will do an ATF exchange again in the spring at 240k miles.

JeffD

 

That was worth repeating so I did.

 

Deleted. Posted inwrong place.

 

Okay guys , I've got a low profile floor Jack and four jackstands . How my going to safely get the car up off the ground and level ? I read here someplace that the car needs to be level to get the proper fill of the transmission . I have safely raised the front end of the car but it makes me a little nervous to go around the back carjacking it up . Has anyone done this before ? If so how ?

 

Beware. The "cross link" is not an approved, nor a good place to lift the car. The owners manual and the repair manual both show where and how to lift the car.

The rear suspension is called "Twist beam" or "Torsion Beam" type rear suspension. The trailing arms and cross piece are are one piece made of a multi piece weldment.

 

XS650 is most correct. Don't jack those unless you want to damage them and there hard to get to anyway.

There's pinch welds fore and aft on the side of the car for jacking. Read the OM. Buy a decent hydraulic jack. Tyhe jack that comes with the car is a joke. And the most important thing and I rarely see it is to use additional oh shit support with the jackstands. Jack the car up high enough to fit two 2x4's height of wood under the tire. Lower it down till the tires almost touch the wood. Thats the height of the jackstand. Jack it back up and put the stands under there. Don't need an exact fit but if a jackstand snaps it will save your life. It costs nothing. And keep the jack engaged too. No load on it but right there backing up a stand. Most important is make sure the stands are level and not leaning at all after the weight of the car is on them. I never ever go under a car with just jackstands. Modern jackstands are Chinese crap.

Google "jackstand failure".

 

Here's a pick (from the Manual) of the jacking points:



I put the rear jackstands on the rocker panel, at the Manual proscribed points, in between the 2 notches. But that edge seems very thin to me, so for the heavier front end I prefer to put the jacktands further underbody. This is a second gen pic, but 3rd gen is very similar. Aplogies to the originator of the pic, I should take a shot or two the next time I have the car up:



My "insurance policy" is to push a tree trunk section under, before I get under, in the vicinity of where I'll be working.

 

Thank you so much ! I appreciate all the input . Looking to do this in about 4 days or so

 

That is "INTERESTING" I have some Harbor Freight 3 ton (6,000lb) stands that I have personally derated to 1,000lb (after looking to see that the welds looked good) to compensate for them being made from Chinesium, the welds did look good. A couple of the failures on Google I saw appeared to be from the ratcheting mechanism letting go, possibly because of misalignment. I need to check the alignment on mine before I use them again.

Thanks