Changing Transaxle oil

Just noticed this. I thought one should set the torque wrench to the minimum of the specified range of the wrench, not zero. Anyone has a definite answer on this?

 

May depend upon the particular wrench, but for the ones I own, I set them at the minimum setting. I once accidentally backed one off below the minimum setting, and the nut holding the handle came off, which ruined the calibration. Sears wanted $75 to recalibrate; it was cheaper to buy a new wrench.

 

According to a ton of people on slickdeals, its best to reset them to 0 after use.
Sears Craftsman 1/2" and 3/8" torque wrenches $36 each (normally $80) - SlickDeals.net Forums

Granted, not the best source in the world, but these people hate to waste money. Proper care of stuff always saves money

 

My Norbar torque wrench has a label which says to reset to zero after use.

 

There is no "Zero" mark on mine; e.g. one of my wrenches has marks between 10 ft-lbs and 100 ft-lbs, no 0 ft-lbs.

 

Just Googled and found this thread:

Torque Wrench Storage - The Garage Journal Board

My impression from it is to set to lowest value (not zero) except for some fancy types such as "split beam".

 

That is what I do.

 

I also have a couple of very expensive Norban-style torque wrenches. The instructions are pretty emphatic to reset to indicated "0" after each use

 

[/QUOTE]
You have a great dealer, if they will do the transaxle fluid change for $40 labor. Some dealers practice "value" pricing well into three digits, like Bill mentioned in his initial msg. The ATF WS costs ~$5 per quart, hope they installed new washers![/QUOTE]

Just spoke with Don Ringler Toyota of Temple Texas - $185-190 for them to change the transaxle fluid. I think I'll go with $70 parts and fluid to do both of our cars...

 

The reason for setting them to zero is to remove stress from the "spring" element in the wrench. Any residual load at minimum setting is so low as to not matter. Take your pick.

But, since the instructions say "zero" and that is about as easy as lowest setting, why not follow the instructions and you don't need to think about it.?

 

You have a great dealer, if they will do the transaxle fluid change for $40 labor. Some dealers practice "value" pricing well into three digits, like Bill mentioned in his initial msg. The ATF WS costs ~$5 per quart, hope they installed new washers![/QUOTE]

Just spoke with Don Ringler Toyota of Temple Texas - $185-190 for them to change the transaxle fluid. I think I'll go with $70 parts and fluid to do both of our cars...[/QUOTE]

Are the those Toyota dealers ignorantly charging a flat fee to "flush" an automatic transmission even though the Rrius doesn't get flushed, or are they just crooks?

 

It's not easy to examine the evidence and come up with a different conclusion.

BTW, ATF WS now costs ~$9 per US quart, at least in my area.

 

Yep, my local dealer charged me list price just last week, about $11.50 / quart. I am going to call around next time to get a better price. I didn't have much time to shop because I wanted to get it done last week.

 

The reason for not setting all the way down to zero is, as I read somewhere, that doing so may loosen some internal parts and render the torque wrench useless.

 

Thank you for the clear picture.

 

Has anyone ever sent in the Mobil or Redline Synthetic ATF in for analysis? Seems like all the people that mentioned they were going to never have.

Just ordered WS from City Toyota for $6 a quart, and the washers are $1.13 ea. Search for part number 00289-ATFWS for the ATF and 90430-18008 for the washers. I went ahead and ordered enough for 2 changes; 8 quarts and 4 washers. Shipping came to $10.99 with a $3.95 "handling fee". That puts the cost for each change at about $34. Local dealer wants over $10 a quart, so decent savings and I don't have to go get it!

 

I am preparing my tools and supplies to change the oil. The one tool that I do not have is the 10 mm hex bit socket. I have found this socket as a part of a whole set, but I am too frugel (cheap) to buy the entire set. Is there any way to get this one bit without buying the entire set? Can you get the 10 mm shaft and insert it into a 10 mm socket? Thanks for any assistance.

 

Ace Hardware sells individual sockets:

Ace® Metric Hex Bit Socket - Sockets & Ratchets - Ace Hardware

Harbor Freight Tools sells whole sets for just a little more, but quality is not as good. I have a Harbor Freight set and its adequate.

9 Piece 3/8" and 1/2" Drive Metric Hex Bit Socket Set - Sockets & Accessories - Hand Tools

 

Sears has sales all the time. I bought a Craftsman USA made 3/8" drive 10mm hex for about $5-6, about the next day I found a Taiwan made one in my toolbox. Either would work fine, so now I have two. The Craftsman is nicer though. The bolt was tight on mine, I would use a strong tool. Ebay is another cheap source.

 

After reading this thread and others describing transaxle problems, I ran to the nearest Toyota dealer to buy 4 quarts of ATF WS ($8 each) and a couple of washers. Following the instructions provided in this thread, it was very easy. The drain plug looked like the photos shown in this thread - a lot of black sludge but no discernable metalic particles. The fluid looked pretty dark for a car with 61K miles. Just as I finished adding the 4th quart, fluid started flowing from the plug port.

I am pretty disappointed at Toyota for not recommending transaxle fluid replacement before 60K miles. It would sure clean a lot of that sludge from the transaxle.

An interesting note - when I removed the plug from the port where the fluid is added, I put the 15/16 wrench on the plug and tapped the wrench, and it broke free. I was shocked at the little amount of force required to removed the plug.

Thanks to dogfriend for directing me to Ace hardware where I bought the 10 mm hex wrench.

Priuschat is a great source of information for a great little car!