Changing Transaxle oil

No, you don't need software to do it at all. That is just another stealership trick... All you need is a short peice of copper wire to jump the OBD (on my Tacoma, you jump #4 and #13 pins) to set the truck in Temperature Check Mode. It's a little more involved procedure than the prius but just as easy as an oil change.

By the way, changing the fluid on the Prius is sooooo easy...

 

Because people are willing to pay $11.75

 

Nice.

I bought quantity WS oil from autohausAZ.com at $8/qt and coolant at $11/gallon. from zorotools.com. Free S&H

 

Just changed my fluid at 95k miles on my '06 Prius. Thanks to this forum, it went smoothly. Took me longer to jack up the car than do the fluid change. Fluid still had some red but not as much debris on the magnetic plug as I've seen on some of the posted pictures. I need a better way to get the car up. Just took to long.

When I hit 100k and do the oil again I'll switch out the spark plugs. Might need new axles so that will dent my savings. That's a little out of my knowledge range unless someone has some tips.

 

Ooh ooh! My local Toyota Dealer has a printable coupon on their website for 20% off any purchase over $25 in the parts department. I went and bought WS fluid the other day for exactly $5 a quart, after the discount.

 

That would be $6.67 a qt before discount, a very excellent price. Either a mistake or the price has come way down.

 

If it was a mistake, Im not saying anything...LOL
The guys were unusually cheerful in the parts department. Maybe they just received a raise (hopefully not on merit from their math skills!)

 

Well, this is an old thread, but I want to thank you all for the informative posts. This 55 year-old woman just changed the transmission fluid on her '05! It was so easy - once I got the plugs off. This is the one interesting aspect of the change: When I took off the fill plug, fluid came pouring out - about a cup in total. (My car was level.) I measured the whole amount and it was a full 4 quarts. The other odd thing was that the drain plug did not have a washer - it has a new shiny one now. My '05 has 101,500 miles on it and this was the first fluid change. The old stuff was a very dark purple. Fine dusty stuff on the drain plug.
I also changed the oil while I had it up - also a first. It feels remarkable that I was able to do this! Thank you again. Now I feel confident that I can read more posts and figure out what else I need to do: spark plugs, coolant, etc.

 

welcome and well done!

 

First up congrats and well done.

Both of those things you mentioned point to someone having previously changed the ATF on this Prius. It was probably filled on a slight angle last time (perhaps the front end only raised) and that would get you an extra cup or so of fluid in there.

As you probably found when you refilled yourself, if done correctly you do end up with a cup full (or there about) left over from your 4 quarts.

 

That's what I thought too, uart, but I'm the original owner and I looked back at old records and can't find it being done. I took it in for the 30K check-up and it wasn't done then. I haven't taken it in for one of those since - just the regular oil changes. After reading these threads and learning that I should change the trans fluid, I called around and, as you can imagine, no one wanted to do it - so I can't imagine someone wanted to do it earlier. Granted, I don't have the best memory, but I can't find the record. So, I'm thinking it came from the factory with the overfill of fluid and no washer. Strange.

 

Washers can glue on, look like part of the bolt. Likely best to leave it as is, either way

 

Wow. I can't believe the dealer I usually go to wants to charge $280 for this... I think I'll do it myself and find a new trusted mechanic. Does anyone have recommended options in the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area?

 

Luscious Garage | Hybrid Specialists
Art's Automotive

 

I usually like Toyota Sunnyvale, but I haven't been there in a long time. Too far for me and not near my current work.

 

I just had my 2007's transaxle fluid changed by my local UK dealer (~120GBP). The dealer wondered why I was asking for it to be changed, saying that he regularly sees similar models with 250k+ miles and original fluid. I simply said that I was being kind to the car. My mpg is still rising (58.4 over last 1800 miles, ~61 over the last tank (575 miles) since the fluid change, throttle body and MAF sensor cleaning and injector cleaner fuel additive). I will shop about for the serpentine belt changes as I was quoted 95GBP, which seems about twice what is reasonable.

 

So what type of Addative use in UKI'm from Germany here in USA for job related things

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Hi Samprocat,

I used one tank's worth of Wynns injector cleaner (6GBP); it was recommended by my local Halford's shop assistant, when I was about to buy the similarly marketed Redex cleaner (5GBP). His reason was that the Redex contains xylene and may damage fuel pipes, etc. and the Wynns does not. I did not check that the xylene content is correct. It is not something that I plan to do more often than every 30k miles. N

 

The fist time I changed my trans fluid I thought mine was missing a washer also. It was not. It gets stuck so perfectly to the case it looks like part of the case. You have to poke around a little with a screwdriver to pop it loose.

 

Oil pan drain bolts stick on too. What I usually do is back out the drain bolt partially, then place a flat-blade screwdriver under the edge of the (stuck) washer, tap it loose with a hammer, then carry on removing the bolt together with the washer. Saves you needing to fish it out of the catch pan.