DIY Transmission Fluid Change?

Where is the OBD2 connection on this car?

 

right between the driver's leg (under the dash).

 

Just as the Spiderman said for the ODB2. If you don't already have a ScanGaugeII you can order one through the Priuschat Shop and get a discount.

Here are some ideas for mounting, mine is velcroed to the steering column just in front of the steering wheel.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-accessories-modifications/64482-spot-scangauge.html

This very long thread has all the information you need to set it up, including a link to all of the x gage parameters.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...discussion/64406-scangaugeii-work-2010-a.html

 

Thanks guys I'm going to give my Android Torque app a shot and see where it goes, last time I looked that Scangauge was still a pretty penny. The Torque app is free and my bluetooth OBD2 adapter was $30. I normally use it mainly for pulling/clearing codes on my 95 Volvo but hopefully it will be able to do more with the Prius.

 

I'm getting pretty close to 15k and I am definitely changing mine at that time, after reading about the GenII transmission failures that are starting to show up just past the 100k mark.

I was thinking about doing it myself and making a DIY video for the forum but I may just let Luscious Garage do it for $79 for the sake of trying them out.

MB860 ?

 

$79 sounds very fair. The fluid and washers would cost you almost $40. Good plan to try them out, I wish there was something like that up here.

I did a DIY change: the main issue is to raise the car and set it level. Secondary issue is to rig up a funnel and hose to reach down to the fill plug. It's not that more difficult than say an oil and filter change.

 

Yeah, I am more than capable of doing it myself but something in me wants to try them out for a smaller job like this so that I can see if I can trust them for other jobs in the future. I am no where near SF but I do go up their occasionally to visit friends so I will just coordinate so that it will be a productive trip.

It sounds like it would be easier to use a hand pump to refill the transmission than to use the funnel method.

MB860 ?

 

Also, the ATF-WS fluid costs about $11/qt here. Washers are about $2/each. When I last purchased WS in August I convinced the dealer to sell it to me for $8/qt, so even then, Luscious is only charging me ~$40 for labor (20 min).

MB860 ?

 

$11/quart seems a bit spendy, I just checked my receipts and I paid $7.20/quart in August. Retail was $8 but I got a discount because I bought the car from them. You might want to check with another dealer.

 

Dealership price is going to depend on the matrix pricing. A lot of dealers charge well over retail. One dealer told me that the price also depends on the volume of parts sold as that will affect their pricing. Can't confirm this but its definitely possible, as I know this is the case with the Toyota extended warranties.

MB860 ?

 

I would be worried about having a new place do it.
The transaxel costs like over 6 or 7 grand to replace. They could underfill it, fill it with the wrong fluid, not put washers back, ect ect.

 

Based on their reputation, I would be less worried about Luscious Garage than any Toyota dealership.

 

Have only done one change, using funnel and hose, but it was dead easy. The only hang up is snaking the hose through. Both for that and the refill it's a good idea to have an assistant.

My 2 cents: pumps are more costly, might require more volume of fluid within the pump, are harder to clean, and you don't want to use it for anything else, cross-contaminating.

And just to add to the chorus, Luscious Garage sounds like a very good place.

 

Bought my pump for $7.

 

I changed my transmission fluid today. Got the fluid & gaskets from the dealership ("is the transmission fluid serviceable?" said the parts guy). Got a hand-powered fluid pump from Home Depot for about $3, and the pump worked fine. It took about ten squeezes to empty one quart into the transmission.

The drained fluid was significantly darker than new, after only 31K miles. I'm sending off samples of both the used fluid and new fluid for UOA, and I'll post the results here in a couple of weeks.

 

Is it the one that looks like a liquid soap dispenser? Can you grab a picture of it? I was planning to just use tubing.

 

This pump is often on sale at Horrid Freight
Multi-Use Transfer Pump

 

Here's what I bought for $3.50, and it worked fine. It has clear tubing, so one can see fluid flow.

Plastic Siphon Pump-DH-10 at The Home Depot

I had to cut off the siphon tube so that it was just long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle. The room was cramped under the vehicle. I took the whole lower cover off, and that gave me space in the engine bay to pull the pump up out of one bottle and insert it into the next.

 

I just changed my fluid this weekend. I was a little surprised it took the entire 4 quarts of fluid. The car was leveled on ramps with a jack in the back. Anyone else use 4 quarts? Any issues if it is a bit over filled? I don't think it is though.

 

The maintenance manual says to fill it to within 0mm to 10mm of the threads. So if you filled it until it ran out or was right at the threads that would be 0mm and according to specifications.

I am not sure why some transaxles have taken a little more fluid than others, maybe yours just drained a little better.